As mentioned above, the most popular way of proving financial responsibility is to obtain a liability insurance policy. If you are insufficiently insured at the time of an accident, your driver’s license will be suspended. That’s right, they skip right past the detention and go right to the suspension. These people mean business.

Your policy must—at a minimum—provide the following coverage:

Source

• $15,000 for a single death or injury.
• $30,000 for death or injury to multiple persons.
• $5,000 for property damage.

You will note that you need to be insured more for death or injury than for property damage. We know that, if given the choice, you would opt to save your Xbox 360 over the life of a fellow human being, but the state feels differently. Silly state.Before operating your vehicle, you should check with your insurance company to make sure you are properly insured. You must meet each of the following three conditions:

1. Your policy must provide coverage that equals or exceeds each of the three amounts listed above. We recommend having a policy written that exceeds these values if you plan on driving into a lot of stuff.
2. Your insurance company must file a power of attorney that gives the DMV the right to act as its legal agent. That’s more on your insurance company than on you, so just make sure you choose a legit company. Going with We’ll Save Your Ass, LLC is probably an unwise decision.
3. If moving to California, you must have your vehicle insured before you arrive. You also shouldn’t come here until you have built up a pretty good base tan.