Montana requires every vehicle owner to carry liability insurance of at least $25,000 for injury to or death of one person, $50,000 for injury to or death of two or more people in one accident, and $20,000 for damage to other people's property (MCA § 61-6-103). That coverage pays the people the insured driver hurts, up to those amounts. It does not pay the insured driver's own injuries or car, and it is often less than a serious injury costs. This page explains what the minimum covers and what to do when it is not enough. It is part of the Learn section of our Montana Injury Claim Guide.
The Minimum Limits
| Limit | What MCA § 61-6-103(1) says it covers | In plain terms |
|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | Bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident. | The most the policy pays for any one injured person. |
| $50,000 | Bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident. | Shared by everyone hurt in the crash, still capped at $25,000 for each person. |
| $20,000 | Injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident. | Vehicles and other property belonging to other people. |
These limits apply to each motor vehicle on the policy, and they do not include interest and costs. An operator's policy, which covers a person driving vehicles they do not own, must carry the same limits (MCA § 61-6-103(2)).
Who Has to Carry It
The owner of a vehicle that is registered and operated in Montana must continuously provide liability insurance in at least those amounts, or hold a certificate of self-insurance. It is unlawful to drive on a public road in Montana without a valid liability policy at those limits, unless the driver is self-insured or the vehicle is exempt (MCA § 61-6-301).
The same statute allows a policy to exclude a named family member from coverage (MCA § 61-6-301(1)(b)). If the driver who hit you was an excluded family member on the owner's policy, that policy may not respond, and your own uninsured motorist coverage may become the place to look.
What the Minimum Does Not Cover
The required policy insures against "liability imposed by law" for damages arising out of the use of the vehicle (MCA § 61-6-103(1)). That means it pays other people when the insured driver is legally responsible. It does not pay:
- The insured driver's own medical bills or lost income.
- Repairs to the insured driver's own vehicle.
- Anything above the limits, however serious the injury.
- Anything for which the insured driver is not legally liable, such as a crash the other side caused.
Your own injuries are covered either through the at-fault driver's liability insurance or through coverages you buy for yourself: uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, which Montana policies include unless the named insured rejected it (MCA § 33-23-201), and underinsured motorist (UIM) and medical payment coverage, which Montana law treats as additional coverages a policy may include (MCA § 33-23-204).
When Several People Are Hurt
The $50,000 limit is for all bodily injury and death in one accident, and the $25,000 limit for one person still applies inside it. If three people are seriously hurt by a driver carrying only the minimum, all three claims come out of the same $50,000, and none of them can receive more than $25,000 from that policy. Property damage is separate, with its own $20,000 limit for the accident.
When Your Injuries Cost More Than the Limits
A serious injury can cost more than $25,000. When the at-fault driver carries only the minimum, the insurer generally will not pay more than its limits, so the question becomes where else money can come from:
- Your own UIM coverage, if you bought it. See uninsured and underinsured motorist claims.
- Your own med pay, for medical expenses regardless of fault. See who pays your medical bills while the claim is open.
- Anyone else responsible, such as a driver's employer if the driver was working, or another driver who shares the fault.
- The driver personally, for the amount above the limits, though collecting from an individual can be difficult.
Before you accept an offer of the full policy limits, read your own UIM coverage and tell your insurer, because your policy may have its own terms about settling with the other driver. Our page on what affects the value of an injury claim explains why the limits so often set the practical ceiling.
If the driver who hit you was working for a rideshare company, the coverage depends on what the app was doing at the time, and it can be much higher than the personal minimum. Our article on whose insurance pays after an Uber or Lyft crash explains how.
What to Do After a Crash
- Get the other driver's name, insurer, and policy number at the scene, and a copy of the crash report.
- Find your own declarations page and check for UM, UIM, and med pay, and their limits.
- Report the crash to your own insurer promptly, even if the other driver was at fault.
- Keep track of the deadlines: generally 3 years for an injury claim and 2 years for property damage (MCA § 27-2-204, MCA § 27-2-207).
Our article on what to do after a car accident in Montana goes through the first days in more detail.
Next: When the Other Driver Has No Insurance, or Not Enough
Most of the options above depend on coverage you carry yourself. Our page on uninsured and underinsured motorist claims explains how UM and UIM work in Montana, whether coverage can be added together, and what you have to prove.
This page explains Montana law in general as of the 2025 Montana Code Annotated. It is not legal advice about your situation, and your policy's own terms control much of how these coverages work.