Maine requires at least $50,000 of bodily injury liability per person, $100,000 per accident and $25,000 of property damage liability, often written as 50/100/25. Every policy also has to include at least $2,000 of medical payments coverage, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of at least 50/100, and up to $500 for towing and storage after an accident when police order the tow.
Maine isn’t a no-fault state, so there’s no personal injury protection requirement. Driving without insurance is a traffic infraction with a fine of $100 to $500, followed by a license or registration suspension that lasts until you file proof of insurance with the state.
Key Takeaways
- Maine’s minimum is 50/100/25 liability plus $2,000 of medical payments coverage, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and up to $500 of towing and storage coverage on policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.
- Your uninsured motorist coverage has to match your bodily injury liability limits unless you reject the higher amount in writing before the policy starts. You can’t reject it below 50/100.
- For most drivers, no insurance is a traffic infraction with a $100 to $500 fine. Thirty days after the state gets the court record, it suspends your license or registration until you file proof of financial responsibility.
- If you’re already required to keep an SR-22 and you drive without one, Maine treats it as a Class D crime, which can mean up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
Maine Minimum Car Insurance at a Glance
| Coverage | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $25,000 per accident |
| Medical payments | At least $2,000 per person |
| Uninsured and underinsured motorist | Equal to your bodily injury liability limits unless you reject the higher amount in writing, with a floor of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident |
| Towing and storage | Up to $500 per accident when police order the tow, on policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2024 |
| Personal injury protection | Not required |
| Collision and comprehensive | Not required by law, but lenders and lessors often require them |
The liability limits are set by 29-A M.R.S. section 1605, and section 1601 says anyone who owns or drives a car registered in Maine, or one that has to be registered there, must keep that coverage. The Maine Bureau of Insurance’s consumer guide to auto insurance, updated in November 2024, says a $125,000 combined single limit is also acceptable for liability, and it lists a $100,000 combined single limit for uninsured motorist coverage. Those combined figures come from the Bureau, not the statute text. RateFrog’s guide to liability limits explains how split and combined limits work.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Maine
Under 24-A M.R.S. section 2902, no auto liability policy for a car registered or principally garaged in Maine can be issued without coverage for injuries caused by uninsured, underinsured and hit-and-run drivers. Maine law calls a vehicle underinsured when its bodily injury coverage is below the state minimum or below the limits of your own uninsured motorist coverage.
On personal auto policies, your uninsured motorist limits have to equal the bodily injury liability limits on your policy unless you reject that higher amount. Here’s how the statute handles it:
- The rejection has to be in writing on the insurer’s form, signed and dated by a named insured.
- For coverage bought on or after October 1, 2000, the insurer has to give you the form before the policy takes effect. Without a signed rejection by then, the higher coverage applies from the start.
- Even with a rejection, the coverage can’t go below 50/100. There’s no way to drop uninsured motorist coverage entirely.
- Keeping the same limits with the same insurer for two years in a row counts as accepting them until you tell the insurer otherwise in writing.
When two or more injured people claim against the same underinsured driver, the statute reduces each person’s underinsured coverage by what that person was actually paid from the at-fault driver’s liability insurance. The statute doesn’t address stacking or say how a single claimant’s payment is handled, so ask your insurer how your policy treats those situations. RateFrog’s guide to uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage explains these coverages in more detail.
Medical Payments Coverage in Maine
Under 29-A M.R.S. section 1605-A, policies for cars registered or principally garaged in Maine must include at least $2,000 per person of medical payments coverage for the driver and passengers of the insured car. It pays medical costs incurred during the first year after the injury. The statute doesn’t include a way to reject it.
Towing and Storage Coverage in Maine
Under 29-A M.R.S. section 1605-B, a policy has to cover up to $500 per accident for reasonable towing and storage charges when a law enforcement officer has your car towed after an accident. The Bureau’s Bulletin 473 says it applies to policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.
Some websites, including an older Bureau of Insurance web page, leave this coverage out. A 2025 bill to repeal it, LD 1401, didn’t pass.
Proof of Insurance in Maine
You need proof of the minimum coverage to register a car, and section 1605 lets you show it electronically. After a stop for a moving violation or a reportable accident, section 1601 has the officer ask for proof of insurance. You can show it on your phone, and doing so doesn’t give the officer consent to look at anything else on the device.
If you can’t produce proof, the law treats that as evidence you’re uninsured. If you were insured, you can have the charge dismissed by showing proof that coverage was in effect at the time, either to the Violations Bureau before your answer date or at trial. RateFrog’s guide to getting proof of insurance fast can help if you need a card right away.
How Maine Checks Your Coverage
Maine repealed its law requiring insurers to notify the state of policy cancellations in 2007, and current Maine law doesn’t set up an electronic insurance verification program in its place. Coverage is mainly checked at registration, during traffic stops and after crashes.
Penalties for Driving Without Insurance in Maine
The penalty depends on whether you were already under an SR-22 requirement.
The Traffic Infraction
Under 29-A M.R.S. section 1601, driving without the required coverage, or showing proof of a policy that isn’t in effect, is a traffic infraction. The court can assess a forfeiture of $100 to $500. The statute doesn’t set higher amounts for repeat violations.
License and Registration Suspension
Thirty days after the Secretary of State receives the court’s record of the violation, it suspends your license, the registration of a car you own or your right to apply for either one. The suspension lasts until you file proof of financial responsibility (an SR-22) with the Secretary of State.
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) says on its suspensions page that all reinstatement fees, fines and court fees have to be paid before your license is reinstated, and paying online adds a $5 processing fee. Ask the BMV what you owe for your suspension.
Driving Without a Required SR-22
This more serious charge applies only if the state already requires you to keep proof of financial responsibility. Under section 1605, a person in that position who drives without the proof and without the Secretary of State’s authorization, or knowingly lets someone else drive their car, commits a Class D crime. That’s punishable by less than one year in jail under 17-A M.R.S. section 1604 and a fine of up to $2,000 under section 1704.
A Crash Without Insurance
After a reportable accident, 29-A M.R.S. section 1602 has the Secretary of State demand proof of financial responsibility from the owner or driver. Exceptions include a car that was insured at the time and a crash neither the owner nor the driver caused. If you don’t provide proof within 30 days of the demand, your license or registration can be suspended until you do.
An unpaid court judgment from a crash that caused injury, death or at least $1,000 of property damage leads to a license and registration suspension under section 1603, and you have to file proof of financial responsibility before they’re restored. RateFrog’s guide to what happens when insurance lapses covers the broader risks.
SR-22 Filings in Maine
An SR-22 is a form your insurer files with the BMV to show you carry the required coverage. Maine can require one after a no-insurance violation, a repeat OUI within 10 years, an uninsured crash, an unpaid crash judgment or, at the Secretary of State’s discretion, some other motor vehicle convictions.
Under section 1603, after a conviction-based suspension is lifted, you have to keep the filing for at least three years, and the state can waive the requirement three years after the date it was demanded. According to the BMV’s financial responsibility page, insurers can file SR-22s online, which the BMV says gets them accepted faster. RateFrog’s SR-22 guide explains how these filings work in general.
If You Can’t Find Coverage
The Maine Automobile Insurance Plan, set up under 24-A M.R.S. section 2325, covers drivers who are entitled to insurance but can’t get it through ordinary methods. According to the plan’s page on AIPSO, you have to certify that you tried and failed to get auto insurance in Maine within the past 60 days, and you apply through a producer licensed by the Bureau and certified by the plan. AIPSO lists (401) 528-1488 and (401) 946-2800.
If an insurer cancels or nonrenews your policy for a reason other than nonpayment, section 2921 requires the notice to tell you that you may be eligible for the plan.
How Maine Insurers Set Rates
Maine allows credit-based insurance scores with limits. Under 24-A M.R.S. section 2169-B, an insurer can’t:
- Deny, cancel or nonrenew a policy solely because of credit information
- Set your renewal rate solely on credit information
- Take adverse action only because you don’t have a credit card
- Use factors such as race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion in an insurance score
Under section 2916, an insurer can’t refuse to issue, cancel, refuse to renew, reduce limits or charge more for the sole reason that someone has reached a certain age.
Drivers 55 and older can earn a discount. Under section 2902-G, insurers have to give an appropriate discount for three years to a principal operator who completes an accident prevention course approved by the Bureau of Highway Safety, and you retake the course every three years to keep it. Insurers can require no at-fault accidents, moving violations or suspensions during that time, court-ordered courses don’t count, and the law doesn’t set a percentage. RateFrog’s guide to the factors that affect car insurance rates covers the rest.
Cancellation and Nonrenewal Rules
Maine’s Automobile Insurance Cancellation Control Act doesn’t apply to policies through the Maine Automobile Insurance Plan or to policies insuring more than four cars, among others listed in section 2913.
Once a policy has been in effect for 60 days, section 2914 lets the insurer cancel only for nonpayment, fraud or material misrepresentation, a violation of the policy terms, or certain license suspensions or revocations of the named insured or a household or regular driver. Section 2915 requires at least 10 days’ notice for nonpayment and 20 days for other reasons.
To nonrenew, the insurer needs a reason the law allows, such as one that could support cancellation, certain convictions or two or more qualifying accidents in the past 36 months under section 2916-A. Section 2917 requires at least 30 days’ notice before the policy expires, with the reasons stated explicitly. “Underwriting reasons” or “loss record” alone don’t qualify, and the Bureau’s Bulletin 489 says the end of an agency relationship, by itself, isn’t a lawful basis for nonrenewal.
You can ask for a hearing before the Superintendent of Insurance under section 2920. The Bureau’s hearing FAQ says your written request has to reach the Bureau within 30 days of receiving the notice, and your insurer has to keep your coverage in place from the date of your request until the hearing process ends. Hearings aren’t available for auto policies in force less than 60 days. The Bureau’s guide also says Maine law doesn’t require a grace period for paying premiums, so check your policy. RateFrog’s guide to car insurance grace periods explains what usually happens when a payment is late.
Is Maine’s Minimum Coverage Enough?
A 50/100/25 policy can run out in a serious crash, $25,000 of property damage coverage may not replace a newer car, and $2,000 of medical payments coverage won’t go far after a serious injury. If a claim is more than your limits, you could owe the rest. Before you sign a form lowering your uninsured motorist coverage to 50/100, think about how you’d pay your own medical bills if the other driver has little or no insurance. RateFrog’s guide to how much car insurance you need can help you choose, and you can compare car insurance quotes at several coverage levels.
Where to Get Help
The Maine Bureau of Insurance handles questions and complaints about insurers, including cancellations, claims and premiums. Call (800) 300-5000 in Maine or (207) 624-8475, or file through its complaint page. For license and registration suspensions and SR-22 questions, call the BMV at 207-624-9000, extension 52108.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Reject Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Maine?
Not entirely. You can reject coverage above 50/100 in writing on your insurer’s form before the policy takes effect, but your policy has to include at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident.
Is Maine a No-Fault State?
No. Maine doesn’t require personal injury protection. It does require at least $2,000 of medical payments coverage for the driver and passengers of the insured car.
What Is the Fine for Driving Without Insurance in Maine?
For most drivers, it’s a traffic infraction with a forfeiture of $100 to $500, followed by a license or registration suspension until you file proof of financial responsibility. If you’re already required to keep an SR-22 and drive without it, that’s a Class D crime with a fine of up to $2,000.
Can I Show Proof of Insurance on My Phone in Maine?
Yes. Maine law accepts an image on a phone or other device at registration and when an officer asks, and showing it doesn’t let the officer look at anything else on the device.
Sources
- Maine Bureau of Insurance: Consumer’s Guide to Personal Auto Insurance
- Maine Bureau of Insurance: Bulletin 473, Coverage for Towing and Storage Charges
- Maine Bureau of Insurance: Bulletin 489, Termination of Agency Relationships
- Maine Bureau of Insurance: Cancellation/Nonrenewal Hearings
- Maine Bureau of Insurance: File a Complaint
- Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles: Financial Responsibility
- Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles: License Suspensions and Revocations
- 29-A M.R.S. section 1601
- 29-A M.R.S. section 1602
- 29-A M.R.S. section 1603
- 29-A M.R.S. section 1605
- 29-A M.R.S. section 1605-A
- 29-A M.R.S. section 1605-B
- 17-A M.R.S. section 1604
- 17-A M.R.S. section 1704
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2169-B
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2325
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2902
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2902-G
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2913
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2914
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2915
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2916
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2916-A
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2917
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2920
- 24-A M.R.S. section 2921
- AIPSO: Maine Automobile Insurance Plan