Minimum Car Insurance in Arkansas

It is unlawful to operate a motor vehicle in Arkansas unless it is insured for at least $25,000 for bodily injury or death of one person in an accident, $50,000 for bodily injury or death of two or more people in an accident, and $25,000 for property damage (25/50/25). A certificate of self-insurance is the alternative to a policy. Liability is the only coverage the law requires drivers to buy. Insurers must also include personal injury protection (PIP) benefits in private passenger policies unless the named insured rejects them in writing: medical and hospital expenses up to $5,000 per person (incurred within 24 months), 70% of lost income up to $140 a week for up to 52 weeks, and a $5,000 accidental death benefit.

Arkansas is an at-fault (tort) state in which personal injury protection is offered: liability insurance pays claims by people injured in an accident for which the insured is legally liable, while the PIP benefits that insurers must include (unless rejected in writing) are paid without regard to fault. The Alabama Department of Insurance's national list places Arkansas among "Tort States Where Personal Injury Protection is Available/Required."

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage must be offered to anyone buying liability coverage and is included in the policy unless the insured signs a statement rejecting it. Insurers must offer UM bodily injury limits up to the liability limits the applicant chooses (Ark. Code Ann. § 23-89-403(3)(A)). UM comes in two parts: bodily injury and property damage; property damage can be bought only with bodily injury and carries a $200 deductible (waived if the same insurer carries collision and UM property damage and the identified uninsured driver is solely at fault). Underinsured motorist coverage, which pays when the at-fault driver's liability limits are too low, is also available.