Minimum car insurance requirements in Oregon

If you drive in Oregon, state law sets a floor on the coverage you must carry, and it is more detailed than a single liability number. Every private passenger auto policy issued here has to bundle three separate protections: liability, personal injury protection (PIP), and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.¹ Carrying the legal minimum of all three keeps you street-legal. In a serious crash, it is also often not enough.

Here is what each requirement actually is, with the statute behind it.

The liability minimums: 25/50/20

Oregon's mandatory liability limits come from ORS 806.070. A policy has to pay at least $25,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in a single accident, $50,000 for bodily injury to two or more people in that accident, and $20,000 for damage to other people's property.² Insurance shorthand writes this as 25/50/20.

These are the least the state lets you carry, not a recommendation. The $20,000 property-damage figure has to cover the other driver's vehicle and anything else you hit, and a newer car can exceed that on its own, before you even reach a repair-versus-total decision or a diminished value claim.

Personal injury protection is mandatory here

This is where Oregon differs from many states. PIP is required on every private passenger policy, and it pays your own medical bills and lost wages no matter who caused the crash. Oregon runs an at-fault liability system with PIP layered on as a no-fault first payer, so it is not a pure no-fault state.

The benefit schedule in ORS 742.524 is specific. Your policy has to provide at least:

• $15,000 for reasonable and necessary medical, hospital, dental, surgical, ambulance, and prosthetic expenses, for treatment incurred within two years of the crash.³
• 70 percent of lost income if a disability from the crash lasts at least 14 days, capped at $3,000 per month for up to 52 weeks.³
• Up to $5,000 in funeral expenses incurred within one year.³

There are smaller pieces too. If the injured person was not an income earner, PIP pays up to $30 a day for essential services for as long as 52 weeks, and a hospitalized parent can claim up to $25 a day, to a $750 maximum, for child care.³ Because PIP is a first payer, it starts covering you before fault is sorted out. Keep the $15,000 medical cap in mind, because an ambulance ride plus an ER visit and imaging can approach it quickly.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage

Oregon also requires UM and UIM coverage on every auto liability policy, under ORS 742.502. By default your UM/UIM limits have to equal your bodily injury liability limits.⁴ So if you carry 25/50, your uninsured motorist protection is 25/50 unless you change it on purpose.

You can elect lower UM/UIM limits, but only in writing, only down to the state minimum, and the insurer has to receive that written election within 60 days of the policy being issued.⁴ Without that signed election, the coverage stays at your liability limits. This is the coverage that pays you when the other driver has nothing or too little, which happens often given how many people drive on the 25/50/20 floor.

Proof of insurance, and the cost of not having it

You have to be able to show proof of coverage, and driving without it is its own offense. Under ORS 806.010, driving uninsured is a Class B traffic violation.⁵ A Class B violation carries a presumptive fine of $265 and a maximum of $1,000.⁶

The bigger consequence is your license. If you are in a crash while uninsured, DMV can suspend your driving privileges,⁷ and a conviction for driving uninsured requires you to file proof of future financial responsibility, an SR-22, and keep it current.⁵ If your crash report shows no coverage at the time, that suspension exposure is real even when you did not cause the wreck.

What SB 840 changed on January 1, 2026

Oregon rewrote part of this in 2025. SB 840, signed by Governor Kotek, took effect January 1, 2026, and it changed how long the SR-22 obligation lasts and when suspensions apply.⁸

Two changes matter for drivers. A conviction for driving uninsured used to require a three-year SR-22 filing; for convictions on or after January 1, 2026, that drops to one year.⁸ And DMV no longer imposes an automatic one-year suspension on an uninsured driver just for being in an accident on or after that date, although a three-year SR-22 filing still applies to uninsured drivers who are in a crash.⁸

There is a paperwork wrinkle worth knowing if your insurer's records are wrong. For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, if an insurer's verification says you were uncovered, DMV will not reverse that finding unless you produce a statement on the insurer's letterhead, signed by an authorized employee, confirming you were insured at the time.⁸ If you ever need an SR-22, it has to come from an insurer licensed in Oregon and show coverage that meets the state minimums.⁹

Higher limits after a DUII conviction

A conviction for driving under the influence raises your floor. ORS 806.075 requires anyone convicted of DUII to carry, and file proof of, at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $10,000 for property damage, and to keep that filing for three years from the date it is first required.¹⁰ The bodily injury requirement is double the ordinary minimum.

Why the legal minimum is a floor, not a plan

Meeting 25/50/20 plus PIP and UM/UIM keeps you legal. It does not mean you are covered for a bad day. A short hospital stay passes the $15,000 PIP medical cap fast, $25,000 of liability can vanish in one moderately serious injury claim, and $20,000 in property coverage may not replace a late-model SUV. Buying UM/UIM at your full liability limits, instead of electing it down, is the cheapest way to protect yourself against the many Oregon drivers who carry nothing but the minimum.

If an uninsured or underinsured driver hit you and the numbers do not add up, an attorney who handles these claims can press your own UM coverage and any liability policy that applies. You can find one through the thatcarhitme.com legal directory.

This article is general information about Oregon law, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, Auto insurance 101. https://dfr.oregon.gov/insure/auto/pages/auto-insurance-101.aspx

2. ORS 806.070 (minimum liability limits), Oregon Revised Statutes. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors806.html

3. ORS 742.520 and 742.524 (personal injury protection benefits), Oregon Revised Statutes. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors742.html

4. ORS 742.502 (uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage), Oregon Revised Statutes. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors742.html

5. ORS 806.010 (driving uninsured prohibited; penalty), Oregon Revised Statutes. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors806.html

6. ORS 153.019 and 153.018 (presumptive and maximum fines by violation class), Oregon Revised Statutes. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors153.html

7. ORS 809.417 (suspension of driving privileges), Oregon Revised Statutes. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors809.html

8. Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, DMV Notice: Senate Bill (SB) 840 Insurance Provisions (Dec. 9, 2025). https://dfr.oregon.gov/business/reg/pc-regulatory-guidance/Documents/20251209-sb840-insurance-provisions-memo.pdf

9. Oregon DMV, SR-22 Information. https://www.oregon.gov/odot/dmv/pages/driverid/sr22.aspx

10. ORS 806.075 (increased responsibility after DUII conviction), Oregon Revised Statutes. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors806.html