Minnesota requires at least $30,000 of bodily injury liability per person, $60,000 per accident and $10,000 of property damage liability (30/60/10), plus $40,000 of no-fault personal injury protection per person and uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident each. All four coverages are mandatory.
Minnesota doesn’t run a program that checks every car’s insurance with insurers. The state acts when an officer asks for proof and you don’t have it, when you’re convicted, or when department records such as crash reports show a car wasn’t insured. A conviction can bring a fine of at least $200 and the loss of your license and registration.
Key Takeaways
- Minnesota requires 30/60/10 liability, $40,000 of personal injury protection (PIP) per person, and uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage at 25/50 each. None of these can be dropped.
- PIP pays your own medical bills and certain other losses regardless of fault, and you can only sue the other driver for pain and suffering if your injury passes the state’s threshold.
- Driving uninsured is a misdemeanor with a minimum fine of $200, and it becomes a gross misdemeanor for repeat offenses or a crash that causes death or substantial bodily harm.
- A conviction can lead to a license revocation of up to 12 months. To get your license back, you’ll need an insurance certificate completed by your insurer, a written test and a $30 fee, among other steps.
Minnesota Minimum Car Insurance at a Glance
| Coverage | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $10,000 per accident |
| Personal injury protection (no-fault) | $40,000 per person: $20,000 for medical expenses and $20,000 for other losses |
| Uninsured motorist | $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident (bodily injury only) |
| Underinsured motorist | $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident (bodily injury only) |
| Collision and comprehensive | Not required by law, but lenders often require them |
The limits are set by Minn. Stat. 65B.49, and the $30,000 and $60,000 bodily injury figures date to a 1985 law. Under Minn. Stat. 65B.48, every owner of a car that has to be registered must keep this coverage for as long as the car may be driven or used. RateFrog’s guide to liability limits explains how the split numbers work.
Bills to raise Minnesota’s minimums were introduced in 2025 and 2026, but none passed, so 30/60/10 is still the law.
Minnesota No-Fault PIP Coverage
Minnesota is a no-fault state, so your own policy’s personal injury protection pays certain crash losses regardless of who caused them. The Department of Commerce, which regulates insurance, covers this on its auto insurance basics page. Under Minn. Stat. 65B.44, the minimum is $40,000 for each injured person.
What PIP Pays
- Medical expenses: up to $20,000 for reasonable, necessary care, such as medical, dental, chiropractic and rehabilitation services.
- Lost income: 85% of gross income you lose because you can’t work, up to $500 a week.
- Replacement services: up to $200 a week for help with tasks such as housework. Losses on the day of the injury and the seven days after it aren’t counted.
- Funeral costs: up to $5,000.
- Survivors’ benefits: up to $500 a week for lost support and $200 a week for replacement services, if the person dies within a year of the crash.
Everything except medical expenses shares one $20,000 pool. Some websites still show older figures, such as a $2,000 funeral benefit. The current income, funeral and survivors’ limits took effect January 1, 2015. RateFrog’s guide to personal injury protection explains PIP more broadly.
Tell your insurer about a crash promptly. Under Minn. Stat. 65B.55, a policy’s notice deadline can’t be shorter than six months, and late notice only costs you benefits to the extent the insurer shows the delay actually hurt it. Check your policy for its notice period.
When You Can Sue the Other Driver
Under Minn. Stat. 65B.51, you can sue for pain, suffering and other noneconomic damages only if one of these applies:
- Your medical expenses are more than $4,000, not counting diagnostic x-rays and rehabilitation
- You have a permanent disfigurement or permanent injury
- The injured person died
- You were disabled for 60 days or more, meaning you couldn’t do substantially all of your usual daily activities
The threshold doesn’t block a claim for economic losses PIP didn’t pay, such as lost income above PIP’s weekly cap. The court subtracts PIP benefits paid or payable from any award.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Under section 65B.49, every policy has to include separate uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage, each at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. Both cover bodily injury only, so they don’t pay to fix your car.
UM applies when the at-fault driver has no insurance or in a hit-and-run. UIM applies when the at-fault driver’s limits are too low to cover your damages. Neither pays for losses that PIP pays or would pay.
How UIM Adds to the Other Driver’s Coverage
Minnesota’s UIM pays the damages you couldn’t recover from the at-fault driver’s policy, up to your UIM limit, so the other driver’s payment doesn’t shrink your limit.
Hypothetical example (an illustration only): your injury damages are $50,000 and the at-fault driver has a $30,000 limit. With a $25,000 UIM limit, your UIM could pay the remaining $20,000.
No Stacking
Minnesota law bans stacking: if you insure two or more vehicles, you can’t add their UM or UIM limits together for one accident. If you’re hurt in someone else’s car, your own policy may pay as excess, but only by the amount its limit is higher than the limit on that car. RateFrog’s guide to uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage covers the basics.
Proof of Insurance in Minnesota
Under Minn. Stat. 169.791, every driver has to carry proof of insurance and show it when a peace officer asks. An insurance card, a written statement from a licensed insurance agent or the policy counts. Under Minn. Stat. 65B.482, the card can be electronic if you agree.
Showing proof on a phone or other device doesn’t give the officer consent to look at anything else on it. RateFrog’s guide to getting proof of insurance quickly can help if you need a card today.
If you own the car and it was insured but you didn’t have proof with you, you won’t be convicted if the court administrator gets proof by the deadline on your citation for your first court appearance. A driver who doesn’t own the car can instead give the court administrator the owner’s name and address by that date.
How Minnesota Checks Coverage
Minnesota’s monthly insurance sampling program was suspended in 2005 and repealed in 2007. Under Minn. Stat. 169.797, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) can still revoke a registration and suspend a license without a preliminary hearing when its records, including crash reports, show a car wasn’t insured.
Instead of a ticket, an officer may give you a written notice to produce proof within ten days. Under Minn. Stat. 169.792, if you don’t, a revocation takes effect 14 days after DPS is notified, unless you show the car was insured when the officer asked. You can ask DPS in writing to review the order.
Penalties for Driving Without Insurance in Minnesota
Penalties come from the courts and from DPS, and you can face both.
Fines and Jail
It’s a crime to drive, or let someone drive, a car you know or should know is uninsured. A violation is a misdemeanor, and the court has to impose a fine of at least $200. Under Minn. Stat. 609.03, a misdemeanor carries up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
It becomes a gross misdemeanor within ten years of the first of two earlier convictions, or when an uninsured driver causes or contributes to a crash that kills someone or causes substantial bodily harm. That carries up to 364 days in jail, a fine of up to $3,000, or both. Not showing proof when asked is a separate misdemeanor with the same $200 minimum fine.
License and Registration
A conviction also means your license is revoked for up to 12 months, and if you own the car, its registration too. A DPS rule sets the length by your convictions within five years:
- First conviction: 30 days
- Second: 90 days
- Third: 180 days
- Fourth or more: one year
To reinstate after a revocation for no insurance, the state’s driver’s manual says you pass a written test, pay a $30 reinstatement fee plus any court fines, apply for a new license and submit an insurance certificate from your insurer. The $30 fee comes from Minn. Stat. 171.29, and Minn. Stat. 171.20 sets a $20 fee after a no-insurance suspension. DPS’s driver compliance page lets you check your status and pay online.
A Crash Without Insurance
The no-fault law doesn’t shield an uninsured owner from being sued over a crash. If you’re hurt while your own car is uninsured, Minn. Stat. 65B.64 bars you, and adults living with you as a family (but not minor children), from PIP benefits through the state’s assigned claims plan. RateFrog’s guide to what happens when insurance lapses covers the wider risks.
SR-22 and Minnesota’s Insurance Certificate
No official Minnesota source reviewed uses the term SR-22. Minnesota uses its own insurance certificate, form PS35016, which has to be filed with DPS before a license or registration revoked for no insurance is reinstated. An authorized representative of the insurance company has to complete it, not your agent.
If you don’t own a car, the form lets you qualify by being listed on someone else’s policy or buying a non-owner policy. State law lets DPS require coverage the insurer certifies as noncancelable for up to 12 months. RateFrog’s SR-22 guide explains how similar filings work elsewhere.
If You Can’t Find Coverage
The Minnesota Automobile Insurance Plan is for drivers who can’t get coverage in the regular market. Under Minn. Stat. 65B.10, to be eligible, you must have been rejected, canceled or refused renewal by an insurer.
According to the plan’s page on AIPSO, you have to certify that you tried and failed to get insurance within the past 60 days at rates no higher than the plan’s, and have a valid license or be eligible for one through a filing. Any licensed Minnesota auto insurance agent or broker can submit an application.
How Minnesota Insurers Set Rates
The Department of Commerce’s shopping guide lists factors that generally affect price, including age, gender, marital status, driving record, credit history, prior claims and how much you drive. Under Minn. Stat. 72A.20, an insurer can’t:
- Use your employment status, or the fact that you rent your home, in underwriting
- Hold it against you that you had no auto policy before applying, unless you were required by law to have insurance and didn’t
- Use past PIP claims in underwriting if you were 50% or less at fault
- Reject, cancel or nonrenew you based on credit information without considering other factors, or use credit for those decisions if you have no credit history
Required Discounts
Minnesota requires two discounts. Under Minn. Stat. 65B.28, drivers 55 and older get at least 10% off after an approved accident prevention course, which is four hours for courses held on or after July 1, 2024. To stay eligible, you retake it or take a refresher every three years.
Under Minn. Stat. 65B.285, insurers have to give at least 5% off comprehensive for a qualifying anti-theft device: one installed by the manufacturer or an authorized dealer that turns on when the doors lock. RateFrog’s guide to the factors that affect car insurance rates covers the rest.
Cancellation and Nonrenewal Rules
During a new policy’s first 59 days, an insurer can cancel for any reason the law doesn’t prohibit, with ten days’ notice. After that, or on a renewal, Minn. Stat. 65B.15 limits cancellation to listed reasons, such as nonpayment, a material misrepresentation, a fraudulent claim or a suspended license in the household.
Under Minn. Stat. 65B.16, the insurer has to give at least 30 days’ notice stating the reason, or ten days for nonpayment, which includes a missed installment. RateFrog’s guide to car insurance grace periods explains what usually happens when a payment is late.
For nonrenewal, Minn. Stat. 65B.17 requires at least 60 days’ notice with the specific reason, unless you didn’t pay the renewal premium or the insurer offered to renew. Commerce rules use a points system for accidents and violations, and two points on a one-vehicle policy can justify nonrenewal.
If you think a cancellation or nonrenewal is arbitrary or breaks these rules, Minn. Stat. 65B.21 lets you file a written objection with the Commerce commissioner within 30 days of the notice. Don’t assume your coverage continues while it’s reviewed.
Is Minnesota’s Minimum Coverage Enough?
A 30/60/10 policy can run out fast in a serious crash, and $10,000 of property damage coverage won’t replace many newer cars. If a claim is bigger than your limits, you could owe the rest. Higher limits cost more, so weigh what you own, what you could pay yourself and whether a lender requires collision and comprehensive. RateFrog’s guide to how much car insurance you need can help, and you can compare car insurance quotes at a few coverage levels.
Where to Get Help
For questions or complaints about an insurer, call the Department of Commerce at 651-539-1600 or 800-657-3602 (Greater Minnesota), or use its complaint page. For license revocations, reinstatement and insurance certificates, contact Driver and Vehicle Services, whose contact page lists 651-201-7777.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is PIP Required in Minnesota?
Yes. Every policy has to include at least $40,000 of personal injury protection per person, with $20,000 for medical expenses and $20,000 for lost income and other losses.
Can I Reject Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Minnesota?
No. Minnesota law requires every policy to include both, at limits of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident each.
What Is the Fine for Driving Without Insurance in Minnesota?
At least $200, and up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail for a misdemeanor. Repeat offenses and crashes causing death or substantial bodily harm can be gross misdemeanors, and your license can be revoked for up to 12 months.
Does Minnesota Require an SR-22?
Official Minnesota sources don’t use that term. After a revocation for no insurance, you file Minnesota’s own insurance certificate, which your insurer completes, before your license or registration is reinstated.
Sources
- Minnesota Department of Commerce: Auto Insurance Basics
- Minnesota Department of Commerce: Shopping for Auto Insurance
- Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services: Driver Compliance
- Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services: Insurance Certification (PS35016)
- Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services: Minnesota Driver’s Manual
- Minn. Stat. 65B.10
- Minn. Stat. 65B.15
- Minn. Stat. 65B.16
- Minn. Stat. 65B.17
- Minn. Stat. 65B.21
- Minn. Stat. 65B.28
- Minn. Stat. 65B.285
- Minn. Stat. 65B.44
- Minn. Stat. 65B.48
- Minn. Stat. 65B.49
- Minn. Stat. 65B.482
- Minn. Stat. 65B.51
- Minn. Stat. 65B.55
- Minn. Stat. 65B.64
- Minn. Stat. 72A.20
- Minn. Stat. 169.791
- Minn. Stat. 169.792
- Minn. Stat. 169.797
- Minn. Stat. 171.20
- Minn. Stat. 171.29
- Minn. Stat. 609.03
- Minn. R. 7409.1600
- Minn. R. 2770.8000
- AIPSO: Minnesota Automobile Insurance Plan
- Minnesota Department of Commerce: File a Complaint
- Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services: Contact