When Did Car Insurance Become Mandatory?

April 9, 2016

"When did car insurance become mandatory?" Technically, Auto Insurance first became mandatory in Massachusetts in 1927. The Bay State was the first to make an insurance certificate mandatory at the time of vehicle registration. Prior to Massachusetts however, Connecticut enacted the Connecticut Public Acts, Chapter 183 in 1925. [1] The Connecticut law required motorists to demonstrate "financial responsibility" (insurance as Continue Reading

"When did car insurance become mandatory?"

Technically, Auto Insurance first became mandatory in Massachusetts in 1927. The Bay State was the first to make an insurance certificate mandatory at the time of vehicle registration.

Prior to Massachusetts however, Connecticut enacted the Connecticut Public Acts, Chapter 183 in 1925. [1] The Connecticut law required motorists to demonstrate "financial responsibility" (insurance as one remedy) following an accident of $100 or more in damages.

The Connecticut law allowed multiple ways that people could prove Financial Responsibility including:

Following an accident in Connecticut, if a driver was unable to comply, they would be forced to forfeit their driver's license. It wasn't long before people decided that preparing for an incident before it happened, was a better form of transferring risk than taking full responsibility following an occurrence.

In 1925, Massachusetts enacted the Compulsory Automobile Liability Security Act C. 346 [2] . The Massachusetts law was more stringent, specifically requiring "bodily injury liability insurance with limits of $5,000/occurrence, $10,000/accident.

From 1925 to 1956 Massachusetts was the only state that specifically required auto insurance followed by New York in 1956 and North Carolina in 1957 .

Forty Nine states plus the District of Columbia had compulsory auto insurance by 2010 with New Hampshire the lone state without that requirement. New Hampshire still enjoys a "Live Free or Die" attitude towards auto insurance. As of this writing SR-22 (or certificate of insurance) is only required following a motorists conviction of certain severe auto infractions.

Interesting stuff!

Footnotes

[1] Biennial Report

[2] http://scholarship.law.du ke.edu/...

Originally Published by Jeff Ryan at Quora.com
https://www.quora.com/When-did-car-insurance-become-mandatory

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