3.1 Virginia Auto Insurance Requirements

Mandatory Liability Coverage (Recent Major Change)

Virginia overhauled its compulsory auto laws over 2024-2025, and the Property & Casualty exam now tests the new numbers. Producers must know both what changed and the effective dates.

Current Minimum Liability Limits (50/100/25)

Effective January 1, 2025, every motor vehicle registered in Virginia must carry these minimum liability limits:

These replaced the long-standing 30/60/20 limits. A common exam trap is the stale 30/60/20 answer — choose 50/100/25 for policies issued or renewed in 2025 and later.

Elimination of the $500 Uninsured Motor Vehicle (UMV) Fee

For decades Virginia let a driver pay a $500 Uninsured Motor Vehicle fee to register a vehicle without insurance. The 2024 General Assembly repealed that option effective July 1, 2024. Key consequences:

• There is no legal way to drive uninsured in Virginia anymore.
• A motorist who paid the old UMV fee bought no coverage — they were personally liable for every dollar of damage. That trap still appears on exams in historical fact patterns.
• All registrants must now provide proof of an active liability policy (or qualify as a self-insurer with 26+ vehicles, approved by the DMV Commissioner).

Memory Tip: "July 2024 the fee is gone; January 2025 the limits go up." Two dates, two changes.

Pure Contributory Negligence

Virginia is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state, and it applies the harsh pure contributory negligence doctrine. Under this rule, if the injured plaintiff contributed any fault to the accident, recovery is completely barred.

Virginia is one of only four jurisdictions plus the District of Columbia (with Alabama, Maryland, and North Carolina) still using this standard. A narrow last clear chance doctrine can rescue a plaintiff who proves the defendant had the final opportunity to avoid the crash. Because one driver's minor error wipes out the entire claim, Virginia drivers rely heavily on first-party coverages (UM/UIM, MedPay, collision) that pay regardless of fault.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) Coverage

Because contributory negligence can bar a victim's recovery and because some at-fault drivers carry low or no limits, Virginia requires UM/UIM coverage on every liability policy.

A buyer can purchase higher UM/UIM limits, but cannot drop them below the liability amount. This is why exam questions describing a driver who "rejected UM in writing to save money" are usually wrong under current Virginia law.

Medical Payments (MedPay) Coverage

Medical Payments coverage is optional in Virginia and pays regardless of fault:

• Covers the named insured, family members, passengers, and the insured as a pedestrian.
• Typical limits run $1,000 to $10,000.
• It is especially valuable in a contributory-negligence state because it pays even when the insured is the at-fault party who could not sue anyone.

FR-44 vs. SR-22 (Critical Virginia Distinction)

Most states use an SR-22, a certificate filed by the insurer proving the standard minimum financial responsibility. Virginia and Florida are the only two states that use the FR-44, required after the most serious violations.

With the new minimums, an FR-44 requires roughly 100/200/50 limits (double 50/100/25). The insurer files the certificate electronically with the DMV; if coverage lapses, the insurer sends an SR-26/FR-46 cancellation notice and the DMV suspends the license.

Other Auto Coverages

Worked example: A Virginia driver with 50/100/25 limits causes a crash injuring two people ($60,000 and $30,000) and damaging a car ($28,000). BI pays $50,000 to the first person and $30,000 to the second (each under the $50k per-person cap, total under the $100k per-accident cap). PD pays $25,000 of the $28,000, leaving the insured personally liable for $13,000 ($10,000 excess BI + $3,000 excess PD) — a classic argument for buying higher limits.