Arizona Car Insurance Requirements and Laws

You have an insurance card somewhere—in your wallet or glove box or . . . maybe it’s in that “file” drawer with the coupons and other random junk. Knowing where it’s at is important, but knowing for sure you’d be covered if you got in an accident matters more.

Here's what Arizona's minimum coverage pays for, how to prove you're insured, what happens if you aren't, and how to close any gaps before they cost you big-time.

What Car Insurance Is Required in Arizona?

Arizona requires liability insurance with minimum limits of 25/50/15 on every vehicle driven on public roads.³ That rule covers motorcycles, mopeds and even golf carts. Yes, golf carts. (Looking at you, Sun City.) Your policy also has to come from an insurance company authorized to do business in Arizona.

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The state raised the minimum from 15/30/10 to today's limits on July 1, 2020, so any policy issued or renewed since then has to meet them.⁴

Liability coverage is the only coverage Arizona law requires. Collision, comprehensive and uninsured motorist coverage are all optional. And here’s what trips people up: Liability pays for the damage you cause to other people. It doesn’t pay a dime toward your own car or your own medical bills.

What Do Arizona’s 25/50/15 Car Insurance Requirements Mean?

The three numbers in 25/50/15 are the most your insurance company will pay, in thousands of dollars, when you cause a crash: $25,000 per injured person, $50,000 total for all injuries in one accident, and $15,000 for property damage. Yeah, 25/50/15 sounds more like a locker combination than a coverage plan, but here’s what each number pays for:

The first 25 is bodily injury liability per person. Say you hit another driver and their hospital bills and lost wages add up to $40,000. Your insurance pays $25,000. The other $15,000 is yours to cover.

The 50 is the cap for everyone you injure in that one crash. If three people are hurt, they split $50,000—no matter how many bills they end up with.

The 15 is property damage liability. That’s the other person’s car, plus anything else you hit, like a fence, a mailbox or someone’s prize saguaro.

Limits apply to Arizona policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2020. Source: Arizona State Legislature

Is Arizona a No-Fault State?

Arizona is not a no-fault state.⁵ In a no-fault state, your own insurance helps pay your medical bills after a crash, no matter who caused it. In the Grand Canyon State, the driver who causes the crash is responsible for paying for the damage, which makes Arizona an at-fault state.

If you cause the wreck, your liability coverage pays the other driver’s bills up to your limits. If someone else causes it, you file a claim with their insurance company. Either way, in an at-fault state, the bill for anything above the coverage limits goes to the person who caused the crash.

Do You Need Insurance to Register a Car in Arizona?

Yes. Arizona requires liability coverage on every registered vehicle, and if you don’t have it or let it lapse, you risk having your registration and driver’s license suspended. You have 30 days after registering your vehicle to submit proof of insurance .⁶

And the state doesn’t wait for a traffic stop to find out whether you’re covered—it checks electronically. Your insurance company reports your coverage status—including new policies, cancellations and nonrenewals—to the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) through the state’s insurance verification system. If your insurer reports that your policy isn’t active anymore, MVD mails you a notice asking you to verify your coverage. Don’t toss that letter onto a cluttered counter and forget about it.

You also have to carry proof of insurance in your vehicle every time you drive, and officers can take your license plate if you can’t show it. Arizona lets you show that proof on your phone (no more digging past expired registrations and a stash of Filiberto’s napkins while the cop waits at your window), so the digital ID card in your insurer’s app counts. And if you’re insured but can’t produce proof at a traffic stop, the ticket is dismissed once you show proof to the court by the date on the citation.

Planning to switch insurance companies? Make sure to start the new policy before the old one ends. A gap between policies is exactly what the MVD’s system is built to catch.

Storing a vehicle instead of driving it? Arizona lets you stop insuring it, but the registration won’t be valid until your insurance company reports an active policy.

What Happens if You Drive Without Insurance in Arizona?

If you’re caught driving without insurance, you’ll pay at least $500 and have your license suspended or restricted for three months on a first offense. The penalties get steeper with each repeat offense within 36 months.⁷

Sources: Arizona State Legislature and Arizona Department of Transportation

And that’s if you’re only caught without insurance. If you cause a crash with no insurance, you’re personally on the hook for every dollar of the other person’s medical bills and repairs.

Is the Arizona Minimum Car Insurance Enough?

No, Arizona’s minimum keeps you legal, but it won’t come close to covering a serious crash—and whatever your policy doesn’t pay comes out of your bank account.

A lot of people believe that if they carry the state minimum, they’re fully protected. That’s not true. The minimum was built to make sure the other driver gets at least some payment. It was never designed to protect your savings, your home or the life you’ve worked hard to build.

Look at the math. The average new vehicle sold for $50,562 in September 2026.⁸ Your property damage limit is $15,000, which means you’d be on the hook for around $35,000 if you hit the average new vehicle. Fifteen grand barely covers a bumper in a state where it feels like every third vehicle on the 202 is a lifted pickup.

And injuries get even more expensive. The National Safety Council puts the average economic cost of one disabling crash injury at $174,000.⁹ Your minimum-coverage per-person limit is $25,000. When your coverage runs out, the other driver’s attorney doesn’t shrug and go home. They come after what you own (like the house you just bought after years of saving for a down payment).

Let’s look at Marcus, for example. He’s 30, jacked, and lives in Mesa (he’s also totally made up, in case you were thinking you might try to get his number). Marcus carries 25/50/15 because it was the cheapest policy he could find.

Say he tries to beat a yellow light and hits a new pickup, injuring the driver. The driver’s medical bills and lost wages hit $60,000, and repairs on the full-size F-150 come to $38,000. Marcus’ insurance pays $25,000 for the injuries and $15,000 for the truck.

When Marcus gets out of the hospital himself, he finds out he owes the other $58,000: $35,000 for the injuries and $23,000 for the truck. He saved about what a few Sonic runs cost each month by going with the minimum instead of $500,000. Not a great trade.

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What Should Arizona Drivers Know About Uninsured Motorist and Glass Coverage Laws?

Arizona car insurance requirements don’t include uninsured motorist coverage or full glass coverage, but they do require your insurance company to offer you both.^{10, 11}

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays for your injuries when a driver with no insurance hits you. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage kicks in when the at-fault driver’s coverage isn’t enough to pay your bills—like when they’re carrying the same 25/50/15 minimum we just talked about.

These are a smart insurance buy, and we recommend carrying both—the consequences for skipping them are too high. Josh from Grand Rapids, Michigan, didn’t have to find out the hard way because he had them. “Being a survivor of a near fatal accident that had a total of almost 4 million dollars in total payout, I’m sure glad I did,” he wrote on THE Ramsey Baby Steps Community on Facebook.

When you buy a policy, Arizona insurers have to offer both to you in writing on a state-approved form. Your declarations page (the page in your policy that lists what coverages you have) shows whether you bought them or turned them down. Here’s the thing: Your insurer doesn’t have to offer them again when your policy renews. That means if you checked no thanks years ago to save a few bucks, that decision is still sitting on your policy.

Glass Coverage

If your policy includes comprehensive coverage, your insurer has to offer you full glass coverage, which repairs or replaces your windshield, windows and light covers with no deductible.¹² If you’re looking to save money on your premium, you should know that option may cost extra. But on Arizona highways where the landscaping is just rocks and bigger rocks, it can pay for itself pretty fast.

Arizona RamseyTrusted® pro Michael Ell said he sees a lot of clients replacing their glass every year or two because of the gravel and dust storms. “Carriers know it, which is why comprehensive runs higher here and why full glass coverage with no deductible should be on every Arizona auto policy,” he told us.

Are You Really Covered?

If you’re only carrying Arizona’s minimum coverage, the answer’s no. Even if you carry more, you may not be fully covered. Check your declarations page or talk to an insurance agent to find out. You want coverage that’ll keep a bad accident from becoming a financial disaster. Because if the damage exceeds your policy limits, your savings, your home and the future you’ve worked for could be on the line.

A RamseyTrusted independent agent in Arizona can review your limits, point out any gaps, and compare policies from multiple carriers so you get the right coverage at the best price. And if you passed on UM, UIM or glass coverage, they can help you add those too.