What Maine requires
The Maine floor is liability alone - 50/100/25, with nothing stacked above it. UM coverage comes required at the same limits, so an uninsured driver routes straight back into your own policy. PIP, collision and comprehensive enter the picture only through a lender or your own choice.
| Coverage | Maine minimum | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $50,000 / $100,000 | Yes |
| Property damage liability | $25,000 | Yes |
| Uninsured motorist | $50,000 / $100,000 | Yes - at liability limits |
| Personal injury protection | None | No |
| Medical payments | $2,000,000 | Yes |
Proof is usually a digital ID card or the insurer's response when an officer checks the state's verification system - no paper required. Maine requires liability, uninsured motorist and medical payments all in one policy.
Maine winters write their own claim pattern: ice storms drop power lines onto vehicles, plow banks blind driveway exits, and coast roads around Portland and Penobscot Bay flood during nor'easters. Distance matters too - a Bangor-area repair can wait days on parts before a shop opens.
Fault rules after a crash
Maine uses modified comparative negligence with a strict half-and-half line: recover at up to 50 percent fault, with your award reduced by your share; at 51 percent or more, recovery is barred.
In an at-fault state the file turns on evidence - the police narrative, the photos, the witness statements - and the at-fault driver's insurer pays what its policy allows once that evidence lands. UM on your own policy answers the drivers who arrived with no limits at all.
OUI and financial responsibility in Maine
A OUI conviction in Maine usually sets off a financial responsibility filing: your insurer reports the high-risk driver to the state - commonly through an SR-22 - and the filing has to stay active for years even if you barely drive. The conviction itself also lands in the underwriting file and reprices the policy at every renewal until it ages out.
- Re-shop at every renewal instead of every few years; the carrier cheapest last year is frequently third today.
- Check your state insurance department's complaint page before you file - a regulator's name in the letter gets a stalled claim moving.
- Ask for paid-in-full and paperless credits together - they stack at most carriers and need no driving change at all.
- Never let coverage lapse even for a day: a gap shows on your record and reprices the next policy for far more than the premium you saved.
- Bundle with one insurer only when the bundle total beats separate quotes - a multi-policy discount rarely beats shopping each line on its own.
What Maine drivers pay
Full coverage in Maine averages about $1050 a year - $838 under the $1,888 national figure and one of the cheaper state averages on the board. Metro zips around Portland carry the highest tables in the state; Lewiston and the smaller counties undercut them.
The figure blends every driver in the state: teens and tickets pull it up, clean records and higher deductibles pull it down. The same driver can still see carriers land thousands apart on one profile.
Maine's package - 50/100/25 with required UM and $2,000 medical payments - reflects a regulation culture that prefers first-party protection inside the policy itself. Comparative fault runs the 50-percent line, and the Bureau of Insurance reviews filings before rate changes reach renewal notices.
How to save in Maine
- Never let coverage lapse even for a day: a gap shows on your record and reprices the next policy for far more than the premium you saved.
- Bundle with one insurer only when the bundle total beats separate quotes - a multi-policy discount rarely beats shopping each line on its own.
- Ask for telematics or low-mileage pricing - a clean app-tracked few months routinely beats a static quote.
- Re-shop at every renewal instead of every few years; the carrier cheapest last year is frequently third today.
- Check your state insurance department's complaint page before you file - a regulator's name in the letter gets a stalled claim moving.
Claims handling, rate filings and cancellations all run through Maine Bureau of Insurance - a complaint filed there changes how fast an insurer answers. The official sources above carry the current rulebook; check them before you buy.
Maine's market runs through local agents in Portland, Bangor and the county towns, where one office often handles several generations of the same family's policies. Seasonal coverage adjustments for stored vehicles and summer motorcycles are a routine request, and rural garaging keeps territory pricing modest most of the year.
How a Maine claim actually runs
The at-fault driver's policy is the primary source in Maine: your own carrier handles collision, then pursues the other insurer for every dollar it advanced once fault is settled.
Because Maine requires UM at liability limits, an uninsured driver routes straight back into your own policy instead of ending the claim - one of the few places the mandate pays for itself.
What Maine's minimum leaves you holding
Run the numbers on one injury: a $90k medical case versus a 50k per-person limit is a $40k hole in Maine, and the cap does not care how the bills were split. The Maine bar makes every percent matter: a 30 percent share costs a third of an already capped award, and past half it costs everything.
Maine's average premium sits at $1050 a year, so the upgrade math is soft: higher limits, UM where it is optional, and PIP where the state does not force it, usually land inside one renewal adjustment.
Related pages
- Non-owner car insurance
- Liability limits: how much you need
- How car insurance works
- Auto Insurance in Illinois
- Auto insurance hub
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Maine's car insurance minimums?
Carry 50/100/25 in Maine - $50,000 per person injured, $100,000 per crash, $25,000 for property damage. On top of that: uninsured motorist at the same limits and $2,000,000 in medical payments.
Is Maine a no-fault state?
No. Maine follows tort rules: whoever caused the crash carries the liability, your own carrier pays only for the coverage you added, and modified comparative negligence decides how any shared blame splits the award.
How is fault split in Maine?
Maine splits fault by percentage, then applies the line: at half the blame or less your award shrinks by that share, and at 51 percent the claim is gone.
How much does full coverage cost in Maine?
The Maine state average lands near $1050 annually for full coverage: among the cheaper averages in the country. Minimum-only liability costs far less, but it is a different product - the collision and comprehensive pieces are what carry the premium.
Is Maine minimum coverage enough?
Rarely for a serious crash: the 50/100/25 floor ($50,000 per injured person) leaves a four-to-five-figure gap against a major injury claim, before lost wages. The state sets the legal floor, not the sensible one.
Last updated: 2026-10-20