Verified 2026-08-11
Oregon car insurance requirements
Oregon requires $25,000 of bodily injury liability per person, $50,000 per crash, $20,000 of property damage liability, $15,000 of personal injury protection, and uninsured motorist coverage matching your bodily injury limits. That is the complete legal requirement, and it is the same in every Oregon city.
- Liability
- 25/50/20 minimum
- PIP
- $15,000, mandatory
- Fault system
- At-fault (tort)
- Rating window
- 3 years of record
Every rule cited to its source
Limits, deadlines and filing rules on this site link to the Oregon DMV or the Division of Financial Regulation page they come from. Check any of them.
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The four required coverages
Oregon mandates more than most states. Two of these, PIP and uninsured motorist, are optional in a lot of the country and are not optional here.
| Coverage | Oregon minimum | What it actually pays |
|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $25,000 per person / $50,000 per crash | Injuries you cause to other people. Does not pay for your own. |
| Property damage liability | $20,000 per crash | Damage you cause to someone else's vehicle or property. |
| Personal injury protection (PIP) | $15,000 per person | Medical bills for you and your passengers, regardless of who caused the crash. |
| Uninsured motorist | $25,000 per person / $50,000 per crash | Your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little of it. |
Why people think Oregon is a no-fault state
Because of PIP, and the confusion has practical consequences after a crash.
Oregon requires $15,000 of personal injury protection on every policy. PIP pays medical bills for you and your passengers regardless of who caused the crash. That is a no-fault mechanism, and it is why drivers assume the whole system is no-fault.
It is not. Oregon is an at-fault (tort) state. The driver responsible for a crash is liable for the damage, and their liability coverage pays the other party. Mandatory PIP sits on top of that as a first-payer for medical bills, but it does not make Oregon a no-fault state and it does not limit your right to sue.
What this means in practice: after a crash your own PIP starts paying medical bills quickly, without waiting for anyone to agree on fault. Separately, the at-fault driver's liability coverage is responsible for the wider damage, and your right to pursue that is intact.
Source: Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, Auto insurance 101.
Uninsured motorist coverage, and the election most people never make
This is the coverage Oregon quietly defaults you into at your full liability limit.
Your Oregon liability policy must include Uninsured Motorist coverage with limits equal to your Bodily Injury limits, unless you sign an election for lower limits. You cannot go below $25,000 per person.
So the default is generous: your uninsured motorist limit matches your bodily injury limit unless you actively sign an election to reduce it. Some drivers sign that election to save money without registering what it does. With an estimated 14.7% of drivers carrying nothing, this is the coverage that pays your medical bills when the other driver cannot.
Roughly one Oregon driver in seven carries no insurance. Estimates vary by methodology and data year, so treat this as an order of magnitude rather than a precise count.
Source: Oregon DFR, Election of Lower Limits for Bodily Injury Uninsured Motorist Coverage (OAR 836-054).
What happens if you drive uninsured in Oregon
This is the part that changed in 2026, and the change is favourable to drivers.
Senate Bill 840, effective 2026-01-01
Senate Bill 840 shortened the SR-22 filing period for driving-uninsured convictions from three years to one year, for convictions dated on or after 1 January 2026. SR-22 filings triggered by a crash while uninsured still run three years. SB 840 also repealed the automatic one-year licence suspension the DMV previously issued after an uninsured crash.
Driving without liability coverage in Oregon is illegal and produces fines, a suspension, and an SR-22 filing requirement. What SB 840 altered is how long that filing runs and whether an uninsured crash triggers an automatic suspension.
The distinction that now matters most is between a conviction for driving uninsured, which carries a one-year filing if dated on or after 2026-01-01, and a crash while uninsured, which still carries three years. Two drivers can describe their situation the same way and be facing very different obligations.
An SR-22 filing starts on the date the DMV receives the certificate during business hours. To avoid a suspension for failing to file, the DMV must receive it before 5:00pm on the last business day before the suspension starts.
Source: Oregon DMV, SR-22 Information.
Source: Oregon DFR, DMV Notice on Senate Bill 840 Insurance Provisions.
If you have a filing deadline, the useful question is which carriers will make the filing at all, because several standard ones decline. That list changes and it is not published anywhere.
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 7:00pm Eastern (6:00am to 4:00pm Pacific).
Why the minimum is usually the wrong target
Meeting the legal requirement and being adequately covered are different goals, and the gap between them is larger than it looks.
$20,000 is the entire legal requirement for damage you cause to another person's vehicle. A single late-model SUV can exceed that before anyone is injured, and everything beyond your limit is your personal liability: your savings, your wages, your assets.
The same logic applies harder to bodily injury. A serious injury claim moves past $50,000 quickly. Raising liability limits is comparatively cheap, because severe claims are rare; it is collision and comprehensive that carry most of the premium.
If you are going to spend money anywhere on this policy, spend it on liability limits before you spend it on lowering a deductible.
Proof of insurance
Oregon accepts an electronic card, with one practical caveat.
You can show proof of insurance on your phone in Oregon. The caveat is signal: download the card inside your carrier's app so it opens offline, because a roadside stop in a dead zone is not the moment to discover the app needs to sync. Keep a paper copy in the glovebox as well. It costs nothing and it works when your battery does not.
Frequently asked questions
What are Oregon minimum car insurance requirements?
$25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per crash, $20,000 property damage, $15,000 personal injury protection per person, and uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash.
Is Oregon a no-fault state?
Oregon is an at-fault (tort) state. The driver responsible for a crash is liable for the damage, and their liability coverage pays the other party. Mandatory PIP sits on top of that as a first-payer for medical bills, but it does not make Oregon a no-fault state and it does not limit your right to sue.
Is PIP required in Oregon?
Oregon requires Personal Injury Protection on every private passenger auto policy. PIP pays medical bills for you and your passengers regardless of who caused the crash, which is why drivers often assume Oregon is a no-fault state. It is not.
Can I reject uninsured motorist coverage in Oregon?
Your Oregon liability policy must include Uninsured Motorist coverage with limits equal to your Bodily Injury limits, unless you sign an election for lower limits. You cannot go below $25,000 per person. So you can reduce it by signing an election, but you cannot remove it.
How long does an SR-22 last in Oregon?
Three years for most triggers. A driving-uninsured conviction dated on or after 2026-01-01 now carries a one-year filing instead, under Senate Bill 840.
Can I show proof of insurance on my phone in Oregon?
Yes. Oregon accepts electronic proof of insurance. Download the card in your carrier app for offline access rather than relying on a signal at the roadside, and keep a paper copy in the glovebox as a backup.
Do these requirements change by city?
No. Oregon sets one statewide minimum and no city adds to it, so the requirement in Portland is identical to the requirement in Keizer. What changes between cities is price, because carriers rate on garaging address.
Coverage guides
- Car InsuranceNot knowing whether the state minimum is actually enough for the car in front of you
- Cheap Car InsuranceA renewal that went up without any change to the driver or the car
- SR-22 InsuranceA suspended licence and a filing deadline that is measured in business days
- High-Risk Car InsuranceBeing non-renewed and finding that the quotes coming back are three times what you used to pay
- Teen Driver InsuranceA renewal that doubles the month a sixteen-year-old gets their licence
- Rideshare & Delivery InsuranceFinding out the exclusion existed only after a claim gets denied
Requirements are statewide. Price is not.
Same rules everywhere, different premiums street by street. Start from your city.
Get your rate compared in one call
You now know exactly what Oregon requires and where the minimums leave you exposed. Deciding what to carry above them takes about ten minutes on the phone, and it costs you nothing.