Auto Insurance in Alabama   by Jaime Siddons

If you reside in Alabama and drive, it will be necessary you purchase liability coverage. The minimum requirement with respect to auto insurance in Alabama is fifty-thousand dollars ($50,000). The minimum liability requirement with regard to personal injury per person is twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per accident. It is wise to purchase more than the Alabama State minimum (requirement) in order that you do not deplete all of your coverage as well as your savings.

Fifty-thousand dollars ($50,000) is the minimum requrement with respect to all parties or passengers involved in an accident and pertinent to personal injury coverage. The state minimum requirement with respect to property damage is twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).

If you are driving Alabama highways and roads regularly, you will need to carry with you proof of insurance coverage. There are several ways you may carry proof of financial responsibility pertinent to the vehicle you are driving. One way is to carry an insurance card. Other forms of proof of financial responsibility include: a) an insurance (policy) certificate; b) an automotive rental agreement; c) motorized vehicle liability bond; and certificate of cash bond.

Several situations can occur where you will be required to show proof you carry auto insurance in Alabama. Law enforcement may stop you in regard to a possible traffic violation and in so doing ask you to provide proof of insurance. Persons who are involved in traffic accidents, many times, are required to provide proof of insurance. When you go to register your automobile, you will be asked to provide proof of insurance (coverage).

Persons who fail to provide proof of auto insurance in Alabama run the risk of havng their automobile registration (subsequently) suspended. In order to reinstate your registration, you are required to pay a fee of approximately one-hundred dollars ($100). Further, the suspension of your vehicle registration can last for a time span of four (4) months. This means, once suspension has occurred, you have four months to attain insurance coverage.

Persons who have been caught not carrying insurance in Alabama, twice, are required to pay a reinstatement fee of their suspended registration of (approximately) two-hundred dollars ($200). Further, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) can charge you a fee on top of the preceding fee of up to one-thousand dollars ($1,000). Driving without proper insurance coverage a second time may cause you to lose your driving privileges for up to six months. In other words, your driving license can be suspended up to six months.

Conclusively, to avoid the preceding financial fiasco requires your taking the proper precautions and purchasing at best the state's minimum in the way of insurance coverage. If you can so manage, it is advised you carry more than the state's minimum in order to keep out-of-pocket expenses low.

Insurance coverage can protect you from acquiring out-of-pocket legal fees; and medical expenses. Aside from liability coverage, also consider uninsured/underinsured coverage which is also termed comprehensive insurance. The suggestion of comprehensive insurance is in addition or on top of the state's minimum requirement of liability coverage.