Arizona is a fault state: the driver who causes a crash pays for the harm, usually through liability insurance. The law sets a floor for how much coverage every driver must carry — but that floor was designed decades before a single night in a trauma center could bill six figures.
The required minimums: 25/50/15
Under Arizona's financial responsibility law (A.R.S. § 28-4009), every driver must carry at least:
- $25,000 bodily injury liability per person
- $50,000 bodily injury liability per accident (total, no matter how many people are hurt)
- $15,000 property damage liability
That's it. No requirement to carry coverage for your own injuries, your own car, or crashes caused by uninsured drivers. Driving without insurance brings license and registration suspension and fines — but plenty of Arizona drivers do it anyway.
Why the minimums fail real victims
A minimum-limits policy means the most any injured person can recover from that driver's insurance is $25,000 — whether the medical bills are $20,000 or $400,000. An ambulance ride, an ER visit, imaging, and a few weeks of follow-up care can consume $25,000 before any surgery, lost income, or long-term treatment enters the picture. When several people are injured in one crash, they share the $50,000 cap.
Chasing the at-fault driver personally for the difference is legally possible and practically futile in most cases — a driver carrying minimum coverage rarely has assets to collect.
The coverage that actually protects you: UM and UIM
Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance — or can't be identified, as in a hit-and-run or a phantom-vehicle crash. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage pays when the at-fault driver has insurance but not enough.
Arizona law (A.R.S. § 20-259.01) requires insurers to offer UM and UIM in amounts equal to your liability limits. You can reject it in writing — and that rejection is the single most expensive checkbox on an Arizona auto policy. UM/UIM is your own policy protecting your own family against everyone else's bad decisions, and claims under it do not carry the rate consequences of an at-fault claim.
A common real-world example: debris flies off an unsecured load ahead of you (a violation of A.R.S. § 28-1098) and smashes your windshield, and the truck is gone before you can get a plate. With UM coverage and prompt reporting, that phantom-vehicle claim is covered. Without it, you may absorb the loss yourself. Our hit-and-run and UM/UIM guide covers these claims in detail.
MedPay: small but immediate
Medical payments coverage (MedPay) is optional in Arizona and pays medical bills for you and your passengers regardless of fault, usually in amounts from $1,000 to $10,000. It fills the gap while a liability claim is being fought — co-pays, deductibles, immediate treatment — with no fault determination required.
What to check on your own policy this week
- Liability limits: raise them above the minimum; 100/300 costs less than most people assume.
- UM/UIM: confirm you have it and that it matches your liability limits. If you see a signed rejection form, revisit that decision.
- MedPay: cheap, immediate, worth having.
- Umbrella coverage if you have assets to protect.
When we evaluate a new injury case, the at-fault driver's limits and our client's own UM/UIM are the first two questions — they define what recovery is realistically available. Our car accident attorneys review every applicable policy in a free consultation. Call (602) 217-0000 — English and Spanish, 24/7.