Yes, California is a tort state. A tort in general is a civil wrong causing a legal liability. This is the direct result of the negligence of another driver.

The state of California follows a Tort system which means someone must be found to be at fault for causing the accident, and that person and their insurance company is responsible for all the damages. A no-fault state by contrast would be Florida where there No-Fault system means your insurance company will make payments for your injury claims, up to a specified limit, regardless of fault. Typically, you lose some of your rights to sue under a No-Fault system while you are able to sue the other party for expenses related to your injuries in a tort state such as California.

The statutory minimum limits of liability insurance in California are as follows:

Bodily Injury Liability

• $15,000 for death or injury of any one person, any one accident.
• $30,000 for all persons in any one accident.

Property Damage Liability

• $5,000 for any one accident.

There are four ways to accomplish financial responsibility:

1. Coverage by a motor vehicle or automobile liability insurance policy;
2. A cash deposit of $35,000 with the DMV;
3. A certificate of self-insurance issued by DMV to owners of fleets of more than 25 vehicles; or
4. A surety bond for $35,000 obtained from an insurance company licensed to do business in California.

All California drivers and owners must have at least the statutory limits of minimum liability insurance or an approved alternative way to pay for injury or property damage they may cause. Penalties are severe for non-compliance with this section of the vehicle code.

When your car is in an accident for which you are found legally liable, Bodily Injury (BI) Liability covers your liability to others for injuries to them. Property damage (PD) Liability covers your liability for damage to someone else's property.

A policy with minimum required coverages that CA allows, so BI of $15,000/$30,000 and PD of $5,000, will pay out as follows:

• The maximum limit for one person's injuries, medical expenses, etc. is $15,000 under the bodily injury portion;
• If two or more people are injured, the maximum limit for the accident will be $30,000;
• The maximum limit for damage to other people's property (their car, their fence, etc.) is $5,000

States usually decide fault using their negligence laws. There is both contributory and comparative negligence. California uses comparative negligence which the CA Department of Insurance defines as the percentage of fault shared by each driver in an accident in which both contribute to causing the collision.

California follows a pure comparative negligence rule which means a driver's negligence reduces his recovery but will never bar recovery completely. So even if you are found 90% at fault than you could recover from the other party the 10% that they were found liable.

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