Last reviewed: 14 September 2026

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Missouri makes an unbacked provider print that fact into the contract

Missouri regulates motor vehicle extended service contracts under Revised Statutes of Missouri §§ 385.200–385.206, through the Department of Commerce and Insurance — a registration-plus-financial-backing structure broadly similar to what Texas, Washington, and Nevada already do. What's distinct is a specific, near-verbatim disclosure Missouri law requires when a provider picks the reserve-account route instead of an insurance policy: the contract itself has to tell the buyer, in the state's own statutory language, exactly what is and isn't standing behind it.

Registration, then a reserve-or-insurance choice

RSMo § 385.202 requires every provider of motor vehicle extended service contracts sold in Missouri to file a registration with the Director of the Department of Commerce and Insurance. A provider must then back its contracts one of two ways: insure its obligations under a reimbursement insurance policy from an authorized insurer, or maintain its own funded reserve account of at least 40 percent of gross consideration received (less claims paid) on all in-force contracts, plus a separate financial security deposit held in trust with the Director equal to at least 5 percent of that same gross consideration — but not less than $25,000. That reserve-plus-deposit structure is broadly the same shape as Washington's 40-percent reserve rule and Nevada's reserve-plus-$25,000-deposit option, covered elsewhere in this Library.

The specific words the contract has to use

RSMo § 385.206(5) doesn't just require disclosure in general terms — it specifies the substance of the statement itself. A motor vehicle extended service contract not backed by a reimbursement insurance policy must state, in substantially this form: obligations of the provider are "backed only by the full faith and credit of the provider (issuer)" and are not guaranteed under a service contract reimbursement insurance policy. Where a contract is insured instead, the statute requires the reverse disclosure — the specific name of the administrator, the provider actually obligated to perform, and the contract seller, so a buyer can tell who they'd actually be pursuing if something goes wrong, not just which brand sold them the paperwork.

A separate law entirely for etching, GPS trackers, and similar add-ons

Don't confuse this with Missouri's Vehicle Protection Product Act, RSMo § 385.400 et seq., effective January 1, 2009 — a distinct statute covering a different category of product: things like vehicle-theft-deterrent devices, window etching, or similar aftermarket add-ons sold with their own guarantee, not a mechanical-breakdown service contract. It has its own registration and disclosure requirements, run in parallel to §§ 385.200–385.206 rather than as part of the same regime — the same "know which category you're actually buying" caution our Washington page raises about that state's separate "protection product guarantee" category.

What this means for a Missouri buyer

Read the specific backing-disclosure language printed in your own contract rather than assume it says what a seller's marketing implies. "Full faith and credit of the provider" is not a technical formality — it's the statute's own way of telling you that no insurance company stands behind the promise, only the company itself, which matters directly to point 4 of our standard on verifying a provider's actual claims-paying mechanism.