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Veh. Code, § 16451 · Article 2. Insurance Policy

Veh. Code, § 16451

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) (1) An owner’s policy of motor vehicle liability insurance shall insure the named insured and any other person using any motor vehicle registered to the named insured with the express or implied permission of the named insured against loss from the liability imposed by law for damages arising out of ownership, maintenance, or use of the motor vehicle within the continental limits of the United States to the extent and aggregate amount, exclusive of interest and costs, with respect to each motor vehicle, of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for bodily injury to or death of each person as a result of any one accident, and, subject to the limit as to one person, the amount of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for bodily injury to or death of all persons as a result of any one accident and the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for damage to property of others as a result of any one accident.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an owner’s policy of motor vehicle liability insurance issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, shall insure the named insured and any other person using any motor vehicle registered to the named insured with the express or implied permission of the named insured, against loss from the liability imposed by law for damages arising out of ownership, maintenance, or use of the motor vehicle within the continental limits of the United States to the extent and aggregate amount, exclusive of interest and costs, with respect to each motor vehicle, of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for bodily injury to or death of each person as a result of any one accident, and, subject to the limit as to one person, the amount of sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) for bodily injury to or death of all persons as a result of any one accident and the amount of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for damage to property of others as a result of any one accident.

(b) For an owner’s policy of motor vehicle liability insurance issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2035, the minimum liability coverage shall be increased by twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) for bodily injury or death for one person, by forty thousand dollars ($40,000) for bodily injury or death for all persons, and by ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for property damage.

(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2025.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended (as added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 717, Sec. 9) by Stats. 2023, Ch. 204, Sec. 20. (AB 1140) Effective January 1, 2024. Operative January 1, 2025, by its own provisions.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=16451.
Text hash
sha256 585e94f5944ba5559da3e6ee96de9d8d0fe475b41798d95e993cd1b144186184
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

Cited by 2 provisions

Provisions in this library whose text cites Veh. Code, § 16451. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.