Home › North Dakota › North Dakota Rules of Evidence › Rule 411

Court Rules Network • courtrules.net

N.D.R.Ev. 411

Not legal advice. Verify against official sources before relying on this text in any legal matter.

Rule 411 Liability Insurance

← Previous Rule 410: Pleas, Plea Discussions, and Related Statements Next → Rule 412: Sex-offense Cases: The Victim's Sexual Behavior or Predisposition

Rule Text

Evidence that a person was or was not insured against liability is not admissible to prove whether the person acted negligently or otherwise wrongfully. But the court may admit this evidence for another purpose, such as proving a witness's bias or prejudice or proving agency, ownership, or control.

Amendment history: (Adopted Mar. 1, 1990; amended Mar. 1, 2014.)

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

If someone has liability insurance, that fact usually can't be brought up in court to argue they were careless or did something wrong. The idea is that having insurance doesn't tell you anything about how a person actually behaved. Someone isn't more likely to have caused an accident just because they had insurance, and they aren't less likely to have caused one just because they didn't.

However, this information can still come up in court for other reasons. For example, if a witness works for an insurance company and that connection might make them biased, that fact can be brought up. Insurance information can also be used to show who owned or controlled something, like a vehicle or property, if that's relevant to the case.

So the rule doesn't ban all mention of insurance. It just stops people from using it to suggest someone is guilty or careless simply because they were insured.

Committee Notes

Rule 411 was amended, effective March 1, 1990; March 1, 2014.

The reason for the rule is that the existence or nonexistence of liability insurance is of low probative value as to the issue of negligence, and may be prejudicial.

The second sentence of the rule merely states that evidence of insurance need not be excluded if offered for another purpose to which it may be relevant.

Rule 411 was amended, effective March 1, 1990. The amendment is technical in nature and no substantive change is intended.

Rule 411 was amended, effective March 1, 2014, in response to the December 1, 2011, revision of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. There is no intent to change any result in any ruling on evidence admissibility.

SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 26-27, 2012, pages 19-20; March 24-25, 1988, page 12; December 3, 1987, page 15; April 8, 1976, page 26. Fed.R.Ev. 411; Rule 411, SBAND proposal.

STATUTES AFFECTED:

CONSIDERED: N.D.C.C. §§ 39-16-03, 39-16-11, 49-18-33.

← Previous Rule 410: Pleas, Plea Discussions, and Related Statements Next → Rule 412: Sex-offense Cases: The Victim's Sexual Behavior or Predisposition