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Home›Car insurance›Cost and pricing›Liability-only cost
Cost benchmark

Liability-Only Car Insurance Cost

By YesWeSure EditorialReviewed October 3, 2026Editorial standardsReport an errorSources

A liability-only auto policy averages roughly $600 to $900 per year nationally for a clean-record driver per published aggregator benchmarks. That is approximately 40 to 50 percent of a full-coverage premium for the same driver. Liability-only is not the same as state-minimum coverage: you can carry liability-only at any limit, including 250/500/100 or higher. This page is about the cost of the coverage structure; the explainer of the coverage itself is at coverage/liability, and the cheapest-minimum ranking is at cost/cheapest-minimum.

Liability-only vs full coverage

  • Liability-only: pays the other party when you cause damage. Covers bodily injury and property damage per the policy limits. Does not pay for your car.
  • Full coverage: liability + collision + comprehensive. Collision pays for your car when you crash; comprehensive pays for non-collision damage (theft, hail, animal strike).
  • Price gap: dropping collision and comprehensive on a $1,500 full-coverage policy typically saves $500 to $800 per year.

When liability-only makes financial sense

  • Vehicle is paid off and worth less than roughly 10x the annual collision + comprehensive premium (common threshold: car value under $3,000 with $300 physical-damage premium).
  • You can self-insure a total loss out of pocket without borrowing.
  • Lender has released the vehicle (financed vehicles typically require full coverage).

When liability-only is a trap

  • Vehicle is financed or leased: lender/lessor requires full coverage.
  • You cannot comfortably replace the vehicle out of pocket after a total loss.
  • You carry low liability limits (e.g. 25/50/25): a serious bodily-injury claim will exhaust the limit, exposing you personally to the balance. Low limits are a bigger risk than dropping physical-damage lines.

Carriers that lead on liability-only

USAA (eligible), GEICO, State Farm, and Travelers typically lead on liability-only benchmarks for a clean-record profile. See our cheapest car insurance page for the full ranking.

Related reading

  • Liability coverage explained
  • Cheapest minimum coverage
  • Cheapest full coverage
  • When to drop collision and comprehensive
  • How to choose coverage limits

Sources

  1. MoneyGeek: Liability-only car insurance cost 2026.
  2. Insurance.com: Liability-only vs full-coverage benchmarks.
  3. CarInsurance.com: Average car insurance by coverage level.