Minimum car insurance requirements in Mississippi

If you drive in Mississippi, the state expects you to carry a set amount of liability insurance and to prove it on the spot. The short version is three numbers: 25/50/25. Almost everything else about auto coverage here builds on those three figures, so it pays to know exactly what they mean and where they leave you exposed.

This page stays on what's specific to Mississippi: the statute sections, the dollar figures, the penalties, and the coverages the state does and does not make you buy.

The 25/50/25 minimum

Under Mississippi's Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Law, every private passenger vehicle has to be covered by a liability policy that pays at least:

$25,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in a single accident
$50,000 for total bodily injury when two or more people are hurt in the same accident
$25,000 for damage to someone else's property

Those limits appear in Miss. Code Ann. § 63-15-43, and the insurance card statute cross-references them at § 63-15-3(j).¹² The Mississippi Insurance Department publishes the same 25/50/25 figures in its consumer auto guide.³ They have been the state floor since January 1, 2006.

The middle number is worth a second look. That $50,000 is a per-accident cap on bodily injury when more than one person is hurt, and no single victim can draw more than $25,000 of it. So if you cause a wreck that injures three people, a minimum policy splits $50,000 among all of them.

One thing that trips people up: liability coverage pays other people for harm you cause. It does nothing for your own injuries or your own car. Protection for yourself comes from separate coverages the state treats as optional, covered further down.

The card you have to carry

Mississippi requires more than the policy itself. You also have to keep an insurance card in the vehicle and show it when an officer asks. Since 2013 that card can be an electronic image on your phone rather than a paper copy.¹

For several years the state also authorized an electronic insurance verification database under the Public Safety Verification and Enforcement Act in Title 63, Chapter 16. That chapter, including the verification system and its separate penalty for lapsed coverage, was repealed effective July 1, 2025.⁴ As of 2026, enforcement runs through the card requirement and the traffic stop, not a live statewide database check.

What happens if you drive without it

Getting caught without proof of insurance is a misdemeanor under § 63-15-4. The penalty is a $100 fine plus suspension of your driving privilege for one year, and that suspension lasts until you show proof of liability insurance and pay the fine and reinstatement fees.¹ If a judge finds you can't afford to pay, the statute lets the court reinstate your license on a payment plan.

Buying a policy is the usual way to comply, but it isn't the only one. The Safety-Responsibility Law also lets a driver satisfy the requirement by posting a bond or making a cash or security deposit in the same amounts.⁵ Almost nobody chooses this, since tying up $25,000 in cash costs far more than a policy, but it stays on the books.

Coverage Mississippi leaves optional

The coverages that actually protect you are the ones the state doesn't force you to buy, so this is where the Mississippi-specific rules matter most.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM). You aren't required to carry it, but your insurer must offer it, and you have to reject it in writing to go without.⁶ A 2024 change made the default more generous. For policies issued after July 1, 2024, House Bill 916 amended § 83-11-101 so your UM bodily-injury and property-damage limits automatically equal your liability limits unless you sign for something lower.⁷ Carry 25/50/25 in liability and never sign a reduction, and you now carry 25/50/25 in UM as well. That coverage pays when the driver who hit you has no insurance or too little of it, which happens often in a state where a good share of drivers carry only the minimum or nothing at all.

Medical payments (MedPay). Sold only as an optional add-on, MedPay covers medical bills for you and your passengers no matter who caused the crash.³

No PIP and no no-fault. Mississippi is a fault-based (at-fault) state. It doesn't sell personal injury protection, and it has no no-fault system, so there's no Florida-style rule forcing you to file a first-party injury claim within days of a wreck.³⁵ When another driver hurts you, you pursue that driver or lean on your own UM coverage.

Why the state minimum often isn't enough

Mississippi follows a pure comparative negligence rule under § 11-7-15, so you can recover damages even if you were mostly at fault, with your award reduced by your share of the blame.⁸ The flip side matters too: cause a serious crash, and you are personally responsible for every dollar above your policy limits.

Twenty-five thousand dollars per person can vanish against one ambulance ride, an ER visit, and a surgery. When the bills run past your limit, the injured person can pursue your income and assets, and they have three years from the date of the crash to sue under Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49.⁹ Mississippi caps noneconomic damages, meaning pain and suffering and similar losses, at $1,000,000 in ordinary injury cases, which is forty times the minimum per-person liability limit.¹⁰ That distance between the legal floor and what a bad wreck actually costs is why many Mississippi drivers carry limits well above 25/50/25.

If someone carrying only the state minimum hit you, the numbers can get tight fast, and it's smart to talk to a lawyer before accepting any offer. You can find an attorney through our directory. If your vehicle lost resale value in the crash, see our guide to diminished value claims in Mississippi. And if you still need the official paperwork, here's how to get your Mississippi crash report.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-15-4, insurance card requirement and penalty. https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-63/chapter-15/section-63-15-4/
Miss. Code Ann. § 63-15-43, motor vehicle liability policy and required minimum limits. https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-63/chapter-15/section-63-15-43/
Mississippi Insurance Department, Auto Insurance consumer guide. https://www.mid.ms.gov/mississippi-insurance-department/consumers/auto-insurance/
Miss. Code Ann. § 63-16-13, Title 63, Chapter 16, Public Safety Verification and Enforcement Act, repealed effective July 1, 2025. https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-63/chapter-16/section-63-16-13/
Miss. Code Ann. Title 63, Chapter 15, Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Law. https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-63/chapter-15/
Miss. Code Ann. § 83-11-101, uninsured motorist coverage and written rejection. https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-83/chapter-11/article-3/section-83-11-101/
Mississippi House Bill 916, 2024 Regular Session, amending § 83-11-101. https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2024/html/HB/0900-0999/HB0916IN.htm
Miss. Code Ann. § 11-7-15, comparative negligence. https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-11/chapter-7/in-general/section-11-7-15/
Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49, three-year statute of limitations. https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-15/chapter-1/section-15-1-49/
Miss. Code Ann. § 11-1-60, cap on noneconomic damages. https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/title-11/chapter-1/section-11-1-60/

Minimum Car Insurance Requirements in Mississippi