When you purchase a vehicle, the first thing you must do is either add the vehicle to your existing insurance policy or purchase new coverage. If you are driving in the State of Missouri, the insurance commissioner has determined that every driver must have automobile insurance. There are six major areas of coverage for automobile insurance but not all are mandatory.
Insurance is available for Bodily Injury Protection, Property Damage, Personal Injury Protection or PIP, Comprehensive, Collision and Uninsured Motorist Coverage.
If you are a licensed driver in the state of Missouri you must carry Bodily Injury insurance and Property Damage for your private passenger vehicles. These amounts are the highest level that your insurance company will pay out for each level of coverage. In Missouri, you are required to carry bodily injury coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. You are also required to carry a minimum of $10,000 in property damage coverage per accident.
Remember, these are only the minimums required by the state. You may want to add additional coverage to further protect yourself and your family. And if you still owe money on your vehicle, your lender will require you to carry collision coverage to protect their investment.
Bodily injury liability covers the injuries or death of a person if you are responsible for an accident. Property damage liability covers the repair and/or replacement of another person’s property that was damaged or destroyed as a result of an accident that you were responsible for.
You may want to include comprehensive coverage to your policy. It will protect the value and replacement of your car in the event that it is damaged as a result of anything other than an accident, for example if your car is stolen, someone breaks into it or it suffers flood damage.
Uninsured or under-insured motorist coverage protects you if you get hit by someone who does not have enough coverage or you are the victim of a hit and run accident.
Driving without insurance is against the law. If you are stopped by a police officer and cannot provide proof of insurance you could receive four points on your driving record, be subject to monitored supervision or have your license suspended. If you do not have car insurance, your license will be suspended immediately and you will be subject to fines to get it reinstated.
