Editorial Standards

Coverage Criteria is a regulatory reference site, not a broker, comparison engine, or publisher of opinion. Every guide is held to the same standard: accurate, sourced, plain-language, and free of commercial influence.

What We Cover

We publish guides on mandatory insurance requirements — the minimum coverage rules set by state statutes, licensing boards, federal regulators (FMCSA, DOT), and immigration authorities for specific visa categories. We do not publish recommendations for specific insurers or products.

Primary Source Requirement

Every factual claim in our guides must trace to a primary source: a state statute, administrative code, DMV publication, state Department of Insurance bulletin, or equivalent official document. Secondary sources (news articles, comparison sites, broker blogs) are not acceptable as the sole basis for a regulatory claim.

Source citations appear at the end of every article, listing the agency name and document or statute reference. Where outbound hyperlinks are provided, they are manually verified against the claim before publication.

Tone and Language Standards

• Factual, not advisory: We write "State law requires drivers to carry…" — not "You should buy…"
• Plain language: Guides target an 8th–10th grade reading level. Tables over prose where data is tabular.
• No promotional language: No affiliate links, no insurer recommendations by name, no CTAs that resemble sales.
• YMYL compliance: Insurance content is classified as Your Money / Your Life under Google's quality rater guidelines. We apply heightened accuracy standards accordingly.

Author Bylines

Every guide is published under one of four named bylines — Marcus Reyes, Dana Whitfield, Priya Anand, or Jordan Ellis — each mapped to a specific coverage area (auto & gig economy, vehicle types, business & contractor, and compliance/liability/travel, respectively).

To be direct about what these bylines are: each one is a named research persona representing our editorial process for that coverage area — a consistent identity we use so readers can see who is behind a given topic and follow their work across articles. They are not individually licensed insurance agents, brokers, or credentialed reviewers, and no guide on this site should be read as advice from a specific licensed professional. The facts under every byline are sourced the same way, following the Primary Source Requirement above, regardless of which name is attached.

We are working toward adding a named, credentialed reviewer — a licensed insurance professional or compliance-adjacent attorney — to periodically review published guides. That reviewer will be identified separately and explicitly, with a real, verifiable license or affiliation, once in place.

Article Review Process

1. Research: Editorial team identifies the applicable statute, regulatory bulletin, or licensing board requirement.
2. Drafting: Article written following the canonical section structure (Quick Answer → Minimum Coverage → Who Must Carry → Exceptions → Penalties → How to Comply → FAQ).
3. Internal review: Second editorial review checks factual accuracy, source quality, and tone compliance.
4. Publication: Article published with "Last verified" date and source citations.
5. Monitoring: Legislative changes and regulatory updates trigger re-review. Articles are re-verified at minimum annually.

Corrections Policy

Factual errors are corrected promptly. When a correction changes a material fact (a coverage amount, a penalty figure, a legal threshold), the article is updated and the "Last verified" date is refreshed. Significant corrections are documented on our corrections page.

Independence

Coverage Criteria does not accept sponsored articles, paid placements, or payments for favorable coverage. Advertising may appear on the site through third-party ad networks; advertisers have no influence over editorial content.

Contact

Editorial questions, including suggestions for corrections or new coverage areas, can be sent to hello@coveragecriteria.com.