Minimum car insurance requirements in North Dakota

If you drive in North Dakota, state law sets a floor for what your auto policy has to cover. That floor has three parts: liability coverage, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and no-fault benefits. North Dakota is a no-fault state, which changes how the money moves after a crash and what you can sue for. Here is exactly what the law requires, what the numbers mean, and where the state minimum tends to leave people short.

The three coverages every North Dakota policy must include

An insurer cannot issue or renew a policy in North Dakota unless it carries all three: liability, uninsured/underinsured motorist, and basic no-fault coverage.¹ Drop any one of them and the policy fails the state's financial responsibility law.

Liability limits of 25/50/25

The minimum liability limits are written into N.D.C.C. § 39-16.1-11. A qualifying motor vehicle liability policy has to cover at least:²

• $25,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in a single accident
• $50,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more people in a single accident
• $25,000 for injury to or destruction of another person's property in a single accident

You will see this written as 25/50/25. It is the money that pays other people when you cause a crash. It does nothing for your own injuries or your own car.

Basic no-fault (PIP) benefits up to $30,000

Because North Dakota follows a no-fault system, every policy also has to include what the statute calls basic no-fault benefits. Most drivers know this coverage as personal injury protection, or PIP. It pays your own medical bills and lost income after a crash regardless of who was at fault.³

The cap is $30,000 per person, per accident, for all economic loss combined.³ Inside that $30,000, the statute sets sub-limits:

• Work loss is paid at 85% of lost income, capped at $150 per week.³
• Replacement services (help with tasks you can no longer do, like childcare or housework) are covered up to $15 per day.³
• Funeral, cremation, and burial expenses are covered up to $3,500.³

Once benefits paid reach $30,000, no-fault coverage is exhausted. These benefits reach the policyholder, a spouse, relatives living in the household, permitted drivers, and passengers.³

One deadline works in your favor. A no-fault insurer must pay benefits within 30 days after it receives reasonable proof of the loss and the amount. Bills that sit past that point are "overdue" under the statute, one of the few hard clocks written into North Dakota's auto insurance law.⁴

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage

North Dakota does not let you skip UM/UIM coverage, and it does not let you sign it away. Every liability policy has to include uninsured motorist coverage at the same limits as the liability minimum, 25/50.⁵ The insurer also has to provide underinsured motorist coverage at limits equal to your UM coverage.⁶

Uninsured motorist coverage pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Underinsured coverage kicks in when the other driver carries some insurance, but not enough to cover what they cost you. Given how many drivers carry only the bare 25/50/25 minimum, UIM is the coverage that quietly matters most.

There is no policyholder waiver here. The only way a specific person comes off UM/UIM is a written named-driver exclusion under N.D.C.C. § 26.1-40-16, where you and the insurer agree in writing to exclude one named individual or class of drivers.⁷ Even then, if the policy still gives that person liability coverage, it cannot fall below the statutory minimums.⁷

What the state minimum leaves out

The 25/50/25 floor and $30,000 in PIP are low once real medical bills start arriving. North Dakota law anticipates this and forces insurers to offer more, so raising your limits is usually a quick phone call.

Your insurer has to make optional excess no-fault benefits available, extending economic-loss coverage up to a total of $80,000 per person once the basic $30,000 is used up.⁸ On the UM/UIM side, the insurer has to offer higher limits on request, up to your bodily injury liability limits or $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.⁵

The serious injury threshold

No-fault comes with a trade-off. Under the secured person exemption in N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-08, an at-fault driver is exempt from paying you for noneconomic loss (pain and suffering) unless your injury is a "serious injury."⁹ The statute defines serious injury as one that results in death, dismemberment, serious and permanent disfigurement, disability beyond 60 days, or medical expenses over $2,500.³

Clear that bar and you can pursue a pain-and-suffering claim against the person who hit you. Fall short and no-fault benefits are generally your remedy. This threshold is one reason the state minimum can hurt you: if someone carrying only 25/50 causes a serious injury, your own underinsured motorist coverage is often what fills the gap. If you're trying to work out whether your injury qualifies or how much coverage is actually in play, you can find an attorney who handles North Dakota crash claims.

Penalties for driving without insurance

Driving without a valid liability policy is illegal under N.D.C.C. § 39-08-20. When an officer stops you, you have to show proof of insurance, written or electronic, or you can be charged.¹⁰ A first offense carries a $150 fine; a second or subsequent offense within three years runs $300.¹¹

The consequences go past the fine. On a second or later violation, the court orders your license plates impounded until you provide proof of insurance and pay a $20 fee.¹⁰ You also have to file proof of insurance with the state for a full year, and if you let it lapse the department suspends your driving privileges.¹⁰ And if you cause a crash while uninsured, N.D.C.C. § 39-08-20.1 says the court, at a minimum, orders you to pay the other driver's insurance deductible.¹²

After a crash in North Dakota

A few practical things follow from these rules. Your PIP benefits pay your early medical bills no matter who was at fault, so you can start treatment without waiting on a fault decision. If law enforcement responded, you'll want the official crash report for your claim. And if your car was repaired but is now worth less because it carries an accident on its record, that lost value is a separate claim from your injury claim.

The short version: North Dakota law guarantees you 25/50/25 in liability, $30,000 in no-fault benefits, and UM/UIM coverage that no one can waive on your behalf. Whether that is enough depends on the crash. For most drivers, buying above the floor costs little and matters a lot when the bills are real.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. North Dakota Insurance Department, "Auto" (auto insurance requirements). https://www.insurance.nd.gov/consumers/insurance/auto

2. N.D.C.C. § 39-16.1-11 (motor vehicle liability policy; minimum limits). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c16-1.pdf

3. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-01 (Auto Accident Reparations Act, definitions: basic no-fault benefits, work loss, replacement services, serious injury). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c41.pdf

4. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-09 (payment of basic and optional excess no-fault benefits; 30-day rule). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c41.pdf

5. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-40-15.2 (uninsured motorist coverage; higher limits on request). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c40.pdf

6. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-40-15.3 (underinsured motorist coverage). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c40.pdf

7. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-40-16 (exclusion of named persons; restrictive endorsements). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c40.pdf

8. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-04 (optional excess no-fault benefits, up to $80,000). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c41.pdf

9. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-08 (secured person exemption; noneconomic loss). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t26-1c41.pdf

10. N.D.C.C. § 39-08-20 (driving without liability insurance prohibited; penalty). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c08.pdf

11. North Dakota Highway Patrol, "Classification of Offenses" (August 2025 update; fine schedule). https://www.statepatrol.nd.gov/sites/default/files/documents/safetyed/Classification%20of%20Offenses.August2025.Final_.8.29UPDATE.pdf

12. N.D.C.C. § 39-08-20.1 (uninsured motorist; insurance deductible). https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c08.pdf