Connecticut requires at least $25,000 of bodily injury liability per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 of property damage liability, often written as 25/50/25. You also have to carry uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. Unless you lower it in writing, that coverage has to match your liability limits.
Insurers can be required to report cancellations to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If your coverage lapses for more than 14 days, DMV mails a suspension notice, and you’ll need to pay a $200 civil penalty for each lapse and show proof of insurance to keep your registration.
Key Takeaways
- Connecticut requires 25/50/25 liability coverage plus uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. You can lower that coverage to 25/50 with a signed informed consent form, but you can’t drop it.
- Standard underinsured coverage can be reduced by what the at-fault driver’s insurer pays. Underinsured motorist conversion coverage, which insurers have to offer for an extra premium, isn’t.
- An owner convicted of driving, or letting someone else drive, an uninsured car faces a fine of $100 to $1,000 and a one-month registration and license suspension the first time. Failing to maintain the required security is a separate class C misdemeanor.
- A lapse of more than 14 days leads to a DMV suspension notice. Clearing it takes $200 per lapse and acceptable proof, and DMV says temporary cards and binders don’t count.
Connecticut Minimum Car Insurance at a Glance
| Coverage | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $25,000 per accident |
| Uninsured and underinsured motorist | Required. At least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and equal to your liability limits unless you lower it in writing |
| Medical payments | Optional |
| Personal injury protection | Not required. Connecticut isn’t a no-fault state |
| Collision and comprehensive | Not required by law, but lenders and lessors often require them |
The Connecticut Insurance Department (CID) lists these limits on its auto insurance page, and the dollar amounts come from C.G.S. 14-112. CID’s page also lists a $50,000 single limit covering bodily injury and property damage together as a way to meet the requirement. Under C.G.S. 38a-335, your coverage rises to meet a higher minimum while you’re driving in another state or Canadian province.
Some older websites still list 20/40/10. Those were the limits before January 1, 2018, when Public Act 17-114 raised them to 25/50/25. A 2025 bill, HB 6130, proposed raising the minimums to $100,000 and $300,000, but it was never acted on after being referred to committee, so the 25/50/25 rule still stands. RateFrog’s guide to how liability limits work explains what the three numbers mean.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Connecticut
Under C.G.S. 38a-336, every auto liability policy has to include uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage for bodily injury. It pays when you’re hurt by a driver who has no insurance, too little insurance or an insurer that becomes insolvent before paying. The statute and its regulations address injuries only, so this coverage doesn’t pay for damage to your car.
For policies issued or renewed since January 1, 1994, your UM/UIM limits have to equal the bodily injury liability limits you buy. You can choose a lower amount only by asking in writing and signing an informed consent form that lists your options and the premium for each. Even then, it can’t go below 25/50. Insurers also have to offer UM/UIM at twice your bodily injury limits, and whatever you choose carries over to renewals unless a named insured changes it in writing.
Connecticut doesn’t allow stacking, so UM/UIM limits for two or more vehicles can’t be added together. Your insurer also can’t give you less than three years from the accident to sue or demand arbitration on a UM/UIM claim. RateFrog’s guide to uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage covers the basics.
Standard UIM vs. Underinsured Conversion Coverage
Standard UIM starts paying after the at-fault driver’s liability limits are used up. Under 38a-336(b), your total recovery from all policies, including your own UIM, can’t be more than your UIM limit. The state regulations also let the policy reduce its limits by amounts paid by or on behalf of the person responsible for the injury.
Underinsured motorist conversion coverage works differently. Under C.G.S. 38a-336a, insurers have to offer it for an additional premium in place of standard UIM. It also pays after the at-fault driver’s limits are exhausted, but it isn’t reduced by what that driver’s insurer pays, and the total-recovery cap doesn’t apply. It won’t duplicate money from another source, and buying it is optional.
Hypothetical example: you have $100,000 of UIM, and the at-fault driver’s insurer pays its $25,000 limit. With standard UIM, your total recovery from all policies can’t exceed $100,000, so your own policy would pay no more than $75,000. With $100,000 of conversion coverage instead, and damages of at least $125,000, your policy could pay up to its full $100,000 on top of the $25,000, because conversion coverage pays toward damages the at-fault driver’s payment didn’t cover.
Medical Payments Coverage
Connecticut doesn’t require medical payments coverage. The regulations say an insurer “may undertake to pay” reasonable medical expenses incurred within one year of the accident, and that section sets no minimum amount and no duty to offer it. For policies effective on or after November 1, 2000, it pays before your health insurance.
Proof of Insurance in Connecticut
Under C.G.S. 14-13, your registration and insurance identification card have to be in the car whenever it’s driven on a public highway. Not carrying them is an infraction with a $50 fine, and a 2017 legislative research report put the total at $117 once other fees are added.
Since October 1, 2018, C.G.S. 14-12b has allowed you to show your card electronically on a phone or other device. Showing it doesn’t give the officer consent to look at anything else on the device. Officers can also check the state’s online insurance verification system. RateFrog’s guide to getting proof of insurance quickly can help if you need a card today.
How Connecticut Checks Your Coverage
When you register a car, you show an insurance card. After that, C.G.S. 38a-343a lets DMV require insurers to report new policies and cancellations monthly. When an insurer cancels, its notice has to warn you that DMV will be told.
According to DMV’s insurance suspension page, you may first get a warning letter. Switching insurers can trigger one even without a gap. If your insurance lapsed for more than 14 days, DMV mails a suspension notice. Under C.G.S. 14-12g, DMV can let you avoid or undo the suspension through a consent agreement, which means paying a $200 civil penalty for each lapse and showing proof of current coverage.
DMV accepts a declarations page, a letter of experience or a valid permanent Connecticut insurance ID card. It says temporary cards, bills and binders aren’t acceptable for clearing a lapse, which is different from the electronic card you can show an officer. To request a hearing, call the Insurance Compliance Unit at 860-263-5725 before the suspension date on your notice.
If you don’t respond, your registration privileges are suspended on the date in the notice, and you can’t register or renew any vehicle until it’s resolved. If you still haven’t settled it, canceled the registration or transferred the car within 30 days after the registration suspension, DMV can suspend your license, but only after a hearing.
Penalties for Driving Without Insurance in Connecticut
Connecticut has two separate penalty laws for missing coverage, plus DMV’s own civil penalty for a lapse. Each one carries its own penalty.
Operating an Uninsured Vehicle
Under C.G.S. 14-213b, an owner can’t drive, or let someone else drive, a vehicle without the required coverage. A conviction generally brings a fine of $100 to $1,000. DMV also suspends the registration and the owner’s license for one month after a first conviction and six months after a second or later one. The license isn’t restored until the owner shows proof of coverage for every vehicle registered in their name. The exception is an owner of a commercially registered vehicle who knowingly violates the law. That is a class D felony instead.
Failing to Maintain Required Security
A different law, C.G.S. 38a-371, requires the owner of a private passenger car that has to be registered in Connecticut to keep coverage in place continuously for the whole registration period. Failing to do so is a class C misdemeanor. The legislative research report described a class C misdemeanor as up to $500 in fines, up to three months in jail or both, which matches the state’s general penalty limits for that class. This is a separate charge from the 14-213b fine above.
DMV Penalties and Fees
The $200 civil penalty for each lapse is separate from any court fine. If your license is suspended, DMV’s license suspension page lists a $175 restoration fee, and its license suspension unit answers calls at 860-263-5720.
Impound and Plate Removal
Under C.G.S. 14-12h, an officer may seize and impound a car displaying plates from a suspended registration on a highway or in a parking area, and may remove the plates. The car is released only when the owner shows a valid registration and a current insurance ID card. A car left unclaimed for 45 days after impound can be forfeited. RateFrog’s guide to what happens when insurance lapses covers the wider risks of a gap.
SR-22 Filings in Connecticut
Connecticut DMV’s suspension pages don’t use the term SR-22. The statute, C.G.S. 14-112, calls it proof of financial responsibility. DMV can require it to issue or keep a license or registration when your record justifies it, and the law requires it after certain listed offenses, including larceny of a vehicle worth more than $10,000.
The proof can be a certificate your insurer files, a surety bond or a deposit with the State Treasurer. With an insurer’s certificate, the policy can’t be canceled without 10 days’ written notice to DMV. At the end of 12 months, you can apply to have the requirement removed, and DMV may investigate before deciding. RateFrog’s SR-22 guide explains how these filings work in general.
If You Can’t Find Coverage
The Connecticut Automobile Insurance Assigned Risk Plan (C.G.S. 38a-329) is for drivers entitled to insurance who can’t get it through ordinary methods. According to the plan’s page on AIPSO, applicants have to certify that they tried and failed to get auto insurance in Connecticut within the preceding 60 days at rates no higher than the plan’s. You apply through a producer certified by the plan’s governing committee. AIPSO lists the plan’s Northeast office at (401) 946-2800.
How Connecticut Insurers Set Rates
Connecticut restricts the use of credit without banning it. Under C.G.S. 38a-686, an insurer can use your credit history only:
- When writing a new policy
- At renewal, if you ask or if it lowers your premium
If you have no credit history, the insurer has to treat you as if your credit were neutral, and it can’t count the number of credit inquiries on your report. If your credit was hurt by an extraordinary life event, such as a catastrophic illness or a divorce, you can ask in writing for a reasonable exception.
Drivers 60 and older can earn a discount. Under C.G.S. 38a-683, completing a DMV-approved accident prevention course of at least four hours earns a discount of at least 5% that lasts at least 24 months. You have to take the course within one year before applying. A 2025 bill, HB 6898, would have removed the age requirement, but it didn’t pass. RateFrog’s guide to what drives car insurance rates covers other factors insurers use.
Cancellation and Nonrenewal Rules
Once a policy has been in effect for 60 days, or if it’s a renewal, C.G.S. 38a-342 lets the insurer cancel only for nonpayment or because the driver’s license or registration of the named insured, a household member or a regular driver was revoked. These limits don’t apply to Assigned Risk Plan policies.
Under C.G.S. 38a-343, the insurer generally has to give at least 45 days’ notice and state the reason. The exceptions are 15 days for not paying the first premium on a new policy and 10 days for not paying any other premium. In a policy’s first 60 days, 10 days’ notice also applies to a cancellation for material misrepresentation. RateFrog’s guide to car insurance grace periods explains what usually happens when a payment is late.
If an insurer decides not to renew, C.G.S. 38a-323 requires at least 60 days’ notice with the reason, unless the nonrenewal is for not paying the renewal premium. CID’s Bulletin PC-88 says vague reasons such as “underwriting judgment” don’t meet that standard.
Is Connecticut’s Minimum Coverage Enough?
CID recommends shopping for higher limits because the minimums may not protect you enough. In a serious crash, a 25/50/25 policy can run out quickly, and you could owe anything above your limits.
Because UM/UIM follows your liability limits unless you sign to lower it, raising liability raises both your protection and your premium. Lowering UM/UIM to 25/50 saves money but leaves less for your own injuries. RateFrog’s guide to how much car insurance you need can help you weigh it, and you can compare car insurance quotes with the same limits across insurers.
Where to Get Help
For insurer problems such as a cancellation or claim, contact CID’s Consumer Affairs unit at 860-297-3900 or toll-free at 800-203-3447, or file through its complaint page. Under CID’s complaint process, the company has two weeks to respond, though it can ask for more time.
For lapse notices, the $200 penalty and insurance hearings, contact DMV’s Insurance Compliance Unit at 860-263-5725. For license suspensions and restoration fees, call 860-263-5720.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Reject Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Connecticut?
No. Every policy has to include it. You can lower it to 25/50 by asking in writing and signing an informed consent form, but you can’t remove it.
Is Connecticut a No-Fault State?
No. Connecticut doesn’t require personal injury protection, and medical payments coverage is optional. Your required UM/UIM coverage helps pay for your injuries when the driver who hit you has too little insurance or none.
What Happens If My Insurance Lapses in Connecticut?
If the lapse lasts more than 14 days, DMV mails a suspension notice. You pay $200 for each lapse and send a declarations page, letter of experience or permanent ID card. Temporary cards and binders don’t count.
Can I Show Proof of Insurance on My Phone in Connecticut?
Yes. Since October 1, 2018, state law has allowed an electronic image of your insurance card on a phone or other device, and showing it doesn’t give the officer consent to look at anything else on it.
Sources
- Connecticut Insurance Department: Auto Insurance
- Connecticut Insurance Department: File a Complaint
- Connecticut Insurance Department: The Complaint Process
- Connecticut Insurance Department: Bulletin PC-88
- Connecticut DMV: Insurance Suspension, What to Do
- Connecticut DMV: Compliance Issues
- Connecticut DMV: License Suspension
- Connecticut Office of Legislative Research: Report 2017-R-0315
- Connecticut General Assembly: Public Act 17-114 Summary
- Connecticut General Assembly: HB 6130 (2025) Bill Status
- Connecticut General Assembly: HB 6898 (2025) Bill Status
- C.G.S. 14-112
- C.G.S. 14-12b
- C.G.S. 14-12g
- C.G.S. 14-12h
- C.G.S. 14-13
- C.G.S. 14-213b
- C.G.S. 38a-323
- C.G.S. 38a-329
- C.G.S. 38a-335
- C.G.S. 38a-336
- C.G.S. 38a-336a
- C.G.S. 38a-342
- C.G.S. 38a-343
- C.G.S. 38a-343a
- C.G.S. 38a-371
- C.G.S. 38a-683
- C.G.S. 38a-686
- Regs. Conn. State Agencies 38a-334
- AIPSO: Connecticut Automobile Insurance Assigned Risk Plan