While doing some research to give some advice to a young man I learned that New Hampshire and Virgina do not require you to have auto insurance. This is news to me, and frankly it Suprises me. If any State didn’t require auto insurance, you would think it would be a red state.
I guess New Hampshire really is live free or die. Yes you are liable for damages you cause in a wreck, but you can’t milk a turnip as they say. If I lived in NH and didn’t have any money, I sure wouldn’t carry insurance. Heck if I did have money, I may not carry insurance. Let them sue you!
In Virginia you can pay a 500 dollar Uninsured motorist fee to the state and then you can legally drive without car insurance.
I have been told uninsured drivers are excessive in Kentucky and Michigan, we have plenty here in Indiana as well.
I do agree. I was just shocked that there were still a few states left. Now i assume just because you can drive legally in NH with no car insurance doesn’t mean you can cross state lines and still be legal.
Although in Indiana we only have 1 license plate for the rear of vehicle, or for the front of vehicle on dump trucks, and I can legally drive in states that require 2 plates for cars registered there.
NJ had that type of plan several decades ago, for a fee of (maybe?) as little as $25 per year. However, the coverage was minimal and many people whose cars were hit by one of those “state-insured” cars found that they received only a very meager settlement. Because of widespread dissatisfaction, that plan was discontinued ~50 years ago.
I agree. It makes little sense, so you pay the State of Virginia 500 dollars and then you can just ride around all willy nilly. What does the 500 dollars go to? Is the State basically saying guve us our cut in case you damage one of our guard rails, light poles or barriers, and good luck to anyone else you plow into.
New York is very strict about insurance and always has been (since the 60’s).
Big penalties if you let your insurance lapse.
Insurance company reports to motor vehicles.
If you haven’t turned in your plates by then, $300 a day, then registration suspension equal to the number of days that you kept the plates without insurance.
No mandate for insurance certainly seems more fair to a car owner who wanted to post a bond instead. Might have to be a bond for a large amount though. Gov’t policies which require citizens purchase products from private companies seems like a recipe for potential corruption.
I don’t like having to pay >$60 per month for a vehicle that gets used less than 100 miles per month. I kind of like this no insurace thing.
I wonder if the risk of driving 1000 miles per month with $50,000 of liability insurace coverage is more risky than driving 50 miles per month with none. Because even with $50,000, I could cause an accident where the damage exceeds $50,000 by a large amount.
I believe it would be the commerce clause in the constitution that does not allow one state to interfere with another states laws. Thus drivers licenses in one state are honored in all states. Same as insurance requirements in one state. As long as you are not a resident of that state. Of course traffic and other laws are still enforced by the state you are in. If 80mph is legal in sd, doesn’t mean you can drive 80 in Mn.
The thing with insurance though that people don’t think about always is that the policy comes with free lawyers. They have a legal duty to defend you. And lawyers are expensive. You can go bankrupt defending you innocence.
While NH and VA may waive insurance coverage, if you’re stopped for even a minor fender bender in a State that does require insurance expect to get your vehicle impounded, whether it’s drivable or not, best case being personally left on the side of the road and worst case spending the night at the “State Hospitality”.
The State Troopers in Maryland (Nothern border of Virginia) have absolutely no patience for this foolishness.
Not actually “free”, premiums are paying their salaries. But a lawyer on staff being paid a salary is much less expensive than an independent. Cities in these parts have lawyers on staff, annual salary around $250 K I think. Very easy to spend $250K legal expenses on a single incident if hiring an independent. IMO city employees should have the goal of public service first, so shouldn’t earn more than the area’s median income, lawyer, city manager, or what-not. But nobody’s in these parts are listening to my opinion … lol
Not suggesting they don’t get paid out of our premiums same as our taxes pay for the public lawyers. But you won’t get a bill from your insurance company for legal fees and court costs. Consider it a retainer. And don’t forget the public has an almost limitless supply of funds if you ever tangle with them.
Yeah, City/State attorney’s go into the practice for Public Service but they’re still human and still have bills to pay.
Do they attract the best attorneys commited to fight for their clients? Well, sometimes they do but to defend a cheapskate driver who caused an accident?
Walk into any out-of-state courtrooom without an attorney and without insurance and you may as well be humming the theme from “Deliverance”
While here in NH the state doesn’t require you to get insurance, but if you finance your vehicle the bank/credit union will. If you have ANY assets, then you’d be extremely dumb NOT to get insurance. You will set yourself up to lose everything.
Or underinsured. I here advertising on radio all the time in MA to buy the minimum state required coverage. I think the minimum in MA is $20k/$40k. You injure or kill someone then you better not have any assets.
I learned something new too that court appointed lawyers also charge an hourly fee that the defendant may be required to pay. No free lunch. The take it out of the earnings from the license plate facility.
I in view of the high rates charged by the insurance companies I actually considered registering my teenage son and his car with a No Insurance State but quickly realized that there ain’t no free lunch.
Attorney’s fees of $300- $400 an hour which quickly mount up to 40 hours plus if you go to trial but in the alternative if you decide to “go it alone” you could easily find yourself paying part of your paycheck for literally the rest of your life for a “Permanent Partial” whiplash claim.
Can’t understand why anybody or any State would consider it acceptable to drive without insurance,