Washington State Auto Insurance Laws Require All Drivers to Have a Minimum of Bodily Injury Protection. This protects you from any injury or damage you cause to other drivers. Depending on your needs, you may consider purchasing additional insurance. You may be using an unsupported or outdated browser.
For the best possible experience, please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge to view this website. Developments continue around the Washington State insurance commissioner's efforts to prohibit insurance companies from using credit to set rates for auto, homeowners and renters insurance for three years. Insurance industry groups united to try to stop Kriedler's plan. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), Washington Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers, and Washington Professional Insurance Agents filed a petition for injunctive and declaratory relief in early April with the Thurston County Superior Court.
Insurance companies in Washington will have to file new returns with the state insurance department for rate structures that do not use credit for affected policies. Insurance companies have used credit-based insurance scores when setting rates since the decade. Insurers establish a correlation between credit and the chances of a customer filing an insurance claim. The lower your score, the more likely you are to file a claim, which usually translates into higher insurance premiums for those with low credit scores.
Kriedler issued the ban because he believes that credit scores are unreliable and therefore should not be used as a predictive model when setting someone's insurance rates. Several consumer protection rules implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic have created a situation where “all credit bureaus are collecting a credit history that is objectively inaccurate for some consumers and therefore results in them being assigned an unreliable credit score,” says the emergency. For example, the federal CARES Act requires financial institutions to inform consumers about payments if they were not in arrears prior to the pandemic. In addition, the CARES Act provided forbearance options to certain borrowers and established a moratorium on foreclosures on certain mortgage loans.
Other states already prohibit the use of credit to set insurance rates. For example, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan prohibit the practice of auto insurance rates. In other states, credit is commonly used as a major component of rates. APCIA has argued that most consumers save money when credit-based insurance scores are used as a pricing factor, and without these tools, insurance rates could rise for more than a million drivers in Washington.
Howard also noted that a new LexisNexis report indicates that credit-based insurance scores have remained stable during the pandemic, both nationally and in Washington State, making Kriedler's emergency rule unnecessary. In addition, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) released a statement calling Kriedler's action a “regulatory tantrum” and threatened further litigation. The national association of insurance commissioners (NAIC) is committed to addressing racism and discrimination in the insurance industry. The NAIC has formed a special committee focused on race and insurance.
One of the tasks of the committee is to determine whether there are current practices within the insurance industry that may disadvantage minorities. Failure to provide proof of insurance after an accident is also considered a civil offense in Washington State, and if you provide false information, it may be considered a misdemeanor. Your insurance company sends you a proof of insurance card when you start or renew your car or motorcycle policy. However, Washington State has a Washington Auto Insurance Plan, which provides high-risk drivers with an insurance company to use.
Drivers with many traffic violations or DUIs on their record may struggle to find insurance in Washington State. In addition, if you drive a vehicle that is a lease or has an auto loan, your lender may require you to have full coverage insurance to protect your investment. Washington (along with most other states) requires drivers to maintain a certain amount of liability insurance. Before you get behind the wheel, make sure your auto liability insurance is enough to cover all your assets.
This information is not an insurance policy, does not refer to any specific insurance policy and does not modify any provision, limitation or exclusion expressly stated in any insurance policy. If you own your home, bundling your auto and homeowners insurance in Washington State can help you save money while protecting your assets. Read on to learn the details of Washington's auto insurance rules, how coverage is likely to affect a car accident case, and the types of penalties you can expect if you are driving without insurance in Washington State. .
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