Connecticut Minimum Car Insurance Requirements

What does Connecticut require you to carry?

Every registered car in Connecticut needs liability insurance, and the lowest amount allowed is 25/50/25. In dollars, that means $25,000 for each person you injure, $50,000 for everyone hurt in one crash, and $25,000 for other people’s property. Liability insurance pays them. It does not fix your car or treat your own injuries.

Your policy must also include uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM). It pays your injury bills when the driver who hit you has no insurance, drives off, or carries too little. You may lower it, but you cannot drop it.

These limits have applied since January 1, 2018, when they rose from the old, lower amounts. The statute and its 2026 supplement show no later change.

What do the three numbers actually pay?

• The first $25,000 is the most your insurer pays for any one person’s injuries or death.
• The $50,000 is the ceiling for everyone hurt in the same crash. Three injured people share it, even if each has big bills.
• The last $25,000 is one pot for everything you damage: other cars, a fence, a guardrail.

Anything above those caps is your problem. The other side can pursue you for the rest.

One wrinkle: the Insurance Department says a single $50,000 combined limit also meets the minimum. The statutes list only three separate amounts, and we could not retrieve the regulations that might settle it. Most policies use split limits.

Does Connecticut require uninsured and underinsured coverage?

Yes, and it works differently than most drivers expect. Unless you sign it down, your UM/UIM limits match your liability limits. To go lower, a named insured must ask in writing and sign a consent form that carries a state-approved explanation and a written warning. The limits can never fall below 25/50. Insurers must also offer to sell you up to twice your liability limits.

Here is the catch. A driver counts as “underinsured” only when their liability limits are lower than your UM/UIM limits. If you both carry 25/50, they are not underinsured, and that part of your policy pays nothing, however large your bills. Your total recovery from all sources also stops at your own UM/UIM limit.

The required UM/UIM covers injuries only. Damage to your car is a collision claim, if you bought collision.

Insurers must also offer optional underinsured motorist conversion coverage, which is not reduced by what the other driver’s insurer pays.

Do you need PIP or medical payments in Connecticut?

No. Connecticut repealed no-fault insurance in 1993, so there is no required personal injury protection. A few national guides still call Connecticut no-fault. The statutes say otherwise.

Fault can cut your own claim. In a typical two-car crash, if you are found more than half to blame, you recover nothing. Below that, your payout shrinks by your share. You generally have two years to sue.

Medical payments coverage is optional. It pays your medical bills whoever caused the crash.

How does Connecticut know whether you are insured?

Insurers send the DMV a list of every policy in force each month. The DMV matches that list against active registrations at least monthly, and police can check coverage in real time from the roadside. To register a car, you show proof and sign a statement that coverage will stay continuous.

Carry your insurance ID card. A picture on your phone counts, and an officer may not browse the rest of the phone. If you cannot produce a card, that alone is treated as evidence you lack coverage.

Switching insurers is the classic trap. Your old insurer reports a cancellation, the new policy may not show up yet, and the DMV mails a warning. Answer with a declarations page, a letter from your insurer showing no gap, or a permanent ID card for the period. Temporary cards, binders and bills are not accepted.

What happens if your insurance lapses in Connecticut?

Most people hear about it from the DMV, not the police. If a policy lapsed for more than 14 days, the DMV sends a notice and a $200 penalty. Pay it with proof of current coverage and your registration stays valid.

Ignore the notice and the registration is suspended, and you cannot renew it or register another car. After 30 more days, your license can be next.

A court conviction is the harder path. It brings a $100 to $1,000 fine and a one-month suspension of license and registration, six months for a repeat. Restoring each costs $175. Our uninsured driver page walks through those costs.

Storing a car for winter? Ask your insurer in writing to suspend liability, which means you promise not to drive it, or put the plates on hold at the DMV. Keep the receipt.

What if a crash costs more than the minimum? A worked example

The amounts below are invented to show the mechanics. They are not Connecticut averages. Say you rear-end an SUV on the highway with a 25/50/25 policy. The SUV’s driver and a passenger are hurt, and neither is at fault.

• The driver’s injuries come to $58,000. Your policy pays $25,000, the one-person cap.
• The passenger’s injuries come to $17,000. Your policy pays all of it, and the $50,000 crash cap is not reached.
• The SUV needs $31,000 of repairs. Your policy pays $25,000.

That is $106,000 of losses against $67,000 of coverage, so the other side can come after you for $39,000. At 50/100/50 you would owe $8,000. At 100/300/100 you would owe nothing.

Now flip it. If the SUV’s driver carries 25/50 UM/UIM, you are not underinsured, so their policy adds nothing toward the $33,000 injury gap. If they carry 100/300, your limit is lower than theirs, and their insurer owes the $33,000. The $6,000 repair gap would be a collision claim.

One more Connecticut rule: an injured person can send your insurer a certified-mail request, backed by a lawyer’s letter or sworn statement, and the insurer must reveal your limits within 30 days.

Do you need more than the minimum?

Consider higher limits if any of these fit you:

• You own a home, have savings, or earn wages a judgment could reach.
• You often carry passengers, who would share the $50,000.
• The cars around you may be worth more than $25,000.
• Other drivers in your household use your car.

Higher limits also lift your UM/UIM, unless you sign it down. That matters: an industry group estimated about 12 percent of Connecticut motorists were uninsured in 2023.

If you have a car loan or lease, the state does not require collision or comprehensive, but your lender or lessor probably does. A consumer lease must state what coverage you have to carry, so read yours for limits above 25/50/25. If you owe more than the car is worth, see our gap insurance guide.

Can you use a bond or cash deposit instead of insurance?

For ordinary registration, no. The law accepts a policy from a licensed insurer or self-insurance approved by the Insurance Commissioner. Owners of more than 25 registered vehicles can ask the DMV for a self-insurance certificate.

Surety bonds and State Treasurer deposits appear only when the DMV orders a particular driver to prove financial responsibility. That is the filing other states call an SR-22, covered on our Connecticut SR-22 page.

Are Connecticut’s limits about to change?

Not as of October 9, 2026. One 2025 bill would have raised them, and it never moved.

• House Bill 6130 would have raised the injury limits to $100,000 and $300,000 and required $5,000 of medical payments coverage, waivable with proof of health insurance. Its history ends with a January 2025 committee referral.
• 2026: the same bill number is missing from the 2026 session, and the legislature’s own summaries of 2026 insurance and transportation laws list no change to the limits. We did not review every bill raised.

The 2027 session opens January 6, 2027. Check again once 2027 bills are filed.

Quick facts

What to do next

1. Find your declarations page and read the three liability numbers and your UM/UIM numbers. Note whether the limits are split or a single combined number.
2. Ask for quotes at 50/100/50 and 100/300/100 with the same UM/UIM, and compare prices side by side. Our liability limit checker can help you test them.
3. Switching insurers? Do not cancel the old policy until the new one starts. Save the new declarations page and a permanent ID card in case a DMV notice arrives.
4. Keep your ID card in the car or on your phone.
5. If a DMV letter arrives, answer by the date printed on it.
6. Have a loan or lease? Check the contract for required limits.
7. Before you buy, read the Connecticut full coverage page and the UM/UIM guide.

Common mistakes

• Cancelling the policy while the plates stay active.
• Answering a DMV notice with a temporary card or binder.

Bottom line

If you only need to be legal, 25/50/25 plus the required UM/UIM does it. If you own a home, carry passengers, or drive near newer cars, the minimum leaves real gaps, and doubling your limits is often worth pricing. Check your numbers, then confirm any doubts with the Connecticut Insurance Department or the DMV. This page is general information, not legal advice.