Is auto insurance required in New Hampshire?

Why is car insurance mandatory for most states? Well, this is because someone needs to take responsibility or liability for any type of damage caused.

This is why for almost all of us, car insurance, whether this may be paid annually or monthly insurance, is something that you just can’t argue with. This is a legal requirement, and if you want to drive, you’re going to have to pay the toll. Well, in this case, that’s the toll and your car insurance policy…

But there are some magical lands where this is not the case. If you want to be free of the sky-high car insurance rate forever, then you should consider moving to New Hampshire. So, does New Hampshire require car insurance coverage? New Hampshire is one of the very few states in the world with no* car insurance laws – now that’s what I call the land of the free!

But Wait, There’s a Catch!

Before you decide to start racing around New Hampshire like a boy racer, or before you think it’s okay for you to borrow your buddy’s car, it’s worth looking into this a little further.

There are caveats you see. (Aren’t there always caveats?)

Even though you don’t legally have to have car insurance in New Hampshire for example, you, a New Hampshire driver will still be held liable for any damage that you might cause to others.

So if you don’t have an auto insurance policy and you crash into a lamppost, then you’ll need to pay the council or the city to fix that lamppost.

Worse, if you crash into someone else then you might have to pay for their car to be repaired as well as any medical costs that may be incurred.

And then there’s the small matter of your own motor vehicle and your own medical costs.

It might seem tempting to go jetting off thinking that ‘you never crash’ but it’s just not a good idea on any level. In order to be safe, you have to avoid crashing every single time you go out. But to find yourself in trouble, you only have to make one single mistake. Those are not good odds.

Don’t tempt fate and don’t take the risk!

Car Insurance in New Hampshire

So for these reasons, most residents in New Hampshire will still opt to purchase car insurance coverage. In fact, did you know that the uninsured driver rate in New Hampshire is lower than the national average? There’s probably a political statement to be made here, but we’ll leave that to someone else!

When doing this, you will be required to meet certain criteria. Specifically, once you do have an auto insurance policy, you will be required to make sure it includes:

• Liability coverage
• Medical payments coverage
• Uninsured motorist coverage

Let’s look at each of these things in more detail:

Liability Insurance

Liability insurance coverage is what helps you to pay for the damage you cause to others – both in terms of repairs and medical bills. This cover should pay out up to $25,000 for bodily injury per person, $50,000 for bodily injury when multiple parties are injured and $25,000 in property damage.

Medical Payments

Your insurance must also cover your own medical costs, and this needs to be good for up to $1,000. Which isn’t actually all that much!

Uninsured Motorist

What’s interesting is that your insurance coverage also needs to cover those drivers that don’t have it. This might feel somewhat irksome but it’s something you’ll be glad to have if ever the issue comes to light. So in this case, if someone should crash into you and they don’t have insurance, your own insurance should be able to cover those costs and should match your liability coverage in terms of value.

Mandatory Insurance Filing

In slightly complicated matters, there are some instances where it is still a legal requirement to have insurance in New Hampshire.

Insurance filing applies mainly to drivers have either been involved in accidents or that have been convicted of traffic violations such as a DUI/DWI.

If you are required to buy insurance, then you will need to fill out an SR 22 insurance form which can be provided by your car insurance company. The SR 22 insurance guarantee that you will hold the insurance for a certain period, which is normally 3 years. If you’re unsure whether this applies to you, then you can find out by looking at your NH driving record.

So there you have it! New Hampshire is the land of the free automobile, but with great freedom, comes great responsibility!