Maine Car Insurance Quotes

Despite having some of the highest state required minimums in the country (which you will see below), when searching for Maine car insurance quotes, it’s nice to know that the average Maine resident pays $1,149 in car insurance premiums while the national average is $1,576.

The Personal Car Insurance Policy

While most drivers view insurance primarily as a way of protecting their own cars, the greatest financial concern should be the liability that can arise from owning and/or driving an automobile. In a single accident, it’s possible to cause $50,000 of damage to vehicles and leave a person in need of medical care for the rest of his or her life. The potential liability is the reason 47 states require at least some automobile insurance and the rest have financial responsibility laws requiring drivers to prove they are financially capable of covering a specified amount of damages they may cause.

In the marketplace there are four standard insurance services office (ISO) forms of automobile insurance: the personal auto policy (PAP), family auto policy (FAP), special auto policy (SAP), and basic auto policy (BAP). The PAP, initially created in 1977, provides coverage for liability, medical expenses, and property damage.

The PAP was written to be much easier to read than its predecessors. However, it has many parts, and people often find it to be rather complicated. An understanding of the basic components will help ensure that you have adequate coverage and can help you to understand the consequences of not.

Personal Auto Insurance Policy Coverages

The personal auto policy has four general areas for which it provides protection:

Liability Insurance

Simply put if the operation or ownership of a motor vehicle causes physical damage or personal injury for which the insured is legally responsible, the owner of the vehicle is responsible for the cost of the damage or injuries. Liability insurance generally will pay all or a portion of these claims.

Medical Payments Coverage

This coverage pays for medical expenses of the insured owner of the vehicle and his or her family if injuries are suffered as a result of being involved in an accident with the vehicle.

Maine state law requires a minimum Medical Payment coverage of $1,000. Keep this in mind when getting Maine car insurance quotes.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage

This coverage, when available, is generally sold with underinsured motorist coverage. It is sometimes not available when physical damage coverage is included.
Maine state law requires a minimum Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage of $50,000 per person up to a total of $100,000 per accident for any bodily injury caused by the uninsured and/or underinsured driver.

Physical Damage or Loss Coverage

If the vehicle is stolen or suffers damage, this is the section of the PAP that provides protection. The insuring agreement generally uses the term “collision” and “other than collision”. Other than collision coverage is essentially open perils coverage that excludes collision and a few other specific perils. In the past, the term comprehensive was used rather than “other than collision”. However, as the term comprehensive implies everything and even though policies had exclusions, many lawsuits were filed based on claims that insureds assumed that comprehensive meant everything was covered in spite of the exclusions.

State Requirements for Personal Auto Insurance Policy Coverage

Most states have provisions that require drivers to prove financial responsibility before they may drive or register their automobiles with each state having its own specific requirements. Generally, owners must have insurance or show some other acceptable form of security. Acceptable substitutions for car liability coverage vary across states, but usually require an affidavit of financial responsibility or the posting of a bond. Interestingly, many state requirements for liability coverage are not generally viewed as adequate.

The three states with the highest required coverage are Maine ($50,000 for injuries to an individual with a maximum of $100,000 per accident for injuries and up to $25,000 per accident for property damage – 50/100/25), Alaska (50/100/25), and North Carolina (30/60/25) while the four states with the lowest required coverage are Florida (10/20/10), Oklahoma (10/20/10), Louisiana (10/20/10), and Mississippi (10/20/5).