The national Personal Auto Policy guide covers the ISO policy itself: Parts A through F, who is an insured, the exclusions and the conditions. This guide covers the Maine rules layered on top. Those include Maine's minimum limits, required medical payments and uninsured motorist coverage, the tort system, the Automobile Insurance Cancellation Control Act and the Maine Automobile Insurance Plan. Maine's auto law is split between Title 29-A (motor vehicles and financial responsibility) and Title 24-A (the Insurance Code).

Maine is a tort state with no PIP

• Maine has no no-fault or personal injury protection (PIP) system. Bulletin 313 notes PIP is not offered in Maine. An injured person recovers from the at-fault driver.
• Comparative negligence (14 M.R.S. 156): a claimant's own fault doesn't defeat the claim, but damages are reduced to reflect the claimant's share. The jury reduces the award in dollars, not by percentage. A claimant found equally at fault recovers nothing.

Financial responsibility

• Driving without coverage is a traffic infraction with a forfeiture of $100 to $500, plus license or registration suspension (1601). Proof may be shown electronically.
• After a conviction that requires it, a driver must keep proof of financial responsibility for 3 years (1603). Proof can be an insurer's certificate filed with the Secretary of State, or a deposit of money or securities (1605(3)). The statute calls this a certificate; it doesn't use the term "SR-22."
• Any driver excluded by endorsement must be listed on the evidence of insurance (1601(10); Bulletin 461).
• Accident reporting threshold: $2,000 of apparent property damage, raised from $1,000 in 2023 (29-A M.R.S. 2251).
• The med pay mandate doesn't apply to policies covering more than 4 vehicles or to garages, dealers, repair shops, service stations or parking places.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (24-A M.R.S. 2902)

• Every policy must include UM coverage, which also covers underinsured and hit-and-run vehicles.
• UM limits equal the bodily injury liability limits unless the buyer rejects that on the insurer's signed and dated form. They can never be lower than the financial responsibility minimums.
• If the same UM limits stay in place for 2 consecutive years with the same insurer, acceptance is presumed until the insured asks for a change in writing.
• A vehicle is underinsured if its coverage is below the minimums or below the injured person's own UM limits.
• A vehicle whose insurer becomes insolvent counts as uninsured if written notice is given within 2 years.
• The insurer or appointed producer must explain these UM rules to the buyer.

Other Maine coverage rules

• No family exclusion: a liability policy may not exclude injury to the insured or the insured's family (2902-D).
• Age: an insurer can't refuse coverage solely because the applicant is 65 or older (2902-C). Under 2916, it can't refuse, cancel, nonrenew or surcharge solely because of a driver's age.
• Mature driver discount: drivers 55 or older who complete an approved accident prevention course get a discount for 3 years (2902-G).
• Volunteer drivers for nonprofits can't be refused or surcharged for that reason alone (2902-F).
• Motorcycle passenger exclusions are valid only by separate endorsement after notice to the Bureau (2902-B).
• Rental cars: physical damage coverage must extend to a rental of 45 days or fewer in the U.S. or Canada. It includes loss of use for up to 30 days. The deductible can't exceed the insured's own collision or comprehensive deductible (2927).
• Total losses: comparable vehicles are drawn first from Maine and nearby New England states and New York (2910-B). Coverage includes the sales tax credit value (2907).
• Med pay and health plans: a health carrier can't make auto med pay primary or coordinate against it (2910-A).

Excluded drivers (2916-B; Bulletin 491)

Instead of canceling or nonrenewing, an insurer may offer a signed named-driver exclusion for a driver whose record would justify cancellation or nonrenewal. If the excluded person is under 18, the notice warns that the policyholder can still be held liable for that person's driving, and the policy won't cover it.

Cancellation and nonrenewal (Automobile Insurance Cancellation Control Act, 24-A M.R.S. 2913–2921)

• Scope: the Act doesn't apply to assigned risk policies, garage and similar risks, or policies insuring more than 4 autos (2913).
• First 60 days: the limits on cancellation reasons don't apply to a new policy in force less than 60 days (2914).
• Allowed cancellation reasons after 60 days (2914):
  • nonpayment
  • fraud or material misrepresentation
  • violation of policy terms
  • suspension or revocation of the license of the named insured or a regular operator
• Notice of cancellation: must be received at least 20 days before the effective date, or 10 days for nonpayment. Lienholders get the same notice (2915).
• Nonrenewal: received at least 30 days before expiration, with explicit reasons and notice of the right to a hearing (2917).
  • Vague reasons like "underwriting reasons," "loss record" or "credit report" aren't enough on their own.
  • Grounds must have occurred within the 36 months before the anniversary date (2916-A).
• Accident grounds: nonrenewal is allowed for 2 qualifying accidents, plus one more for each additional vehicle insured in the household. An insured with 3 vehicles can have 4.
  • Accidents don't count if the insured was rear-ended, parked, reimbursed by the other party, or if only the other driver was convicted.
  • Three or more speeding or reckless driving offenses also qualify.
• Proof of receipt: a certificate of mailing is conclusive proof of receipt on the 5th day after mailing for cancellations and the 3rd day for nonrenewals.
• Hearing: the insured may ask the Superintendent for a hearing within 30 days. The insurer bears the burden of proof (2920).
• Other coverage: the notice must mention the Maine Automobile Insurance Plan (2921).
• Agency termination is not a valid reason to nonrenew. The right to renew belongs to the insured (Bulletins 316, 391).
• A policy can't be changed mid-term except by agreement. An agreed change isn't a cancellation.

Maine Automobile Insurance Plan (24-A M.R.S. 2325)

• The plan spreads applicants who can't get coverage normally among all auto insurers. Every auto insurer must participate.
• Plan personal auto liability must be offered up to at least 250/500/100, or a $500,000 combined single limit.
• After a nonpayment cancellation, unearned premium is returned within 10 working days.

Transportation network companies (24-A M.R.S. 7303 to 7305)

A personal auto insurer may exclude coverage while the driver is logged in or on a ride (7305). If the driver's coverage lapses, the TNC's coverage pays from the first dollar.

Commercial and for-hire vehicles (29-A M.R.S. 1611, 1612)

• Intrastate commercial motor vehicles need a $750,000 combined single limit.
• School buses need $500,000 for up to 30 passengers and $1,000,000 for 31 or more.
• Cancelling these filings requires 30 days' notice to the Secretary of State.
• Dealers file proof of $100,000/$300,000/$100,000.

Common exam traps

• Minimums are 50/100/25, plus $2,000 med pay. Maine has no PIP.
• Equally at fault = no recovery.
• UM limits match liability limits unless the buyer rejects that in writing.
• Cancellation notice: 20 days, or 10 for nonpayment. Nonrenewal notice: 30 days, with explicit reasons.
• The 60-day new-policy window, the 36-month look-back and the more than 4 autos exemption.
• Ending an agency relationship is not a reason to nonrenew.