On the Property & Casualty exam, Virginia auto questions reward students who learn two signature state rules on top of the national personal auto policy (PAP): Virginia's pure contributory negligence standard and its recent shift to mandatory auto insurance with higher minimum limits. This guide covers the PAP framework quickly, then anchors everything in the Virginia-specific law you'll actually be tested on.

The national PAP framework (the quick version)

A standard personal auto policy is organized into six parts:

• Part A – Liability – pays for bodily injury and property damage you cause to others (third-party).
• Part B – Medical Payments – pays medical costs for you and your passengers regardless of fault.
• Part C – Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists (UM/UIM) – pays when an at-fault driver has no or too little coverage.
• Part D – Coverage for Damage to Your Auto – collision and comprehensive (other than collision) for your own vehicle.
• Part E – Duties After an Accident or Loss – what the insured must do to claim.
• Part F – General Provisions – policy territory, cancellation, and definitions.

Liability is "third-party" coverage; physical damage and med-pay are "first-party." Every state requires drivers to show financial responsibility, and Virginia now does this through compulsory insurance.

Signature rule #1: pure contributory negligence

Virginia is one of only a small handful of jurisdictions that still follows pure contributory negligence. Under this rule, a claimant who is even 1% at fault for an accident recovers nothing from the other party. This is far harsher than the comparative negligence systems most states use, where damages are merely reduced by the claimant's share of fault.

Why it matters on the exam and in practice:

• It makes a strong liability defense for insurers—if the insurer can show the claimant contributed at all, the third-party claim can be defeated entirely.
• It raises the value of first-party coverages (med-pay, UM/UIM, collision) that pay regardless of fault, because a partially-at-fault Virginia insured may have no third-party recovery.

Expect at least one question contrasting Virginia's all-or-nothing contributory negligence with comparative-negligence states.

Signature rule #2: mandatory insurance and the end of the UMV fee

Historically, Virginia was unusual in letting motorists drive uninsured by paying an annual Uninsured Motor Vehicle (UMV) fee to the DMV instead of buying coverage. That option was eliminated effective July 1, 2024—auto liability insurance is now mandatory for registered vehicles, with no fee-to-go-bare alternative.

Virginia also raised its minimum liability limits. The figures are commonly cited as:

• Policies effective Jan. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2024: 30/60/20.
• Policies effective on or after Jan. 1, 2025: 50/100/25 (verify; this is the current minimum).

So the minimum is generally cited as $50,000 bodily injury per person, $100,000 per accident, and $25,000 property damage. Treat these as the current numbers but hedge on exact effective-date wording if the exam predates the change.

UM/UIM coverage

Uninsured motorist (UM) pays when you are hurt by an at-fault driver with no insurance; underinsured motorist (UIM) pays when the at-fault driver's limits are too low. In Virginia, UM/UIM is required and generally must be offered at limits that match the policy's liability limits (so a minimum policy carries 50/100/25 UM/UIM). Given the contributory-negligence rule, UM/UIM is especially valuable to Virginia insureds.

Medical payments and physical damage

Medical Payments (Part B) is a first-party coverage that pays the insured's and passengers' reasonable medical (and sometimes funeral) expenses from a covered crash, without regard to who caused it. Because of Virginia's contributory-negligence rule, this fault-blind benefit can be the only quick source of medical recovery for a partly-at-fault insured. Physical damage (Part D) is also first-party: collision pays for impact damage to the insured's own auto, while comprehensive (other than collision) pays for theft, fire, glass, flood, hail, and animal strikes. Both physical-damage coverages are typically written with a deductible and are optional under state law, though lenders require them.

Financial responsibility and high-risk drivers

Because insurance is now compulsory, driving an uninsured registered vehicle exposes the owner to DMV penalties, license/registration suspension, and reinstatement fees. Drivers who cannot buy coverage in the standard market obtain it through the Virginia Automobile Insurance Plan (VAIP), the state's assigned-risk market of last resort.

Cancellation and nonrenewal

Once an auto policy has been in force, Virginia limits how and when an insurer can end it. After the initial underwriting window, an insurer may generally cancel mid-term only for specific allowed reasons (such as nonpayment of premium, license or registration suspension, or fraud/material misrepresentation). The insurer must give the insured advance written notice that states the reason; exact day counts vary by reason (notice for nonpayment is typically shorter than for other cancellations or nonrenewal), so verify the current figures rather than memorizing a single number.

Key Virginia numbers to memorize

Common exam traps

• Applying comparative negligence to Virginia. Virginia is pure contributory negligence—a claimant 1% at fault recovers nothing.
• Saying drivers can still pay a fee to go uninsured. That UMV-fee option ended July 1, 2024; insurance is now mandatory.
• Quoting the old 30/60/20 (or 25/50/20) limits as current. The current minimum is commonly 50/100/25 for policies effective on or after Jan. 1, 2025.
• Treating UM/UIM as optional. It is required in Virginia and generally matches liability limits.
• Confusing med-pay (your injuries, no-fault) with liability (others' injuries).
• Calling Virginia a no-fault state. It is not; it is an at-fault state with a strict contributory-negligence rule.

Quick recap

Virginia auto questions hinge on two signature rules. First, pure contributory negligence means a claimant who is even 1% at fault recovers nothing, which strengthens insurer liability defenses and raises the importance of first-party and UM/UIM coverage. Second, Virginia made auto insurance mandatory effective July 1, 2024, eliminating the old Uninsured Motor Vehicle (UMV) fee option, and raised minimum liability limits to a commonly cited 50/100/25 for policies effective on or after Jan. 1, 2025 (up from 30/60/20). UM/UIM is required and generally matches liability limits, high-risk drivers use the VAIP, and the underlying contract is the national PAP (Parts A–F). Master those two divergences and the figures, and Virginia auto becomes reliable points.