Assigned Risk Plan

Facilities available in all 50 states in which drivers can obtain auto insurance if they are unable to buy it in the regular or "voluntary" market. Every insurer licensed in the state must participate in these facilities, which are also known as joint underwriting facilities. When premiums are too low to cover losses, insurers are usually assessed to make up the difference, and these costs are passed on to all of their customers.

Coverage in which individuals who cannot obtain conventional automobile liability insurance, usually because of adverse driving records, are placed in a residual insurance market. Insurance companies are assigned to write insurance for them, at higher prices, in proportion to the premiums written in a particular state. These plans protect motorists who suffer injury or property damage through the negligence of bad drivers who otherwise would not have insurance.

An insurance plan created and imposed by state statute under which persons who normally would be denied insurance coverage as bad risks are permitted to purchase insurance from a pool of insurers who must offer coverage to such individuals.