You need to have insurance on the vehicle if it is going to be on a road.
According to the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles, DE has Financial Responsibility Laws which requires each driver to carry minimum insurance coverage through a motor vehicle liability policy issued by an authorized insurance carrier as proof of the financial responsibility of the named insured.
The DE Insurance Commissioner notes that all Delaware drivers are required to carry three types of auto insurance policies validly issued by companies authorized to write in the State of Delaware to satisfy the state's insurance requirements. The minimum required insurance in Delaware includes coverages of:
- 15/30 for Bodily Injury (BI) protection. If you are responsible for the injury or death of another person(s), your insurance company will pay $15,000 for bodily injury or death of one person, $30,000 for bodily injury or death of two or more persons
- 10 Property Damage (PD). If you are responsible for damages to another person's property your insurance company will pay $10,000.
- 15/30 Personal Injury Protection (PIP). Whether you are responsible for the accident or not, your insurance company will pay for the medical expenses and loss of wages for you and your passengers. Your insurer will pay up to $15,000 to any one person involved in a single accident, up to $30,000 to all people involved in a single accident, with no more than $15,000 to any one person. Also included in PIP coverage is up to $5,000 for funeral expenses.
You will need to register the vehicle you purchased in Wilmington, DE and as long as there is a valid registration, even if the vehicle is off the road, liability insurance must be in effect at all times. The DE Division of Insurance states that driving your car without insurance can cost you a fine, your license plate or your driver's license.
Registered vehicles are randomly checked for coverage and insurance companies will notify the state if coverage is dropped. License plates must be surrendered to the Division prior to canceling insurance for any reason on vehicles with active registrations to not receive penalties.
If the Delaware DMV receives notice from your insurance company that your insurance has cancelled and it is determined that you are or were uninsured the penalties are:
- $100 per vehicle for being uninsured from 1-30 days
- An additional $5 per vehicle for each day after the 30 days or until tags/registration are surrendered, insurance is obtained or the registration tag expires
If you are caught driving a vehicle while not having the proper insurance, upon conviction, you will be fined not less than $1500 for the first offense and $3000 for each subsequent offense occurring within 3 years of a former offense. Driving license and/or privileges will also be suspended for 6 months.
So as you can see from this information it is indeed against Delaware laws to drive your vehicle without insurance. This is why proof of liability insurance is required by the DMV when applying for a transfer of title, which you must do when buying a used car and when you register or renew registration of a vehicle.
As for driving the states you listed of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, they also require vehicles to be insured that are on their roadways. Below is Delaware's law for driving an out of state vehicle in DE. These other states likely have laws worded in the same way, thus making it illegal to drive a vehicle without car insurance on it.
Delaware law says that no one may operate operate an out-of-state vehicle unless the owner has insurance on the vehicle equal to the minimum liability insurance required by the state or jurisdiction where the vehicle is registered. If the state or jurisdiction requires no minimum liability insurance, then the owner must have insurance equal to the minimum insurance coverage required for motor vehicles registered in Delaware.
To get a low cost car insurance quote for Delaware, so you will be legal to drive your vehicle on the roadways, start here with us.
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