The first question in a bicycle insurance claim is not how much, but which policy. A cyclist struck in California may be dealing with the driver’s liability insurance, their own automobile policy even though no car of theirs was involved, their health coverage, or a property owner’s policy — and more than one of these can be in play at once. The routing question determines the deadlines, the notice requirements and the practical ceiling on the claim. This page sets out how each policy fits, the state reporting requirement that applies regardless of who was at fault, and the coverage figures that changed in 2025.
Key Takeaways
- California’s minimum liability limits rose on 1 January 2025. Figures published before that date, and some published since, are out of date.
- An SR-1 report must be filed with the DMV within 10 days where there was an injury, a death, or property damage over $1,000 — and the requirement applies regardless of fault.
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy can apply when you are struck while cycling, including in a hit-and-run.
- Whether a driver counts as underinsured depends on your own UM limits, not on the size of your losses, and the result surprises people.
- A UM or UIM claim carries its own two-year requirement that is separate from the deadline to sue the driver, and it is satisfied in specific ways.
- Being wrong is not the same as acting unreasonably where your own insurer is concerned.
Which Policy Responds
Four sources of coverage arise most often, and they are not alternatives so much as layers.
The driver’s liability insurance. Where a motorist was responsible, their bodily injury liability coverage is the primary source. It is also the one with a defined ceiling, which is why the limits below matter.
Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Our page on uninsured motorist coverage in California explains that this coverage can extend to you as a pedestrian, cyclist, or passenger in someone else’s vehicle, depending on the policy and the statutory definitions. A cyclist who owns a car but was not driving it can still have coverage through that policy. This is the single most overlooked source of recovery in bicycle claims.
Health coverage. Health insurance generally responds to treatment regardless of who was at fault, which matters because it does not wait for a liability determination. It may later assert a right to be repaid out of any recovery, which is a question worth understanding early rather than discovering at the end.
A property owner’s policy. Where a condition on private property contributed, the owner’s or occupier’s liability coverage may be involved instead of, or alongside, a motorist’s.
The Reporting Requirement Most Cyclists Do Not Know About
This one is specific, it has a short deadline, and it does not depend on fault.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles states that “California law requires traffic accidents on a California street/highway or private property to be reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) within 10 days if there was an injury, death or property damage in excess of $1,000.” The report is made on form SR-1, and the DMV states that “the law requires the driver to file this SR 1 form with DMV regardless of fault.” The DMV also notes that untimely reporting can result in a driver licence suspension.
Two points follow for a cyclist. Any injury triggers the requirement — there is no dollar threshold attached to the injury limb, only to the property damage limb. And because the obligation runs regardless of fault, it is not resolved by the fact that someone else caused the collision.
The Coverage Figures That Changed in 2025
This matters because a great deal of published material still carries the older numbers, and the difference is substantial.
The California Department of Insurance announced that from 1 January 2025 minimum liability limits rose to $30,000 for bodily injury or death per person (up from $15,000), $60,000 for bodily injury or death per accident (up from $30,000), and $15,000 for property damage per accident (up from $5,000). The Department noted the change would take effect across standard policies as they came up for renewal through the year. The DMV publishes the same requirement as $30,000 for injury or death to one person, $60,000 for injury or death to more than one person, and $15,000 for damage to property.
These are minimums a driver must carry, not amounts anyone is entitled to, and many drivers carry more. What they establish is the floor of what may be available where a driver carries nothing beyond the requirement.
The Underinsured Trap
This is the part that runs counter to intuition, and it is worth checking against your own declarations page before assuming anything.
Under California law an underinsured motor vehicle is one insured for an amount less than the uninsured motorist limits carried on the vehicle of the injured person. The comparison is between the driver’s liability limits and your UM limits — not between the driver’s limits and your losses.
The consequence: if you carry UM limits equal to the driver’s liability limits, that driver’s vehicle is not underinsured, however large your losses are, and UIM coverage does not fill the gap. If you carry substantially higher UM limits than the driver carries, the vehicle is underinsured and your coverage addresses the difference above what their policy pays. Our uninsured motorist page works through both scenarios.
The practical implication is that the value of this protection is set by a decision made when the policy was bought, long before any collision.
The Deadline That Runs Against Your Own Insurer
A UM or UIM claim is a contract claim against your own carrier, and it carries a requirement separate from the deadline to sue a driver. Our uninsured motorist page sets it out: within two years of the date of the accident, one of three things must have happened — suit has been filed against the uninsured motorist in a court of competent jurisdiction, agreement has been reached on the amount due under the policy, or the insured has formally instituted arbitration by notifying the insurer in writing sent by certified mail, return receipt requested.
Negotiating with an adjuster does not satisfy that requirement. Neither does an open claim file. Where a hit-and-run is involved, both the statute and typical policy language impose further conditions, including prompt reporting.
Dealing With Adjusters
Two different relationships are involved, and they are not governed by the same duties.
An adjuster for the driver’s insurer represents that insurer. There is no obligation to give them a recorded statement, and it is reasonable to decline until you have spoken with a lawyer. Statements given early, while injured and before the full picture is known, become the material from which arguments about responsibility are later built.
Your own insurer is different, because the covenant in your policy runs to you. That does not mean every denial is improper. Our page on bad faith insurance claims in California explains that not every wrong denial is bad faith: where an insurer investigated reasonably and had a considered basis for its position, it is generally not liable in tort even if it turns out to have been wrong. The page also explains why a person injured by someone else generally cannot sue that person’s insurer directly.
Shared Responsibility
An adjuster assigning you a share of responsibility is stating a negotiating position rather than making a finding. California reduces a recovery by the share assigned rather than barring it, and our page on pure comparative fault explains how that operates and who ultimately decides the percentage.
What Helps
- Find and read your own auto policy declarations page, including the UM and UIM limits, before assuming what is available.
- Report to the DMV within the 10-day period where the requirement applies.
- Notify your own insurer promptly, particularly where the driver fled or carried no coverage.
- Keep the bicycle, helmet and gear unrepaired, and photograph everything before anything is cleaned or moved.
- Keep every letter, email and claim number, and note the date and substance of every call.
- Decline recorded statements and sign nothing, including medical authorisations, before speaking with a lawyer.
- Keep receipts, bills and a record of work missed.
- Do not resolve a claim before the medical picture is understood, because a settlement is generally final.
Talk to a California Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Vaksman Khalfin, PC represents injured cyclists throughout California. A free consultation can identify which policies may respond, what notice requirements apply, and what should be done before a deadline passes. The California office is at 15 North Ellsworth Avenue, Suite 105, San Mateo, CA 94401. Call (650) 250-0705, schedule a free consultation, or read more about California bicycle accident claims, the San Mateo office, and the wider California personal injury practice.
Reviewed by Alan D. Khalfin, Partner and Managing Attorney, Vaksman Khalfin, PC (admitted in California). Last reviewed:
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. A cyclist struck by a motorist can claim against that driver's liability coverage, and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy can apply to you while cycling, including where the driver fled or had no insurance. Health coverage and, in some situations, a property owner's policy may also be involved.
The DMV states that traffic accidents in California must be reported within 10 days where there was an injury, a death, or property damage over $1,000, using form SR-1, and that the requirement applies regardless of fault. Any injury triggers it; the dollar threshold attaches only to property damage.
From 1 January 2025 the minimums are $30,000 for bodily injury or death per person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage, according to the California Department of Insurance and the DMV. The previous figures were $15,000, $30,000 and $5,000, and material published before the change still circulates.
Only if your uninsured motorist limits are higher than their liability limits. California defines an underinsured vehicle by comparing the driver's limits to your UM limits, not to your losses. If the two are equal, the vehicle is not underinsured and UIM does not apply, whatever the losses.
Uninsured motorist coverage is the route where a driver cannot be identified. Both the statute and typical policy language impose conditions on these claims, including prompt reporting, so notifying your own insurer quickly matters.
It is reasonable to decline until you have spoken with a lawyer. The adjuster for the other side's insurer represents that insurer, and early statements given while injured become the material from which arguments about responsibility are built.
Within two years of the accident, one of three things must have happened: suit filed against the uninsured motorist, agreement reached on the amount due under the policy, or arbitration formally instituted by written notice to the insurer sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. Ongoing negotiation does not satisfy it.
Not necessarily. Where an insurer investigated reasonably and had a considered basis for its position, it is generally not liable in tort even if it was wrong. Whether a particular denial crosses the line is a question of how the claim was handled.
The initial consultation is free. If the firm takes a case, attorney's fees are contingent on a recovery; case costs are a separate category, and how they are handled is set out in the written fee agreement before any representation begins.
