Over here you have to have a minimum of what's known as third party insurance, i.e. they pay for damages to the other party if the accident's your fault. If you get caught driving without insurance you can get fined up to €5,000 (about $5,670 at today's rates) and be nearly halfway to losing your driving license.
The basic insurance usually gets bundled into a combined policy called third party, fire and theft. I remember a comedian back in the '80s saying that when he was offered this he'd replied something like "Don't be stupid, who's going to steal a car that's on fire?"