In the Commonwealth of Virginia, it is not mandatory to purchase automobile insurance to legally register a vehicle and drive on the state\u2019s roads and highways. As per Virginia DMV regulations effective July 2024, individuals may opt to register their vehicle without insurance; however, this choice does not offer any financial protection in the event of an accident. If you choose to purchase auto insurance, every policy issued in Virginia must include bodily injury liability coverage of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per occurrence. These amounts are often referred to as Virginia\u2019s \u201cminimum limits.\u201d This coverage provides up to $25,000 in liability protection for any one person injured in a motor vehicle collision and a total of $50,000 in liability coverage per incident.<\/p>\n
For an increased premium, you can raise the limits of your liability coverage.\u00a0 For example, a car owner might elect to purchase liability limits of $50,000 per person, and $100,000 per occurrence.\u00a0 Some consumers purchase the next higher level of $100,000 per person, with $300,000 per occurrence. Liability coverage is straightforward; it protects the insured in the event that they negligently injure someone who then brings a personal injury claim against them. The insured is covered for any judgment rendered against them up to the limits of the liability coverage they have selected. This protection is undeniably valuable, but the question remains: what happens if someone without insurance negligently injures you?<\/p>\n
If the injured claimant has an automobile insurance policy with liability coverage, Virginia law requires that the policy have limits of uninsured motorist coverage which equal the amount of the liability coverage.[3]<\/a> This applies unless the insured or their spouse declined such limits in writing.\u00a0 Uninsured motorist coverage protects the insured, and any resident family members, if they are injured by the negligence of someone who has no liability insurance coverage. We call such a negligent driver an \u201cuninsured motorist\u201d. \u00a0Under these circumstances, the injured victim can use the uninsured motorist coverage on their own policy to receive compensation for the losses caused by the negligence of the uninsured driver.<\/p>\n The purpose of uninsured motorist<\/a> coverage is to provide the innocent victim with a source from which they may be compensated for the losses caused by an uninsured driver. Returning to the discussion of liability coverage, absent a written declination, a Virginia minimum limits policy will provide you or your resident family members with $25,000 in per person coverage in the event of injury sustained in an automobile collision with an uninsured driver. If you elect to increase your coverage above the state minimum, for example by purchasing a $100,000 \/ $300,000 policy, you will have $100,000 in per person coverage available in the event of a crash.<\/p>\n Uninsured motorist coverage does not give the negligent, uninsured driver, a \u2018free pass\u2019 since that person may ultimately be required to reimburse your insurance company for the amount that it paid pursuant to an uninsured motorist claim. It does, however, afford valuable protection in the event you are injured by an uninsured motorist.<\/p>\n Virginia\u2019s uninsured motorist statute can be a valuable tool in the wake of a serious motor vehicle collision but it only works in your benefit if you purchase enough liability insurance to adequately protect you and the people you care about in the wake of a collision. Understanding the connection between liability coverage limits and uninsured motorist protection is vital before you select the limits of automobile insurance policy \u2013 having adequate uninsured motorist protection could turn out to be one of the best decisions you ever make.<\/p>\n About the Author:<\/strong><\/span> Charles Allen is a Richmond car accident lawyer<\/a> with Allen & Allen. He has handled injury cases for Virginians for more than 25 years.<\/p>\n For a comprehensive guide on how to purchase insurance, and what to do if you’re involved in an accident, download our free All About Insurance eBook, <\/strong>featuring hand-selected expert articles written by Allen & Allen attorneys.<\/p>\n Download the eBook<\/a><\/p>\n [1]<\/a> See Va Code \u00a7 46.2-706 available at: https:\/\/leg1.state.va.us\/cgi-bin\/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-706<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [2]<\/a> See Va. Code \u00a7 46.2-472 available at: https:\/\/leg1.state.va.us\/cgi-bin\/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-472<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [3]<\/a> See Va. Code \u00a7 38.2-2206 available at: https:\/\/leg1.state.va.us\/cgi-bin\/legp504.exe?000+cod+38.2-2206<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the Commonwealth of Virginia, it is not mandatory to purchase automobile insurance to legally register a vehicle and drive on the state\u2019s roads and highways. As per Virginia DMV…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n
\n