Oklahoma May Get 'No Pay, No Play' Auto Insurance Law

OKLAHOMA CITY, May 23, 2011 -- Oklahoma may join neighboring Kansas by approving and signing into law "no pay, no play" legislation that would limit the recovery rights of motorists who are not in compliance with the state's compulsory insurance laws at the time of an accident.

OnlineAutoInsurance.com says that "no pay, no play" laws only add to the already strong argument that motorists across the country need to get insured before getting behind the wheel.

"No pay, no play" laws make it so that drivers who are not covered by a car insurance policy at the time of an accident can only successfully recover property damage repair costs, medical costs and compensation for loss of income that are the result of an accident caused by another driver. Current law allows motorists -- including uninsured ones -- to recover pain and suffering awards, a practice that the legislation would stop.

Commissioner John Doak publicly announced his endorsement of the legislation last Wednesday after the senate passed the bill with an eight-vote margin. Doak said the law would help temper the uninsured-motorist problem -- an estimated one-quarter of Oklahomans on the road lacked coverage in 2009 -- and increase the availability of affordable car insurance in the state.

A small number of states already have this type of law on the books, and two states considered similar proposals earlier this year.

The governor of Kansas signed "no pay, no play" legislation into law in his state last week after being approved in the legislature with healthy margins.

In Montana, though, similar legislation was not received so warmly. In that state, the bill was passed with narrow margins and was ultimately vetoed by the governor.

Oklahoma senators approved their bill with a 58 percent majority. It now moves to the house for consideration.

To learn more about this and other car insurance issues, readers can go to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/affordable/ where visitors will find informative resource pages and a quote-comparison generator that can help users quickly locate the best rate for a policy for their individual circumstances.