The short answer: New Hampshire only
Car insurance is required in 49 states and Washington, D.C. New Hampshire is the only state that still allows most drivers to forgo it. That is the position the National Association of Insurance Commissioners records: 49 states plus the District of Columbia require drivers to carry auto liability insurance, and New Hampshire is the one without a compulsory liability law.
The word “most” matters. New Hampshire's exception is not a free pass to drive without consequences — it is a different system, financial responsibility instead of compulsory insurance, and it catches up with a driver after a crash rather than before one.
New Hampshire: no mandate, still liable
New Hampshire runs on its Financial Responsibility Act (RSA chapter 264). Instead of requiring insurance up front, the state requires a driver who causes a crash to prove they can pay for the damage. After a reported crash, the DMV suspends the driver's license and registration unless the driver has liability coverage, and the suspension stays until the driver posts security for any judgment and shows proof of financial responsibility, usually for three years.
When proof is required, the amounts are $25,000 for bodily injury or death to one person, $50,000 for two or more people in one crash, and $25,000 for property damage. Certain convictions can also trigger an insurance requirement. As a practical matter, most New Hampshire drivers carry insurance voluntarily, because an uninsured at-fault crash means paying the other driver's vehicle repairs, medical bills and any legal judgments out of pocket — the same exposure as driving uninsured anywhere else.
Virginia: the exception that ended
Virginia was, for decades, the other state that let drivers legally skip insurance — by paying a $500 annual uninsured motor vehicle fee to the DMV. The fee bought no coverage at all: a driver who paid it and caused a crash was personally responsible for every dollar of damage. That option ended on 1 July 2024, when Senate Bill 951 took effect and repealed the fee. Since then there has been no legal way to register a vehicle in Virginia without carrying liability insurance.
Virginia also raised its minimum liability limits for policies effective on or after 1 January 2025, to $50,000 for bodily injury or death to one person, $100,000 for two or more people, and $25,000 for property damage — written as 50/100/25 — under Code of Virginia § 46.2-472. The previous limits, for policies effective from 1 January 2022 through 31 December 2024, were 30/60/20. Virginia policies must also include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. A driver caught without insurance in Virginia faces a $600 noncompliance fee, license suspension, and a three-year SR-22 filing requirement.
What “financial responsibility” means elsewhere
Every state that mandates insurance also has financial-responsibility rules behind the mandate: the point of the law is not the policy, it is the ability to pay for damage you cause. Some states let drivers meet the requirement through a state-approved alternative to a standard policy, most commonly a surety bond or a cash deposit with the state. Those alternatives still cost money and still leave the driver paying for damage — they are a different way of proving you can pay, not a way of avoiding payment.
If you finance or lease a vehicle, the lender requires full coverage — liability plus comprehensive and collision — whatever your state requires, because the lender still has a financial stake in the car.
What happens if you drive uninsured
Driving without the insurance your state requires risks fines, license suspension and an SR-22 filing requirement, which usually must stay active for three years. The financial risk is worse than the legal one: without cover, you pay the other driver's repairs, medical bills and any judgment against you yourself, and your own vehicle and injuries are uncovered too. The uninsured-motorist guide on this site explains the same problem from the other side — what happens when the driver who hits you has no insurance.
Worked example
Consider two ILLUSTRATIVE drivers. One lives in New Hampshire, carries no policy, and causes a crash: the state suspends the license and registration until proof of financial responsibility is shown, and the driver pays the other party's costs personally. The other lives in Virginia, carries no policy, and causes a crash: the vehicle should never have been registered without insurance, and the driver faces the noncompliance fee, suspension and an SR-22 requirement on top of paying the damage personally. The crash is the same; the route to the same personal liability is different — one state waits until after the crash, the other requires cover before the car is on the road. No figure in this example is a real claim outcome.
Illustrative example only — not a fact about any real policy.