Warner Robins, GA
North Carolina raised its minimums in 2025. Here is what every policy must carry, what those numbers actually buy an injured person, and where the gaps are.
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North Carolina’s Motor Vehicle Safety and Financial Responsibility Act sets the floor for every auto policy sold in the state, and that floor moved in 2025. The old 30/60/25 minimums were replaced by 50/100/50 for policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, and the uninsured and underinsured motorist rules changed for policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025. If you are reading a policy that predates those dates, it may still carry the old structure until it renews.
The requirements matter twice. They decide what you must buy, and they decide how much money is actually available when someone else hurts you. A driver carrying the minimum has $50,000 to cover your injuries, no matter how serious they are. Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law handles injury claims across North Carolina, and the first document the firm requests in every crash case is the at-fault driver’s declarations page. This page explains the minimums, what each coverage does, and what an injured person should do about the gaps.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-279.21 requires three things on every North Carolina auto policy: bodily injury liability, property damage liability, and uninsured motorist coverage. Liability coverage pays the people you hurt. Uninsured motorist coverage pays you when the driver who hurt you has no insurance or cannot be found. Underinsured motorist coverage, which pays you when the at-fault driver’s limits are too low for your injuries, was required only on higher-limit policies before July 1, 2025; on policies issued or renewed on or after that date it is required on every policy, with limits equal to your bodily injury liability limits.
| Coverage | Minimum | Pays for | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability, per person | $50,000 | One person’s injuries caused by the insured driver | Policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025 |
| Bodily injury liability, per accident | $100,000 | All injuries in one crash caused by the insured driver | Policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025 |
| Property damage liability | $50,000 | Vehicles and property the insured driver damages | Policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025 |
| Uninsured motorist (UM) | Equal to bodily injury liability limits | Your injuries when the at-fault driver is uninsured or a hit-and-run | Required on every policy |
| Underinsured motorist (UIM) | Equal to bodily injury liability limits | Your injuries when the at-fault driver’s limits run out | Every policy issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025 |
| Medical payments (MedPay) | None, optional | Your medical bills regardless of fault | Optional add-on |
| Personal injury protection (PIP) | Not required | Not part of the North Carolina system | n/a |
Property damage uninsured motorist coverage carries a $100 deductible under the statute. Confirm your own policy’s dates and limits on the declarations page.
The at-fault driver’s liability limit is the most their insurer will ever pay you, and a minimum-limits driver has $50,000 for your injuries. A single night in a trauma unit can exceed that. When the injuries are worth more than the limit, the shortfall comes from your own underinsured motorist coverage, which is why the July 2025 change matters so much to injured people: a driver who bought the minimum now has UIM equal to their own liability limits, so the money available after a serious crash roughly doubles.
You do not have to guess at the other driver’s limits. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 58-3-33 lets an injured claimant, or the claimant’s attorney, require the at-fault driver’s insurer to disclose the liability limits in writing once the statute’s conditions are met. The firm sends that request early, because the answer decides whether the claim is a liability claim, a UIM claim, or both.
No. North Carolina is an at-fault state. The driver who caused the crash pays through their liability coverage, and there is no personal injury protection requirement. Medical payments coverage is the closest thing to PIP the state offers: it is optional, it pays your medical bills up to its limit regardless of who caused the crash, and it pays quickly, while a liability claim is paid only at the end. Health insurance covers treatment in the meantime, and the final settlement or verdict reimburses the bills.
Because liability coverage pays only for harm the insured driver caused, fault is the whole claim, and North Carolina uses one of the harshest fault rules in the country. Under contributory negligence, an injured person whose own negligence contributed to the crash in any degree recovers nothing from the other driver’s liability insurer. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-139 puts the burden of proving that on the defendant, but the adjuster’s first questions are aimed at building it. Your own MedPay is paid regardless of fault; your UM and UIM coverage is not, because it steps into the shoes of the at-fault driver and carries the same defense.
That is the reason to talk to a lawyer before you talk to any insurer, including your own on a UM or UIM claim. If you were hurt in a North Carolina car accident, the coverage map and the fault investigation start on the same day.
Managing Partner · Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law
Attorney Palmer concentrates in personal injury law and trained in North Carolina law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham. These answers are the ones he gives clients across a desk, written down: direct, in plain English, and tied to the North Carolina rule that applies.
Not sure what the other driver’s policy will actually pay? Call for a free case review and we will request the limits and map your own coverage the same day.
Responsible attorney: Joshua E. Palmer, Managing Partner · 106 Moran Dr #5106, Bonaire, GA 31005 · (478) 887-3734. Attorney advertising. This page is general legal information about North Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation; contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Tell us what happened and we will find every policy that applies to your North Carolina crash. Free consultation, no fee unless we win.
Each case is different. Any results, settlement figures, or benefit amounts described on this page depend on the specific facts of that case and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in yours. Statutes and benefit rates cited are current as of September 2026; confirm current law with an attorney before relying on it.