120+ more){kind=small}
24+ years in personal finance writing
Plutus award winner
Michelle Lambright Black is a credit expert and freelance writer. She has over 20 years of experience writing and speaking about credit and money. As an Insurify contributor, she focuses on helping families and small business owners make smart, informed decisions about their insurance coverages.
Michelle's work has appeared in publications such as Yahoo! Finance, Reader's Digest, Parents, FICO, Forbes, Bankrate, The Seattle Times, MarketWatch, BuySide from Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and more. She's also a three-time finalist for the best personal finance freelancer award from the Plutus Foundation. When she isn't writing or speaking about credit and money, Michelle loves to travel with her family or read a good book.
Michelle has been a contributor at Insurify since September 2023.
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Licensed property and casualty insurance agent
10+ years editing experience
NPN: 21630969
MacKenzie Korris is an insurance copy editor with a producer’s license for property and casualty insurance in Missouri.
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25 years teaching risk management and insurance course
Former commercial lines underwriter
David is the managing director of the Brantley Risk and Insurance Center. He has been quoted by The New York Times and CNN.
Updated
Coverage | Minimum Requirement in Kentucky |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $25,000 per person/$50,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $25,000 per accident |
| Personal injury protection (PIP) | $10,000 |
Kentucky requires all drivers to have $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident of bodily injury liability coverage, and $25,000 of property damage liability coverage. You’ll often see these limits referred to as 25/50/25.[1]
Kentucky increased the minimum property damage liability requirement from $10,000 to $25,000 in 2018, bringing it closer to other states’ minimum requirements. The state also requires PIP as part of its no-fault system. PIP helps pay for medical bills for drivers and passengers without waiting for insurers to determine fault.
Comparing through Insurify could cut your bill up to 50%
Kentucky requires $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident of bodily injury coverage. Many states require the same limits.
But these minimum limits may not be enough coverage after a serious accident. For example, let’s say you injure another driver in an accident, and they have $30,000 in medical bills. Your policy would pay up to $25,000, leaving you responsible for the remaining $5,000 out of pocket.
Kentucky requires drivers to have $25,000 of property damage liability coverage, which is similar to many other states. But you could quickly hit that limit after an accident.
If you total another driver’s $50,000 car in an accident, your insurance would pay up to $25,000. That would leave you responsible for the remaining $25,000.
Kentucky drivers must have $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP). Kentucky is one of only 15 states that require PIP, which helps pay medical expenses, lost wages, and other costs after an accident, regardless of fault.
Kentucky’s minimum liability insurance coverage may not provide enough protection for many drivers. A serious injury could quickly exceed the state’s $25,000 limit, and a newer vehicle can easily cost more than $25,000 to repair or replace.
Higher limits cost more, but they may protect you from paying a large claim out of pocket. Check out the table below for how much coverage insurance experts recommend for Kentucky drivers.
Coverage | Recommended Coverage |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $100,000 per person/$300,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $100,000 per accident |
Kentucky drivers may face a few additional coverage requirements:
Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage: Insurers must offer UM/UIM coverage in Kentucky, but you decline it in writing.[2]
Comprehensive and collision coverage: Kentucky law doesn’t require drivers to have comprehensive or collision coverage. But if you finance or lease your car, your lender will typically require both to protect the vehicle until you pay it off or return it.
The average cost of car insurance in Kentucky is $121 per month for liability coverage and $194 for full coverage. Your driving record, vehicle, and other details affect your premiums, but Kentucky’s coverage requirements also influence car insurance rates in the state.
Kentucky’s minimum limits determine how much an insurer might have to pay after a covered accident. Let’s say you cause a crash that injures another driver and damages their car. Your policy would pay up to $25,000 for the driver’s injuries and $25,000 for vehicle repairs. The more an insurer has to pay after an accident, the more it may charge you for coverage.
Insurance Company | Average Monthly Quote |
|---|---|
| Progressive | $61 |
| Auto-Owners | $75 |
| State Farm | $77 |
| National General | $80 |
| GEICO | $91 |
| Direct Auto | $92 |
| USAA | $96 |
| Allstate | $98 |
| Safeco | $98 |
| Root | $114 |
| State Auto | $115 |
| The General | $119 |
| Travelers | $125 |
| Trexis | $125 |
| Bristol West | $128 |
| Dairyland | $132 |
| Liberty Mutual | $132 |
| Trexis One | $152 |
| Hugo | $166 |
| Shelter | $203 |
| Insurify Car | $207 |
Kentucky doesn’t have a state-sponsored low-income car insurance plan. Your income doesn’t determine your eligibility for the following programs, but they may help if you can’t get traditional coverage or PIP benefits:
Kentucky Automobile Insurance Plan (KAIP): The KAIP helps drivers and businesses get the state-required coverage if they can’t find a policy in the standard insurance market. Any Kentucky-licensed insurance agent can submit an application on your behalf.[3]
Kentucky Assigned Claims Plan (KACP): You may qualify for the KACP if an accident injures you and you don’t have PIP. But you can’t receive benefits if you don’t have a car insurance policy.[4]
Kentucky can penalize both the vehicle owner and the person driving if you don’t have car insurance. Penalties for driving uninsured include:
Fines or jail time: Driving without insurance can result in a fine of $500 to $1,000, up to 90 days in jail, or both.
Canceled registration: The state can cancel your vehicle registration if you don’t maintain minimum liability coverage. If the state cancels your coverage, you need to provide proof of insurance before registering the vehicle again.
Reinstatement fee: Kentucky charges a $40 fee to reinstate a canceled registration.
Penalties for parked or seasonal vehicles: If you plan to cancel coverage on a motorcycle, RV, or other registered vehicle, turn in the license plate first to avoid penalties.
Even if you don’t own a car, you can purchase non-owner car insurance to drive in Kentucky.
Compare rates from the state’s top insurers in minutes
Kentucky’s minimum car insurance requirements leave some expensive coverage gaps. Depending on your vehicle and budget, here are a few coverages to consider adding:
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage: About 14% of Kentucky drivers didn’t have car insurance in 2023, according to the Insurance Information Institute.[5] UM/UIM coverage can help cover if someone without enough insurance hits you.
Collision coverage: Kentucky recorded 117,661 collisions on public roads in 2024, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.[6] Collision coverage pays for your vehicle repairs after an accident, regardless of fault.
Comprehensive coverage: Kentucky drivers reported 3,397 deer collisions in 2024. Comprehensive coverage pays for damage from animal collisions, severe weather, theft, and vandalism.
Gap insurance: If you total a financed or leased vehicle, gap coverage can pay the difference between its value and your remaining loan balance.
Roadside assistance: This coverage can help with towing, flat tires, dead batteries, and lockouts.
Kentucky’s car insurance laws can be confusing, but we’re here to help. Check out these answers to some common questions about car insurance in the Bluegrass State.
No. All registered vehicles must have car insurance in Kentucky. If you want to cancel coverage on an unused vehicle, you must turn in the license plates first. Penalties for driving without insurance in Kentucky include up to $1,000 in fines and 90 days in jail.
Usually, yes. Many policies cover someone who has your permission to drive your car. But if someone who lives with you regularly drives your car, you may need to list them on your policy. Check with your insurer or read your policy documents to find out its rules.
Yes. Kentucky is a no-fault state for car insurance. That means drivers use their own PIP coverage for certain injury expenses. The state requires drivers to have $10,000 per person, per accident of PIP.
Personal injury protection (PIP) provides up to $10,000 per person, per accident for medical expenses, lost wages, and similar costs, regardless of who caused the accident.
Insurify data scientists analyzed more than 250 million quotes served to car insurance applicants in Insurify’s proprietary database to calculate the premium averages displayed on this page. These premiums are real quotes that come directly from Insurify’s 500+ partner insurance companies in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Quote averages represent the median price for a quote across the given coverage level, driver subset, and geographic area.
Unless otherwise specified, quoted rates reflect the average cost for drivers between 20 and 70 years old with a clean driving record and average or better credit (a credit score of 600 or higher).
Liability-only premium averages correspond to policies with the following coverage limits:
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24+ years in personal finance writing
Plutus award winner
Michelle Lambright Black is a credit expert and freelance writer. She has over 20 years of experience writing and speaking about credit and money. As an Insurify contributor, she focuses on helping families and small business owners make smart, informed decisions about their insurance coverages.
Michelle's work has appeared in publications such as Yahoo! Finance, Reader's Digest, Parents, FICO, Forbes, Bankrate, The Seattle Times, MarketWatch, BuySide from Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and more. She's also a three-time finalist for the best personal finance freelancer award from the Plutus Foundation. When she isn't writing or speaking about credit and money, Michelle loves to travel with her family or read a good book.
Michelle has been a contributor at Insurify since September 2023.
Licensed property and casualty insurance agent
10+ years editing experience
NPN: 21630969
MacKenzie Korris is an insurance copy editor with a producer’s license for property and casualty insurance in Missouri.
25 years teaching risk management and insurance course
Former commercial lines underwriter
David is the managing director of the Brantley Risk and Insurance Center. He has been quoted by The New York Times and CNN.
At Insurify, our goal is to help customers compare insurance products and find the best policy for them. We strive to provide open, honest, and unbiased information about the insurance products and services we review. Our hard-working team of data analysts, insurance experts, insurance agents, editors and writers, has put in thousands of hours of research to create the content found on our site.
We do receive compensation when a sale or referral occurs from many of the insurance providers and marketing partners on our site. That may impact which products we display and where they appear on our site. But it does not influence our meticulously researched editorial content, what we write about, or any reviews or recommendations we may make. We do not guarantee favorable reviews or any coverage at all in exchange for compensation.
