Auto Accidents
Usually the liability insurance of whichever driver caused the crash pays first, even if that driver was the one you were riding with. If that coverage is missing, excluded or too small, the uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on the car you were in, or on a policy in your own household, may apply, and medical payments coverage can help with medical bills regardless of fault.
Last updated October 5, 2026.
For a passenger, the hard part of a claim is usually finding the right policy, not proving fault. Our auto accident practice represents passengers as well as drivers, and this page explains the California rules that decide which insurance answers for a passenger's injuries, and in what order.
| Coverage | Whose policy | What it does | Law or source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | Each driver who caused the crash, including the driver you rode with | Pays for the harm that driver is legally responsible for, up to the limits; the minimum is $30,000 per person and $60,000 per crash for policies issued or renewed from 2025 | Veh. Code 16056 |
| Permissive driver coverage | The car owner's policy, when someone else was driving with permission | A covered car's policy must insure other people using it with the owner's permission, within the scope of that permission | Ins. Code 11580.1(b)(4) |
| Owner liability | The car's owner, if the driver used it with permission | Makes the owner responsible, capped at $15,000 per person and $30,000 per crash when there is no employment or agency link | Veh. Code 17150, 17151 |
| Medical payments | Usually the car you were in | Medical costs up to the limit, regardless of fault; the minimum limit sold is $1,000 per person | Department of Insurance |
| Uninsured and underinsured motorist | The car you were in, and possibly your household's policy | Pays what you could recover from an uninsured or underinsured at-fault driver, up to the limits | Ins. Code 11580.2 |
| Rideshare coverage | The rideshare company and its driver | $1,000,000 primary liability during a trip, plus $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident in uninsured and underinsured coverage while you are in the car | Pub. Util. Code 5433 |
A passenger can have claims against both drivers at once. Under CACI 406, when more than one person's negligence was a substantial factor in causing the harm, the jury assigns percentages of responsibility that total 100 percent. Civil Code section 1431.2 limits each defendant's share of non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, to that defendant's percentage of fault; that limit does not apply to economic damages such as medical bills and lost earnings.
Sometimes. Insurance Code section 11580.1(c)(5) allows an auto liability policy to exclude liability for bodily injury to "an insured," and for that paragraph "an insured" means any insured under the policy. The Department of Insurance puts the practical result plainly in its auto insurance guide: liability coverage does not pay for injuries to you or the people in your household, and you can buy medical payments coverage for yourself and household members.
For a family member riding with a relative they live with, the uninsured motorist coverage on the same policy may not fill the gap either. Section 11580.2(b) says an "uninsured motor vehicle" does not include a vehicle owned or operated by the named insured or any resident of the same household. Section 11580.2(c)(7) adds that the coverage does not apply to an insured struck by a vehicle owned by an insured, with a narrow exception for a vehicle taken without consent in documented criminal activity. That can leave medical payments coverage, and the other driver's policy if the other driver shared fault, as the main sources.
A second trap is the excluded driver. Under section 11580.1(d)(1), an insurer and the named insured may agree that the policy will not apply while a person designated by name is driving, and that agreement binds every insured and every third-party claimant. The Department of Insurance warns policyholders that some drivers might be excluded from a policy. If the driver you rode with was excluded on the car's policy, look for a policy issued to that driver personally.
Usually, yes. When the named insured is an individual, section 11580.2(b) defines "insured" to include the named insured, the spouse, relatives living in the household, and "any other person while in or upon or entering into or alighting from an insured motor vehicle." In plain terms, a passenger in a car with uninsured motorist coverage is generally an insured under that coverage while in, entering or leaving the car. The Department of Insurance agrees that this coverage pays for injuries to you and any person in your car.
Your own household's policy is another possible source, because relatives living in the named insured's household are insureds "while occupants of a motor vehicle or otherwise." But section 11580.2(c)(2) says the required coverage does not apply to an insured hurt in a vehicle other than the described vehicle if that vehicle's owner has similar insurance, and section 11580.2(q) forbids adding policy limits together. Whether your household's policy adds anything therefore depends on its wording and on the coverage on the car you were in. If the driver who hit you fled, the 24-hour report and 30-day sworn statement in our guide to hit and run and uninsured driver claims apply to passengers too.
Rideshare companies are "transportation network companies" under Public Utilities Code section 5431, and section 5433 sets their insurance. From the moment the driver accepts a ride request until the ride is complete, the insurance must be primary and in the amount of $1,000,000 for death, personal injury and property damage. The company must also provide uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident from the moment a passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits, primary over any other uninsured or underinsured coverage. Those uninsured motorist figures come from the version of section 5433 amended by Senate Bill 371, effective January 1, 2026.
Under section 5433(d), the rideshare coverage does not depend on a personal auto policy first denying the claim. Save the trip receipt from the app.
The household exclusion in section 11580.1(c)(5) and the household carve-out from "uninsured motor vehicle" in section 11580.2(b) matter only when the passenger is an insured under the same policy. A friend riding along usually claims against the driver's liability coverage in the ordinary way. If you and the driver were both working at the time, section 11580.1(c)(4) allows a policy to exclude injury to the insured's employees on the job, and workers' compensation may be involved.
When a friend drives an owner's car with permission, the owner's policy must cover that driver within the scope of the permission (section 11580.1(b)(4)). Vehicle Code section 17150 also makes the owner responsible for a permitted driver's negligence, but section 17151 caps that statutory liability at $15,000 per person when it does not arise from an employment or agency relationship. If the driver was working, read our page on crashes involving trucks and company vehicles.
Under CACI 711, a passenger is not required to watch the road and may expect the driver to use reasonable care. But if a passenger becomes aware of a danger, or of the driver's impairment or carelessness, the passenger must take reasonable steps for their own safety.
CACI 712 lets a defendant argue that a passenger was negligent for not wearing a seat belt, but only by proving that a working belt was available, that a reasonably careful person would have used it, that the passenger did not, and that the injuries would have been avoided or less severe with it. On a motorcycle, Vehicle Code section 27803 requires the passenger to wear a helmet; our page on motorcycle and lane splitting claims explains how that is argued.
Under Code of Civil Procedure section 352(a), the time a person is a minor does not count toward the two-year deadline. That pause does not apply to claims against public entities that require a government claim (section 352(b)), so the six-month deadline still runs for a child hurt by a city or county vehicle; our page on claims against Glendale or Los Angeles County explains that process.
For example, imagine a hypothetical college student who lives with her parents in Glendale. A friend from class drives her home, and on Colorado Street the friend turns left in front of an oncoming car that is going too fast. Both drivers carry the state minimum, $30,000 per person, and the student's injuries require surgery.
She does not live with her friend, so the household exclusion does not touch the friend's policy. The left-turning driver had to yield to oncoming traffic, and the other driver had to keep a reasonable speed, so both liability policies may answer for their shares. The friend's car carries medical payments coverage, which can pay some bills regardless of fault. Her parents' policy, under which she is an insured as a resident relative, has higher underinsured limits. Whether it adds anything depends on its wording and on the coverage on her friend's car, so she tells that insurer about the crash in writing and asks for consent before accepting any liability payment. None of this tells her what her claim is worth; it identifies the policies and the order in which they may respond.
Yes, if the friend's carelessness helped cause the crash. The claim normally goes to the friend's liability insurer, which handles it within the policy limits. The household exclusion applies only if you are an insured under that same policy, for example because you live with the driver.
You need to show that a driver's negligence caused your harm, but you do not need to pick one. Under CACI 406, a jury can divide responsibility among several people. A passenger's own conduct matters only in narrow situations, such as ignoring a danger the passenger became aware of (CACI 711).
Often not under the liability coverage. Section 11580.1(c)(5) allows a policy to exclude bodily injury to an insured, and the Department of Insurance says liability coverage does not pay for injuries to people in your household. Medical payments coverage and the other driver's insurance may still apply.
Ask for the denial in writing with the policy language it relies on. Our page on what to do when an injury claim is denied or underpaid explains the next steps.
For a claim against a private driver, the two-year period generally does not run while the child is a minor (Code of Civil Procedure section 352(a)). A claim against a public agency must still be presented within six months.
Then the family or the estate brings the claim. Our page on wrongful death and survival claims explains who may sue and what changed in 2026.
We identify every policy that may apply to a passenger, including both drivers' liability coverage, the owner's policy, medical payments, uninsured and underinsured coverage and rideshare insurance, and we handle the insurers in the right order. Our Los Angeles County personal injury page explains where claims and cases go locally. Call (818) 244-9000 or request a consultation.
Our Glendale team can identify every policy that may apply, from the driver you rode with to your own household's coverage.
Request a Consultation