What changed in District of Columbia
Insurance law does not sit still, but most guides are written once and left alone. Repealed programs and retired forms keep circulating for years. This is what actually changed inDistrict of Columbia, when, and where to verify it.
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October 1, 2027
Minimum coverageMinimum liability goes from 25/50/10 to 50/100/20 (enacted, not yet in force)
The Motor Vehicle Insurance Modernization Amendment Act of 2026 doubles the District's mandatory limits: third-party personal liability from $25,000 / $50,000 to $50,000 / $100,000, and property damage liability from $10,000 to $20,000. Mandatory uninsured motorist coverage moves the same way, from 25/50 and $5,000 of property damage to 50/100 and $20,000. The limits had not moved since the Compulsory/No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act of 1982 took effect. The act cleared the 30-day period of Congressional review and became effective August 14, 2026, but by its own terms it applies only as of October 1, 2027, so a policy written today still carries 25/50/10. From January 1, 2037 the limits step up again every ten years — $5,000 more per person, $10,000 more per accident and $2,000 more for property damage each time — with the Commissioner publishing notice at least 12 months ahead, and the Commissioner must report to the Council on the effect on premiums by December 31, 2030 and again by December 31, 2032.
D.C. Law 26-155 — Motor Vehicle Insurance Modernization Amendment Act of 2026October 1, 2027
Minimum coverageEnhanced underinsured motorist coverage becomes the default (enacted, not yet in force)
The same 2026 act adds enhanced underinsured motorist protection to every private passenger policy unless the first named insured signs an affirmative written waiver on a form the Commissioner prescribes, which must explain the coverage's nature, extent, benefit and cost in at least 12-point boldface. Enhanced coverage pays its full limit without being reduced by what the at-fault driver's insurer already paid, unlike the traditional underinsured motorist coverage the District has offered as an option. An insured may not hold both at once, the enhanced limit cannot exceed the policy's uninsured motorist limit, and a policy issued on or after the applicability date may not force an underinsured motorist dispute into binding arbitration. The act also drops the existing carve-out that excused insurers from offering underinsured coverage on motorcycles and motor-driven cycles.
D.C. Law 26-155 § 2(a)(6) — new D.C. Code § 31-2406(f-1)March 4, 2026
SR-22STEER Act rewrote which convictions cost you your license and registration
The Strengthening Traffic Enforcement, Education, and Responsibility (STEER) Amendment Act of 2024 replaced D.C. Code §§ 50-1301.35, 50-1301.37 and 50-1301.38 with a clean list of triggering offenses — DUI, DUI in a commercial vehicle, operating while impaired, a homicide caused by striking someone with a vehicle, leaving after colliding, aggravated reckless driving, any felony committed using a motor vehicle, and out-of-District equivalents — and spelled out reinstatement for the first time: a full 6-month suspension, proof of financial responsibility, a $100 reinstatement fee, and ignition interlock or intelligent speed assistance enrollment where those apply. It also redefined proof of financial responsibility as simply proof that the vehicle is insured under the Compulsory/No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act. The act was effective April 20, 2024 but subject to funding; the STEER Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2026 made these particular changes apply as of March 4, 2026, with the ignition interlock condition following on January 1, 2027.
D.C. Law 25-161 § 3 — STEER Amendment Act of 2024March 16, 2021
Fault systemMotorcyclists and scooter riders gained the contributory negligence carve-out
The Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act of 2016 had freed only pedestrians, bicyclists and other non-motorized users from the District's rule that any fault at all bars recovery. The Vulnerable User Collision Recovery Amendment Act of 2020 replaced "non-motorized user" with "vulnerable user", which now covers motorcycles, motor-driven cycles, motorized bicycles, dirt bikes, all-terrain vehicles, electric mobility devices, personal mobility devices, skateboards and similar vehicles, and extended the rule to collisions between a vulnerable user and a pedestrian. Those claimants recover unless their own negligence was a proximate cause and greater than the combined negligence of all the defendants. Claims between drivers are still governed by pure contributory negligence.
D.C. Code § 50-2204.52, as amended by D.C. Law 23-183
What this list does and does not cover
Recorded here: changes to the rules this site tracks for District of Columbia — liability minimums, SR-22 and proof-of-insurance requirements, penalties for driving uninsured, the fault system, what a lapse costs, new-resident deadlines and crash reporting. Each entry names the session law or statute that made the change and the date it took effect, not the date it was signed.
Not recorded: rate filings, individual insurer decisions, court rulings that do not change the text of the law, and changes to rules outside those seven subjects. A short list does not mean a quiet legislature — it means little moved in the parts of District of Columbia law a driver has to comply with.
A change that has passed but has not yet taken effect is not shown as current anywhere on this site. It sits on the District of Columbia pages as a dated pending value and replaces the current figure on the morning it comes into force. You can see every pending change across the country at the top of the national change feed, and the sources behind the District of Columbia figures on its statute index.