Minnesota Casualty Laws: Automobile and Workers Compensation (State III)

Outline reference: "Minnesota Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Casualty Insurance Only - 5 items" (Automobile Insurance, Ref: 65B; 2770; 72A.201; Workers' Compensation, Ref: 176.001-.101; 79.251-.253). Five scored items on the Casualty exam and on the combined exam (the Minnesota-specific section carries 30 scored items: 20 common, 5 property only, 5 casualty only). Statutes and rules read on revisor.mn.gov on October 13, 2026.

This chapter is the casualty-only half of the Minnesota law section: automobile insurance (the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act, chapter 65B, with cancellation, surcharge, the Minnesota Automobile Insurance Plan, comparative fault and stacking) and workers compensation (chapter 176 and the assigned risk plan in chapter 79). The national concepts are in Chapters 6 and 7; this chapter adds only what Minnesota law says. Claim standards for every line are in Chapter 10.

Only five items are scored, so the exam will not ask for every number. Learn first the required liability limits, no-fault benefit amounts, the tort threshold, the cancellation and nonrenewal notice periods, and the workers compensation structure.

12.1 How the Outline Maps to the Statutes (Outline versus Statute)

The outline was created in 2023, so some references need translation.

### In Minnesota The 2026 Legislature raised the permanent partial disability schedule and lengthened the early-denial window for workers compensation injuries on or after October 1, 2026 (Section 12.16), and added psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners to those who may diagnose PTSD (Section 12.14). A technical-corrections law made wording fixes in 65B.05, 65B.133 and 65B.15 without changing their meaning. (Laws 2026, ch. 103, secs. 8, 10, 12; ch. 88, art. 1, secs. 13 to 15)

12.2 Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act: Purpose (outline: Purpose)

Sections 65B.41 to 65B.71 are the "Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act." (MN Stat. 65B.41) The five purposes of no-fault:

1. Relieve the economic distress of uncompensated accident victims by requiring coverage that pays basic economic loss benefits promptly regardless of fault;
2. Prevent overcompensation of minor injuries by limiting general damages to serious injury;
3. Encourage appropriate medical and rehabilitation treatment through prompt payment;
4. Speed justice through small-claims arbitration and mandatory intercompany arbitration;
5. Correct tort-system abuses and offset duplicate recovery. (MN Stat. 65B.42)

Key definitions (MN Stat. 65B.43):

A motorcycle is outside the no-fault benefit system; its owner carries liability security only. (MN Stat. 65B.46, subd. 3; 65B.48, subd. 5) A lessee under a lease with an initial term of six months or longer is treated as the "owner." (MN Stat. 65B.43, subd. 4)

12.3 Proof of Insurance (reparation security) (outline: Proof of Insurance)

a. The duty to carry security

Every owner of a motor vehicle registered, licensed or principally garaged in Minnesota must maintain a plan of reparation security providing basic economic loss benefits and residual liability coverage at not less than the amounts in 65B.49, subdivision 3. (MN Stat. 65B.48, subd. 1) Security may be a policy from an authorized insurer or self-insurance approved by the Commissioner of Commerce (initial fee $2,500). (MN Stat. 65B.48, subds. 2 to 4) A liability policy covering a motor vehicle automatically includes the no-fault and residual liability coverages while the vehicle is in Minnesota. (MN Stat. 65B.50, subd. 2)

b. Insurance identification cards

An insurer must issue an insurance identification card for each covered vehicle at policy start and renewal (electronic if the insured agrees), showing the insured, policy number and dates, vehicle and insurer, with a plain-language summary of the criminal penalties in 169.791, 169.793 and 169.797. (MN Stat. 65B.482)

c. Roadside proof and penalties (chapter 169)

Every driver must produce proof of insurance (card, agent statement or policy) on demand of a peace officer; failure is a misdemeanor, but an owner who produces proof by the first court appearance cannot be convicted. (MN Stat. 169.791) If proof is not produced by the first court date or within ten days of written notice, the Commissioner of Public Safety revokes the license and registration (minimum 30 days). (MN Stat. 169.792) An owner operating without security commits a crime with a minimum fine of $200. (MN Stat. 169.797)

### In Minnesota Roadside proof is enforced under the traffic code (chapter 169) by Public Safety, which revokes the license for no proof of insurance, not the Commissioner of Commerce; chapter 65B creates the duty to hold security.

12.4 Required Limits and Coverages (outline: Required Limits and Coverages)

a. Bodily Injury and Property Damage (residual liability)

Each plan of reparation security must state liability limits for each covered vehicle of not less than $30,000 for bodily injury to one person, $60,000 for bodily injury to two or more persons in any one accident, and $10,000 for property of others in any one accident. (MN Stat. 65B.49, subd. 3(1)) "Residual liability" is what remains of the tort system after no-fault benefits and the tort threshold. Features:

1. Coverage extends to a vehicle permissively operated by an insured, for injury or damage in Minnesota, the United States, its territories or possessions, or Canada. (subd. 3(2))
2. The insurer's liability becomes absolute whenever injury or damage occurs; no post-loss agreement, insured statement or policy violation defeats it. (subd. 3(3)(a), (b))

b. Basic Economic Loss Benefits (personal injury protection)

Basic economic loss benefits (BEL) pay regardless of fault for all loss from injury arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle. The minimum is $40,000 per person in two compartments (MN Stat. 65B.44, subd. 1):

The non-medical $20,000 is subject to weekly and item caps:

Rules around the benefits:

1. Seniors. A policy issued to or renewed with a person age 65 (or 60 and retired on a pension) must include disability and income loss benefits unless the insured elects not to have them. (subd. 3a)
2. Disqualifications. A converter of a motor vehicle, a person injured in an official racing contest, and a person who intentionally causes injury. (MN Stat. 65B.58, 65B.59, 65B.60)
3. Workers compensation coordination. BEL is primary over other benefits except workers compensation; where workers compensation is primary the no-fault insurer gives a premium rebate or reduction. (MN Stat. 65B.61, subds. 1, 2, 2a)

c. Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists (UM/UIM)

No plan of reparation security may be issued or renewed for a vehicle registered or principally garaged in Minnesota without separate uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages, each at a minimum of $25,000 for one person and $50,000 for two or more persons. (MN Stat. 65B.49, subd. 3a(1), (2)) Key rules:

1. No rejection form. The statute requires the coverages in every plan; it has no signed-rejection option.
2. Limits need not exceed BI liability. No obligor must provide UM/UIM limits above the plan's bodily injury liability limit. (subd. 3a(3))
3. No double recovery. UM/UIM does not pay BEL paid or payable. (subd. 3a(4))
4. Which limit applies. An occupant of a vehicle uses that vehicle's limit; an occupant of a vehicle in which the person is not an insured may get excess protection from the person's own policy only to the extent one vehicle's limit exceeds the occupied vehicle's; a person not occupying a vehicle (pedestrian, cyclist) may select any one limit under a policy under which the person is insured. (subd. 3a(5))
5. Own-vehicle exclusion. No coverage for injury while occupying a motor vehicle owned by the insured unless that vehicle is an insured vehicle. (subd. 3a(7), (8))
6. UIM is add-on. The insurer pays damages sustained but not recovered from the at-fault driver's policy, never more than its UIM limit; the at-fault limit is not subtracted from the UIM limit. (subd. 4a)
7. Time limit. A UIM action must start within four years from accrual. (subd. 10)

d. Summary

Liability 30/60/10 (65B.49, subd. 3); BEL $40,000 (65B.44, subd. 1); UM and UIM 25/50 each (65B.49, subd. 3a). Physical damage coverage (comprehensive and collision) is not required by the Act.

12.5 Right to Sue (outline: Right to Sue)

No-fault narrows the right to sue; it does not abolish it. In a negligence action arising from a motor vehicle for which security was required, the court deducts from any recovery the BEL paid or payable, and the deduction is made before damages are reduced for the claimant's percentage of fault. (MN Stat. 65B.51, subd. 1)

A person may recover noneconomic detriment (pain, suffering, inconvenience) only if one threshold is met (MN Stat. 65B.51, subd. 3):

A claimant may also sue for economic loss not paid or payable by the obligor because of a coverage gap, a weekly cap, the seven-day services exclusion, the $20,000 limits, or a disqualification. (subd. 2)

Arbitration of small claims. Mandatory binding arbitration applies to claims of $10,000 or less against an insured's reparation obligor for no-fault benefits or comprehensive or collision damage. (MN Stat. 65B.525)

12.6 Payment of Claims (outline: Payment of Claims)

a. Time Limitations

The insurer must notify the insured in writing of the 65B.55 time limits at least 60 days before they expire. (MN Stat. 72A.201, subd. 6(11))

b. Assigned Claims Plan

Reparation obligors providing BEL in Minnesota must maintain, subject to the Commissioner's approval, an assigned claims bureau and assigned claims plan; every obligor participates, and a ruling may be appealed to the Commissioner within 30 days. (MN Stat. 65B.63, subd. 1) The bureau assigns each claim to an insurer, which has the duties of an insurer that issued a compliant policy. (subd. 2)

A person entitled to BEL may obtain it through the plan if (MN Stat. 65B.64, subd. 1):

1. The person is 14 or younger and BEL does not apply because of the converter rule;
2. BEL does not apply to the injury for some reason other than the converter, race or intentional-injury disqualifications;
3. The applicable plan of reparation security cannot be identified (the classic hit-and-run pedestrian case); or
4. A claim is rejected by an obligor on a ground other than "the person is not entitled to BEL."

Who is shut out. A person is not entitled to benefits through the plan if, at the time of injury, the person was the owner of a private passenger motor vehicle for which security is required and the person failed to have it; so are persons who dwell and function together with that owner as a family. (MN Stat. 65B.64, subd. 1, 3)

Time to present. The claimant must notify the bureau within the time that would have been allowed to start an action had coverage been identifiable; if timely action was brought against an obligor that proved financially unable to pay, within six months after discovery. (MN Stat. 65B.65) If an action fails because the wrong insurer was sued under the priority rules, a claim may be made within 90 days after the determination becomes final. (MN Stat. 65B.66)

c. Primacy

Layer one decides which no-fault insurer pays BEL (65B.47). Layer two decides how BEL relates to other benefits (65B.61, above).

If more than one obligation applies, benefits are payable once; the obligor against whom the claim is made pays and recovers pro rata contribution. (subd. 5)