NEVADA AUTO INSURANCE

In Nevada, legal and financial responsibility is based upon the law of negligence. A negligent act which causes damange is legally known as a tort. If an accident is your fault, that is,  if you are negligent, you are responsible for bodily injury and property damages suffered by the innocent party.

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
To ensure that innocent parties are adequately compensated for their injuries, Nevadalaw requires that all registered owners of a motor vehicle have security for tort liability arising from the use of their motor vehicles. For most Nevadans, security will be in the form of an insurance policy.

Law requires that the Nevada car insurance policy must minimally provide coverage in theamount of $15,000 for bodily injury or death of one person in an accident, $30,000 for bodily injury or death of two or more persons in an accident, and $10,000 for injury or damage to theproperty of others. This coverage is generally described as 15/30/10. When you have liability coverage, your insurance company will pay for the victim’s damages up to your policy limits. Ifyou choose, you can increase your coverage for added protection.

Bodily injury and property damage coverages (liability coverages) can be purchased assplit limit coverage or as combined single limit coverage.  If you choose to purchase the coverage as a combined single limit, the minimum allowable is $40,000 under Nevada law.

Comprehensive and collision coverages are not required by Nevada law and, in certaincases, because of the age or condition of the automobile, may not be available. However, if you borrowed money to purchase your automobile, your lender may require you to carry thiscoverage until the loan is paid. You are not required to carry medical payments oruninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, but all insurance companies are required to offeryou medical payments coverage of at least $1,000 and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in an amount equal to your bodily injury coverage.

If you plan to lease an automobile, you should check your lease agreement. Generally,these agreements require that you carry liability coverage in the amount of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident and may require you to carry property damage coverage inexcess of the $10,000 limit required by Nevada law.

Medical Payments - This pays for reasonable and necessary medical expenses,without regard to legal liability, resulting from accidental bodily injury while operating or occupying an insured vehicle or being struck as a pedestrian by a motor vehicle. “MedPay” isoften purchased in nominal amounts, such as $1,000, to provide a means for quick payment of minor medical bills without having to deal with the courts or other insurance companies. This coverage must be offered , but does not have to be accepted by the insured.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist - This protects the named insured, the namedinsured’s resident relatives and occupants in the insured vehicle, if they sustain bodily injury in an accident in which the owner or operator of another motor vehicle is legally liable and doesnot have insurance (uninsured) or does not have enough insurance (underinsured). This coverage must be offered,but does not have to be accepted by the insured.

The penalty for not having liability auto insurance is severe. Nevada Revised Statutes state that if you are the owner of a motor vehicle that is registered, or should be registered, and you are found guilty of operating, or allowing someone to operate your motor vehicle without insurance, you will be required to pay a fee to the Department of Motor Vehicles, insurance Verification Program. The fee amount is $250 unless you can provide proof that the vehicle was dormant, which may reduce the fee to $50. If you are found to be without insurance by a law enforcement officer, the penalty will be administered by a court of jurisdiction and is generally more severe.

If you do not carry insurance, and you or someone using your motor vehicle with yourpermission is involved in an accident, your registration and driver’s license may be revoked.
You may also be required to have an insurance company certify that you have insurance. Mostinsurance companies will charge you an additional fee for this certification (commonly referred to as a SR-22), that you will have to maintain continuously for a three-year period.