West Virginia Auto Insurance & Crash Law

VictimsGuide’s West Virginia library organizes the rules that matter after a serious motor-vehicle crash: required liability insurance, mandatory uninsured-motorist coverage, optional underinsured-motorist coverage, policy-limit disclosure, claims handling, employer and commercial coverage, government claims, comparative fault, damages, reimbursement, settlement protections and controlling case authority.

West Virginia rules to identify early

• Minimum liability: West Virginia generally requires at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage.
• UM/UIM: uninsured-motorist coverage is mandatory, while underinsured-motorist coverage must be offered in accordance with statute.
• Comparative fault: West Virginia follows modified comparative fault; recovery is barred when claimant fault exceeds 50%, and several-liability rules affect allocation among defendants.
• Disclosure: West Virginia has a specific pre-suit liability-policy-limit disclosure statute that can be important in serious-injury claims.
• Government claims: political-subdivision immunity and claims procedures require separate analysis from private-party crashes.

Preserve the complete policy, declarations, UM/UIM elections, crash report, photographs, video and electronic vehicle data, and investigate household, employer, commercial, umbrella and excess coverage before signing a release.

Current-law review: September 17, 2026. Verify current West Virginia statutes, appellate decisions and the policy actually issued before relying on this educational guide.