As you know, auto insurance is required in nearly all regions of the United States. While there are no federal auto insurance requirements, most states have laws regarding the required amount of auto insurance, and Washington state is no different.
Here’s what you need to know about Washington’s auto insurance requirements:
Mandatory Auto Insurance in Washington State
According to the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL), “If you drive a vehicle that is required to be registered in Washington State, you must have one of the following:
However, there are exceptions to the requirements. “You don't need to have insurance when you operate a vehicle registered as any of the following:
- Moped (RCW 46.04.304)
- Horseless carriage over 40 years old (RCW 46.18.255)
- State or publicly-owned vehicle (RCW 46.16.020)
- Common or contract carrier with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission”
Motor Vehicle Insurance
Most Washington drivers choose the motor vehicle insurance option. The policy minimums are as follows:
- $25,000 of bodily injury or death of one person in any one accident
- $50,000 of bodily injury or death or any two people in any one accident
- $10,000 of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident
At any point, while driving in Washington state, you must be able to furnish your auto insurance ID card to law enforcement. When you purchase a policy, you’ll receive an ID card from the auto insurance company.
Your auto insurance ID card must include the following information:
- The insurance company’s name
- Your policy number
- The effective date of the policy
- The policy’s expiration date
- The description of the year, make, or model of the insured vehicles, or the name of the insured driver
If you cannot produce your auto insurance ID card to law enforcement when asked for it, you may receive a traffic infraction. Additionally, if you knowingly provide false evidence of coverage, you may receive a misdemeanor offense.
The Minimum Coverages May Not Be Enough
You should consider whether the state mandatory minimums are sufficient to provide enough coverage to protect you and your assets in the chance you are at fault for an accident that injures another person or causes damage to their property.
The state mandatory minimums also do not provide coverage for you if you are injured by an uninsured driver and do not provide coverage for your own vehicle. You should talk to an insurance agent to find out which coverages are available that you might need to protect yourself and your vehicle beyond the minimum requirements.
If you’ve been involved in an injury-sustaining car crash through no fault of your own, you may be able to obtain compensation. Let our team see if we can help.
Give our Kent personal injury attorney at Dore Law Group, PLLC a call today at (253) 236-3888 to discuss your case.
