Virginia law does not require drivers to carry proof of insurance, nor do you have to show proof of insurance to an officer who pulls you over. The only time a driver must furnish proof to an officer is after an accident, and then the driver has 30 days to do it.
Unfortunately, not all police officers know this. In Prince William County, Sussex County, and some other jurisdictions, law enforcement officers have been charging driver for not carrying proof of insurance.
In Virginia, the law does not even require driver’s to have insurance if they pay the $500 Uninsured Motor Vehicle fee. When a driver registers their vehicle they are asked whether they have insurance and if not they are required to pay the Uninsured Motor Vehicle Fee.
Va. Code 46.2-707 makes is a criminal offense to knowingly operate a vehicle without insurance or paying the UMV fee. 46.2-707 also makes it a crime to falsely claim that you have insurance on the vehicle registration form. At the time of this post there is no law forcing driver’s to carry proof of insurance or to show it to officer unless there is an accident.
46.2-902.1 requires a driver to furnish proof of insurance to a law enforcement officer within 30 days of an accident. So they only time a driver is required to give proof of insurance to an officer in Virginia is after an accident, but the driver has 30 days to do it. (the proof of insurance must prove you had insurance at the time of the accident.)
§ 46.2-902.1. Officer may require certain motorists to furnish proof of insurance or payment of fee for registration of an uninsured motor vehicle; penalty
“Any law-enforcement officer present at the scene of a motor vehicle accident as to which a law-enforcement officer is required by § 46.2-373 to file an accident report with the Department may require the operator of any motor vehicle involved in such accident to furnish proof that the vehicle he was operating at the time of such accident was either (i) an insured motor vehicle as defined in § 46.2-705 or (ii) a vehicle for which the fee required by § 46.2-706 for registration of an uninsured vehicle had been paid as to that vehicle. Failure to furnish proof of insurance or payment of the uninsured vehicle registration fee when required by a law-enforcement officer as provided in this section within thirty days shall constitute a Class 2 misdemeanor.”
§ 46.2-707. Operating uninsured motor vehicle without payment of fee; verification of insurance; false evidence of insurance
“Any person who owns an uninsured motor vehicle (i) licensed in the Commonwealth, (ii) subject to registration in the Commonwealth, or (iii) displaying temporary license plates provided for in § 46.2-1558 who operates or permits the operation of that motor vehicle without first having paid to the Commissioner the uninsured motor vehicle fee required by § 46.2-706, to be disposed of as provided by § 46.2-710, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Any person who is the operator of such an uninsured motor vehicle and not the titled owner, who knows that the required fee has not been paid to the Commissioner, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
The Commissioner or his duly authorized agent, having reason to believe that a motor vehicle is being operated or has been operated on any specified date, may require the owner of such motor vehicle to verify insurance in a method prescribed by the Commissioner as provided for by § 46.2-706. The refusal or neglect of the owner who has not, prior to the date of operation, paid the uninsured motor vehicle fee required by § 46.2-706 as to such motor vehicle, to provide such verification shall be prima facie evidence that the motor vehicle was an uninsured motor vehicle at the time of such operation.
Any person who falsely verifies insurance to the Commissioner or gives false evidence that a motor vehicle sought to be registered is an insured motor vehicle, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
However, the foregoing portions of this section shall not be applicable if it is established that the owner had good cause to believe and did believe that such motor vehicle was an insured motor vehicle, in which event the provisions of § 46.2-609 shall be applicable.
Any person who owns an uninsured motor vehicle (i) licensed in the Commonwealth, (ii) subject to registration in the Commonwealth, or (iii) displaying temporary license plates provided for in § 46.2-1558, and who has not paid the uninsured motor vehicle fee required by § 46.2-706, shall immediately surrender the vehicle’s license plates to the Department. Any person who fails to immediately surrender his vehicle’s license plates shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Abstracts of records of conviction, as defined in this title, of any violation of any of the provisions of this section shall be forwarded to the Commissioner as prescribed by § 46.2-383.
The Commissioner shall suspend the driver’s license and all registration certificates and license plates of any titled owner of an uninsured motor vehicle upon receiving a record of his conviction of a violation of any provisions of this section, and he shall not thereafter reissue the driver’s license and the registration certificates and license plates issued in the name of such person until such person pays the fee applicable to the registration of an uninsured motor vehicle as prescribed in § 46.2-706 and furnishes proof of future financial responsibility as prescribed by Article 15 (§ 46.2-435 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of this title. However, when three years have elapsed from the date of the suspension herein required, the Commissioner may relieve such person of the requirement of furnishing proof of future financial responsibility. When such suspension results from a conviction for presenting or causing to be presented to the Commissioner false verification as to whether a motor vehicle is an insured motor vehicle or false evidence that any motor vehicle sought to be registered is insured, then the Commissioner shall not thereafter reissue the driver’s license and the registration certificates and license plates issued in the name of such person so convicted for a period of 180 days from the date of such order of suspension, and only then when all other provisions of law have been complied with by such person.
The Commissioner shall suspend the driver’s license of any person who is the operator but not the titled owner of a motor vehicle upon receiving a record of his conviction of a violation of any provisions of this section and he shall not thereafter reissue the driver’s license until thirty days from the date of such order of suspension.”
Luke J. Nichols
Spectrum Legal Defense
