Insurance is hardly a new idea. Indeed the concept can be traced as far back as the ancient Chinese used to protect their investments with marine insurance, which is still used today.

Once people began operating automobiles on public property, policymakers decided that it was a privilege rather than a right and started to require drivers to purchase auto insurance in order to protect unsuspecting third parties from injury or property damage.

In 1895, liability coverage first began to be offered with auto insurance when the first car insurance liability policy was issued by an English company. In 1898, the first such policy was sold in the United States to Truman J. Martin.

Car insurance policies were officially required by law until 1927 when Massachusetts became the first state to do so. Since then, every state has introduced mandatory car insurance in some form or another. Though liability requirements vary from state to state, they all require som ... Read more »