California limo insurance starts at $750,000 and reaches $5,000,000, and the insurer files it with the PUC.
General Order 115-G, by seating capacity counting the driver. This is a sedan, an SUV and most stretch limousines, and the Commission will not accept a policy below it. We set the coverage up and produce the certificate — usually the same day.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
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What California requires
Does California set a minimum for limo insurance?
General Order 115-G sets the minimum by seating capacity, counting the driver: $750,000 for a vehicle seating 8 or fewer, $1,500,000 for 9 through 15, and $5,000,000 for 16 or more. The order was last amended March 21, 2024.
cpuc.ca.gov·checked 2026-09-07
Who licenses a limousine in California?
A California limousine operates under a charter-party carrier permit from the Public Utilities Commission. A Class P permit covers vehicles seating fewer than 16 people including the driver, which is every sedan, SUV and stretch limousine; the permit number rides on the TCP plate.
cpuc.ca.gov·checked 2026-09-07
Does the policy have to be filed with the state in California?
The carrier does not file its own proof. General Order 115-G requires the insurer, surety or surplus lines broker to file the policy electronically with the Commission, with the PL-912 endorsement attached and thirty days’ notice before any cancellation. A surety bond or Commission-approved self-insurance can stand in for the policy.
cpuc.ca.gov·checked 2026-09-07
Workers comp is filed too. Public Utilities Code section 5378.1 makes every charter-party carrier file a certificate of workers’ compensation coverage, a certification of consent to self-insure, or a statement under penalty of perjury that it employs no one, and the filing stays effective until cancelled on thirty days’ notice.
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov·checked 2026-09-07
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
Limits
What to carry, and why that number.
- Liability, 8 seats or fewer including the driver$750,000
- Liability, 9 to 15 seats$1,500,000
- The middle band of GO 115-G: a stretch SUV, a Sprinter or a small party bus. The seat count on the manufacturer’s plate decides the band, not how many you usually carry.
- Liability, 16 seats or more$5,000,000
- The top band, and the one a party bus falls into the day a bench seat is added. Carriers that write $1,500,000 for the middle band are a shorter list at five million.
- What a hotel, venue or airport contract asks for$1,000,000 combined single limit or more
- Not a California figure. A hotel, a wedding venue, an airport concession or a corporate account asks for a million on the certificate and often names itself as additional insured, and a policy written at the state floor cannot produce that certificate. Party buses and anything over 15 seats are asked for $5,000,000 by the customers that book them.
Coverage
Eight lines. Each one closes a specific hole.
Commercial auto liability at the filed limit
Injury and property damage caused by the vehicle, at the limit your filings demand. For-hire passenger carriers in interstate commerce need $5,000,000 of liability coverage on any vehicle seating 16 or more including the driver, and $1,500,000 on any vehicle seating 15 or fewer including the driver.
Without it — A personal auto policy excludes a vehicle carrying people for a fee, and a commercial policy written below the filed limit leaves the operator holding the difference after a serious loss.
Physical damage on stretch conversions
Collision and comprehensive on a stated value that reflects the coachbuilder’s invoice as well as the chassis, so a totaled stretch pays out as a stretch.
Without it — A policy that values the vehicle as the sedan it was built on pays for the sedan. The conversion, which is most of the cost, is your loss.
Hired and non-owned auto
Liability for rides farmed out to affiliate operators and for owner-drivers who bring their own vehicle under your name.
Without it — The dispatcher’s name is on the booking. When the affiliate’s vehicle crashes, the suit names the company the client hired.
General liability
A client hurt stepping off the curb, a slip in your office, a claim about the champagne and not the driving.
Without it — The auto policy answers for the vehicle in motion. What happens beside it and around it needs its own policy, and every hotel and venue contract asks for one.
Abuse and molestation
Defense and damages for an allegation involving a passenger, which for a chauffeur alone with a minor on prom night is a real exposure.
Without it — General liability commonly excludes abuse outright. An allegation with no coverage means paying your own lawyer from the first letter.
Liquor liability
Injury caused by an intoxicated passenger you served or allowed to drink on board, including to someone they hurt after you dropped them off.
Without it — A stocked bar in the back of the vehicle is a liquor exposure, and the auto policy does not answer for it.
Workers compensation
Chauffeurs hurt lifting luggage, in a collision, or assisting a passenger in and out.
Without it — A chauffeur you call a contractor is still an employee to most state boards, and an unpaid injury claim becomes a penalty plus the claim.
Umbrella
A limit above the primary auto and general liability policies, for the contract that asks for more than the filing does.
Without it — A stretch carries ten people. One collision produces ten claimants against one limit.
In California
The organizations that will ask for your certificate.
- California Department of Insurance · Licenses the carriers and agents that write the coverage.
Questions
Does California set a minimum for limo insurance?
Yes, by seat count including the driver. General Order 115-G sets $750,000 for a vehicle seating 8 or fewer, $1,500,000 for 9 through 15 and $5,000,000 for 16 or more, and it is the strictest schedule of any state we write. The insurer files the policy electronically with the Public Utilities Commission with the PL-912 endorsement, and a lapse reaches the Commission before it reaches you. A Class P permit for the smaller vehicles does not lower the figure; the seats do.
Does the state minimum in California match what a hotel or venue asks for?
No, and not in any state. A hotel, wedding venue, airport concession or corporate account asks for a $1,000,000 combined single limit on the certificate and names itself as additional insured, and a party bus is asked for $5,000,000 by the customers that book one. The California figure is the floor for holding the permit or the plate; the contract figure is the floor for getting paid. The policy is written to the higher of the two, and the state filing, where California has one, is satisfied on the way.
Do I need workers comp for chauffeurs in California?
One or more employees. There is no minimum count. (Cal. Labor Code § 3700). A chauffeur who drives your car, on your schedule, wearing your uniform, is an employee whatever the paperwork calls them, and a limo company’s payroll is almost entirely drivers, so the threshold is reached with the first hire. The claims are back injuries from luggage and collisions on the job, and the auto policy does not pay a driver’s own medical bills; workers comp does.
Will my personal auto policy cover a limousine I drive for hire?
No. The standard personal auto policy excludes liability while the vehicle is used to carry people or property for a fee, which the form calls public or livery conveyance. A limousine booked by the hour is the definition of it. The exclusion applies whether the carrier knew about the business or not, so the discovery happens at the claim.
What livery insurance is, and why the personal policy excludes it
What limits does a limousine service have to carry?
For-hire passenger carriers in interstate commerce need $5,000,000 of liability coverage on any vehicle seating 16 or more including the driver, and $1,500,000 on any vehicle seating 15 or fewer including the driver. California charter-party carriers file their limits with the Public Utilities Commission under General Order 115, which sets $5,000,000 at 16 seats or more, $1,500,000 at 9 through 15 seats and $750,000 at 8 seats or fewer, in every case counting the driver. A six-passenger sedan and a twenty-passenger stretch SUV are therefore filed at different numbers, and a hotel or venue contract can ask for more than either.
How much does limo insurance cost?
There is no rate card, and a figure quoted without seeing the fleet is a guess. The price moves on seat count, because the seat count sets the limit. It moves on the drivers, the radius, the claims history, whether alcohol is on board, whether you carry minors, and on what a stretch conversion costs to replace. The guide walks through each one and what you can do about it before you ask for a quote.
We also run a party bus. Is that the same policy?
Usually the same carrier and a different conversation. A party bus crosses sixteen seats, which raises the federal filing to $5,000,000, and it carries alcohol and standing passengers, which are the two things a limousine underwriter did not price. Disclose it as its own vehicle with its own use.
What about executive sedans and SUVs with no stretch?
Black car work is livery at the sedan end. The federal band is the lower one, California files a sedan at $750,000 rather than $1,500,000, and the underwriting questions are about drivers, airports and affiliate work rather than conversions and prom nights.
Who actually writes limousine insurance?
A short list of specialty passenger carriers, and it is the same list for the whole public auto class. National Indemnity treats limousines and party buses as target business. Berkshire Hathaway Homestate writes limo alongside taxi and school bus. Lancer is strongest on charter and coach. A decline from a general commercial auto carrier says nothing about whether the account is placeable with them.
Do you write motorcoaches and charter buses too?
Yes, and the charter page is the one to read for a coach. Everything at sixteen seats or more files at $5,000,000, and a motorcoach adds the MCS-90B endorsement, the physical damage value of a coach and the school and tour contracts that ask for more.
Read next
The coverage itself, explained.
California decides what you must carry. These explain what you are buying, what it excludes, and what moves the price.
Coverage
Nearby states
Tell us what you do. We’ll tell you what it costs.
Licensed in California. Have your payroll figures and a list of services on hand — those are the two things that slow a quote down.
Start a quoteLast reviewed 2026-09-07