Miss. Increases Minimum Auto Liability Limits

Mississippi lawmakers increased the state’s minimum auto liability limits during their regular legislative session which ended on Wednesday, an official of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies said Friday.

“Before House Bill 722 was enacted, Mississippi had the lowest minimum automobile liability limits in the country,” NAMIC State Affairs Manager David Reddick said. “The new limits are now more in line with the minimum limits in other states.”

HB 722 increases the statutory minimum for motor vehicle liability insurance coverage in any one accident from $10,000 to $25,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person, from $20,000 to $50,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons and from $5,000 to $25,000 for injury to or destruction of property of others. Most sections of the bill will take effect Jan. 1, 2006.

Other bills of note enacted during the regular session include:

• HB 653, which authorizes the Department of Public Safety to make certain information available for compiling vehicle history reports;

• HB 1041, which will require background checks for persons applying for a commercial driver’s license with a hazardous material endorsement;

• HB 1238, which requires the Department of Public Safety to maintain a database of insured motorists; and

• HB 1322, which requires insurers to file annual and quarterly financial reports to the Insurance Commissioner.

NAMIC has compiled a preliminary list of enacted Mississippi legislation. The list can be found on NAMIC’s website, NAMIC Online, at http://www.namic.org/stateLaws/05mississippi.asp

Topics Trends Auto Mississippi