Arkansas Car Insurance Laws

Here are the most important laws you need to know before insuring your car in Arkansas.

Minimum Liability Coverage

Arkansas requires liability insurance only, which covers the property damages and medical costs of people outside of your vehicle:

• Bodily injury liability coverage: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident
• Property damage liability coverage: $25,000¹

Penalties for Driving Without Insurance

If you’re caught and convicted of driving without insurance in Arkansas, you’ll be issued a traffic violation and a $25 fine if you had insurance and simply lacked proof at the time you were pulled over. However, if you didn’t have insurance at all, the state will impound your vehicle, revoke your license plate and suspend your registration 10 days after the revocation. During this period, you can buy insurance, but you’ll still need to pay a $20 registration and license plate reinstatement fee, plus the following penalties:

• First offense: Fee of $50 to $250
• Second offense: Fee of $350 to $500 fee
• Third or subsequent offenses: Fee of $500 to $1,000, up to one year in jail or both²

Make sure to carry proof of insurance every time you drive in Arkansas.

No-Fault Insurance System

Due to Arkansas’ no-fault system, the at-fault party in an accident is responsible for all of the injuries and property damages they cause. The victim can sue in a civil suit if they were less than 50 percent at fault, in line with the state’s modified comparative negligence law.

Discounts

In Arkansas, the law says car insurance agents and brokers must offer you two potential discounts when you’re buying a policy. The first is a discount for college graduates. The second is a discount for senior drivers, age 55 and older, who complete defensive driving courses successfully that the Office of Driver Services has approved.

Registration

In this state, you’ll need insurance to register your car, so make sure to bring proof of insurance, a primary document such as a bill of sale and a Federal Odometer Statement with you to the DMV.³

Cancellation and Nonrenewal

Car insurance companies may choose to cancel your policy midterm or not renew it when the term ends. However, legally, they must notify you 20 days before the cancellation goes into effect, giving you time to find alternative coverage. If the insurer is canceling your policy due to unpaid premiums, that notice period is cut to 10 days. For nonrenewals, the window is 30 days prior to your expiration date.

While Arkansas doesn’t require the following coverages, we recommend you buy them as part of full coverage car insurance:

• Personal injury protection: Arkansas doesn’t require personal injury protection (PIP), but if you needed compensation for your and your passengers’ medical expenses, it could kick in regardless of who caused the accident. PIP also includes reimbursements for any lost wages or child care you had to pay for due to a car accident.
• Collision insurance: Collision insurance pays for your property damage in collisions regardless of fault.
• Comprehensive coverage: If your car is vandalized, stolen or damaged by inclement weather, comprehensive coverage would pay to repair or replace it.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage: Not everyone in Arkansas has car insurance, even though the state requires it. Nearly one in five drivers in Arkansas lacks car insurance, according to the Insurance Research Council.⁴ If you get into an accident with someone who lacks insurance or whose limits don’t cover the entirety of your losses, uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist coverage could pay for your damages and medical costs.

As of 2020, the last time such data was released, car insurance in Arkansas cost an average of $879 a year, which is 16 percent lower than the national average. However, if you only buy the minimum coverage the state requires, which is liability coverage, that cost goes down even further to $468 a year. That said, we recommend adding collision and comprehensive coverage, which would cost an additional $366 and $245 a year on average in Arkansas, respectively.⁵

Factors That Affect Rates

In Arkansas, there’s no law preventing insurance companies from determining your premiums based on the following factors:

• Credit score
• Sex
• Marital status
• ZIP code
• Driving history
• Vehicle

People with bad credit, poor driving histories, men and unmarried people will have the highest rates.

Are you moving from another state to Arkansas? You have 30 days after becoming an official Arkansas resident to register your car in your new home state, a process that requires a vehicle inspection. Apply at any state revenue office location.

Another instance in which you’d need to get your car inspected is if you have to renew your title tag and have an out-of-state salvage title. You can get your vehicle inspected by:

• A certified law enforcement officer of any city/county in Arkansas
• Arkansas State Police or designee

Texting and driving is a particularly dangerous form of distracted driving, which is why, in Arkansas, it’s illegal for drivers of all ages to text and drive. This law is under primary enforcement, which means police officers can pull you over for texting and driving on its own. No other offense is required.⁶