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Most states have their own unique financial responsibility laws that drivers must comply with, and these laws generally make drivers financially liable for any damages they cause while driving.

Some states require drivers to buy a minimum amount of liability auto insurance in order to ensure their compliance with the financial responsibility law.

Missouri offers its drivers several choices for complying with this law.

For example, as a Missouri driver, you can provide a bond to the state or obtain a certificate of self-insurance.

However, the most common and perhaps the easiest way for drivers to comply with this law is to obtain a car insurance policy.

If you follow this route, bear in mind that you will need to obtain a minimum amount of specific types of coverage.

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How to Read Car Insurance Requirements

Car insurance has numerous financial benefits, such as decreasing your expenses related to an accident and paying for your liability expenses. Each type of insurance offers unique benefits, and you can assign a coverage limit to each type of insurance that you buy.

With this in mind, a closer look at some of the more common types of insurance available to Missouri drivers is in order.

• Bodily Injury Liability – Bodily injury liability insurance is a type of coverage that is required in Missouri if you choose to use insurance for financial responsibility purposes. This coverage pays for other people’s health and medical expenses if they are injured in an accident that you cause.
• Property Damage Liability – This is another type of coverage that may be required if you use insurance for financial responsibility purposes. This coverage pays for other people’s repair or replacement costs related to a damaged vehicle or another type of damaged property.
• Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage – This coverage pays for your own medical bills, repair costs, and more if you are involved in an accident with an underinsured or uninsured driver. In Missouri, uninsured coverage is required for bodily injury and not for property damage.
• Personal Injury Protection (PIP) / Medical Payments – This is one of the optional coverages you can add to your policy as desired. It pays for your medical expenses if you cause the accident or for any medical expenses not paid for by the other person’s policy.
• Collision Insurance – This coverage pays for your own vehicle expenses if the car is damaged in a collision only. This is optional coverage for many drivers. However, it may be required by the terms of a car loan in some cases.
• Comprehensive Insurance – Comprehensive insurance pays for your own vehicle expenses caused by numerous events, including fire, theft, bad weather, collision, and more. This is not legally required in Missouri, but your auto lender may require it as a term of your car loan.

You can see that each coverage type has unique benefits. When you buy coverage in Missouri, you will need to specify the type of coverage you want to buy as well as the coverage limit for each type of insurance.

Remember that adding coverage types and increasing limits could increase your premium. However, this step could also decrease your personal expenses if you need to file a claim.

Minimum Coverage for Missouri

Car insurance is not legally required for Missouri drivers, and you can choose to use other methods to prove financial responsibility. If you choose to prove financial responsibility with car insurance, however, you will need to obtain a minimum amount of coverage. This includes:

• $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury liability insurance
• $10,000 for property damage liability insurance
• Uninsured motorist insurance that matches the bodily injury liability insurance listed above

Remember that these guidelines only pertain to private-use or personal-use vehicles. They are not intended for commercial vehicles, special-use vehicles, or other unique situations.

Drivers who have these special situations should explore the insurance requirements or financial responsibility requirements that may pertain specifically to those situations.

Violating the Financial Responsibility Law in Missouri

There are many ways to prove financial responsibility on the road in Missouri, and you need to actively plan for this before you start driving in this state. If you violate the financial responsibility law, you may experience:

• Up to four points added to your driving record
• An order of supervision
• The suspension of your driver’s license

Your auto insurance policy may be canceled after you reach eight points on your record within 18 months. This, as well as the suspension of your license, could make driving legally in this state a veritable impossibility. With this in mind, you need to take steps now to ensure that you comply with Missouri’s financial responsibility law.

Minimum Requirement vs. Recommended Coverage

If you plan to buy auto insurance to comply with Missouri’s financial responsibility law, you should consider the benefits associated with increasing your coverage limits and expanding your coverage types.

A basic auto insurance policy that only complies with the state’s minimum requirements for financial responsibility may pay for some of your accident-related expenses, but the remaining expenses are still your responsibility.

When you expand your coverage types and limits, you can dramatically reduce the amount of money you need to pay when you file a claim. Keep in mind that you will always need to pay your insurance deductible when filing a claim.

Setting Up Your Coverage

Buying car insurance in Missouri sounds like it would take a long time and be stressful, but you may be happily surprised by how fast and easy this process usually is. One of the faster ways to request a quote from a few different providers is to shop online.

You can easily input all of the required information into online applications for select insurance companies. Spend time researching providers up-front so that you only devote energy to companies that you truly want to buy coverage from.

Requesting quotes with similar coverage types and limits will help you to easily find the best deal possible on your coverage.

Because this process is fast and simple, consider repeating it every six months so that you can stay on top of your coverage and identify potential savings that may be available in the future.

Enter your ZIP code into our free rate comparison tool below to get started comparing quotes and finding the policy that’s right for you.

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01.12.2017 / Missouri / state minimum