Is Arizona's Required Minimum Car Insurance Enough After a Serious Crash?

Arizona's minimum liability insurance almost never covers the cost of a serious car accident.

Under A.R.S. § 28-4009, Arizona requires drivers to carry at least $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $15,000 for property damage (25/50/15). These minimum requirements are the lowest coverage limits that the law allows. Minimum insurance isn't built to cover you after a bad wreck, those benefits get exhausted quickly in a serious crash. It's only designed to keep you legal on the road.

What crashes actually cost in Arizona:

• Ambulance ride to a Phoenix or Tucson ER: $2,500 to $8,000
• Helicopter transport from a rural I-17 or I-40 crash: $40,000+
• Single ER visit with imaging at Banner University Medical Center or Valleywise Health: $15,000 to $30,000
• Surgery with a hospital stay: $50,000 to $150,000+
• Spinal fusion: $150,000 before rehab starts
• Traumatic brain injury treatment and rehabilitation: $200,000+

A driver carrying Arizona's $25,000 per-person minimum hits you on I-10, the Loop 101, or Camelback Road. You end up at Banner University Medical Center with a broken femur requiring surgical repair. The $25,000 policy maxes out before you leave the hospital. Your lost wages, pain and suffering, follow-up care, and physical therapy aren't covered at all.

That gap between what the at-fault driver's policy covers is where most Arizona crash victims get stuck.

The at-fault driver's $25,000 liability policy is just the starting point. Serious crashes almost always exceed the at-fault driver's insurance limits. Once that money runs out, our experienced attorneys aggressively pursue every other possible avenue of recovery so you’re not left bearing the full financial burden of your injuries

Your own UM/UIM coverage. Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance at all. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage pays the gap when their policy isn't enough. Arizona doesn't require UM/UIM by law, but most standard policies include it unless you signed a written waiver rejecting it. If you never signed that waiver, you have it right now. Your insurer won't volunteer that information.

Stacked household policies. If your household policy covers multiple vehicles, you may be able to stack your UM/UIM limits across all of them. Two cars on a policy with $50,000 UM/UIM each could mean $100,000 in available coverage depending on your insurer and policy language. Your attorney reviews the full policy, not just the declarations page.

Commercial Vehicle Insurance. If you or a loved one was hit by an 18-wheeler, semi-truck, delivery van, or any commercial vehicle, the insurance situation is significantly different, and more complex than a typical car accident. Commercial trucks are required by law to carry much higher insurance minimums than passenger vehicles. While most Arizona drivers only need $25,000 per person in liability coverage, commercial vehicles typically carry $750,000 to $1,000,000 or more in coverage. In many cases, large trucking companies maintain policies with limits of several million dollars. A trucking carrier's policy ranges from $750,000 to $5 million depending on cargo.

Employer Policies. If the at-fault driver was working at the time of the crash, their employer's commercial policy may apply. This often applies to delivery drivers, truckers, rideshare operators, construction workers in company vehicles. If the driver who hit you was working at the time of the crash, their employer's commercial insurance policy may provide significant additional coverage.

Umbrella policies. The at-fault driver or their employer may carry an umbrella policy that kicks in after the primary liability policy exhausts. mbrella policies don't advertise themselves. Our Arizona car accident lawyers will subpoena insurance information during discovery to find them.

Rideshare coverage tiers. If an Uber or Lyft driver hit you, the coverage depends on the driver's app status at the time of the crash. Offline: personal policy only. App on, waiting for ride: limited contingent coverage. En route or carrying passenger: $1 million liability policy from the rideshare company. Phoenix and Scottsdale see especially heavy rideshare volume, particularly around the entertainment districts and Sky Harbor Airport.