ARIZONA CAR INSURANCE MINIMUM LIMITS INCREASED ON JULY 1, 2020
Arizona’s minimum limit for auto insurance liability increased effective July 1, 2020. Senate Bill 1087 was passed by the Arizona legislature on May 27, 2019 and then signed into law by Governor Ducey on Friday, June 7th, 2019.
Prior to July 1, 2020, Arizona’s minimum limits of liability required by the state of Arizona was $15,000/$30,000/$10,000.
The new limits that will take effect on July 1st, 2020 will be $25,000/$50,000/$15,000. This means the minimum amount of coverage that a person is required to carry will increase and this is a good thing.
The first two numbers represent your “Bodily Injury Coverage” or what your insurance company will pay out if you are liable for an accident and you have to pay them for their damages. The new minimum coverage means that you will cover damages up to $25,000.00 per person and up to $50,000.00 total per accident (if more than one person was injured in the same accident).
The last number refers to the amount of property damage liability that is required at a minimum to be carried, or $10,000. This coverage helps to pay for any property damage that your accident has caused.
Why is this increase a good thing? For years, Arizona’s minimum limits has been the lowest in the country. Consequently, if you hurt someone and/or their property with the old $15,000/$30,000/$10,000 outdated coverage, you oftentimes would not have enough insurance to cover the hurt person. This meant, you could have what Arizona considered the required minimum coverage and the person could still sue you for above and beyond what you had for insurance.
For examples:
1) You hurt a person and they have to be taken to the Emergency Room by ambulance to be checked out. Even if the person was not seriously injured, the cost of an ambulance ride and a check-up with tests and x-rays easily exceeds $15,000 these days - and this does not cover follow up care or any possible surgeries or prolonged physical therapy! You now could have very significant exposure to your person assets and property.
2) Let’s say you seriously damage the other person’s vehicle. If your $10,000 minimum limit does not cover the repairs or replacement of the damaged vehicle, again you are exposed to out-of-pocket liability! In other words, don’t go hitting a Mercedes Benz, BMW or any car that’s five years or newer, if all you have is $10,000 in coverage.
