Alabama liability insurance grace period ends Nov. 1

Published 5:37 pm Wednesday, October 18, 2017

If you don’t already have liability insurance on your automobile, you better obtain it soon.

Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 1, uninsured motorists will face steep civil penalties as the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency begins enforcing the state’s mandatory liability insurance law.

“There has been a grace period in enforcing that law to give motorists time to obtain the proper insurance coverage,” said Alabama’s Secretary of Law Enforcement Hal Taylor. “Beginning Nov. 1, motorists are subject to a civil penalty if involved in a motor vehicle incident, the vehicle (they) are operating is not covered by the state’s mandatory liability insurance and (they) are not issued a citation for no insurance at the time of the incident.”

The civil penalties are steep: $200 for the first offense, $300 for the second and $400 for the third and subsequent. In addition, a motorist involved in an incident also faces a 90-day driver’s license suspension if he or she fails to pay the civil penalty within 45 days or fails to request a hearing with ALEA’s Driver’s License Division, Taylor said.

The cost to reinstate a suspended driver’s license in such a case is $100, he said.

If a driver is issued a civil penalty (fine), he or she can appeal and a hearing will be held to determine whether the motor vehicle being operated at the time of the incident was in compliance with the law, Taylor said.

The law

The mandatory liability insurance law, passed in 2016, says no person shall operate, register or maintain registration of a motor vehicle designed to be used on a public road or highway unless it is covered by a liability insurance policy.

A liability policy covers a motorist for damage or injury he or she might cause another in an accident. Under the law, a liability insurance policy must be issued by an insurer licensed to do business in Alabama for no less than:

• $25,000 for death or bodily injury to one person;

• $50,000 for death or bodily injury to two or more persons; and

• $25,000 for damage or destruction of property.

Alabama Department of Insurance Commissioner Jim Ridling said the liability law is a good one.

“It just makes sense to have liability insurance on your vehicle, because operating a motor vehicle without it drives up everyone’s rates,” he said. “Do the right thing and follow Alabama’s mandatory liability insurance laws to help stabilize rates for Alabama insurance consumers.”