Massachusetts Car Insurance Requirements, Rules and Laws
In Massachusetts, you have to buy several types of liability insurance including bodily injury, personal injury, uninsured insurance, and property damage insurance. You must own a bodily injury insurance that worth at least $20,000 for each person and $40,000 for each accident. The personal injury protection insurance should worth $8000 per accident. The personal injury protection will cover the damage cost of the driver, passengers, by passers, and other people that was hurt during the accident. The uninsured auto insurance must worth at least $20,000 for each individual and $40,000 for each accident. The property damage insurance should worth at least $5000.
Previously, every driver has to follow a fix rate when purchasing car insurance. Nowadays, the residents of Massachusetts can shop for car insurance online. When you are buying car insurance, you should do research on what coverage are available and how much is the cost. You can fill in the fields in the online questionnaires and get instant quote for your car insurance. To make sure you are buying from a legitimate insurer, you should call the BBB department to determine whether there is any customer complaint.
After the state of Massachusetts had eliminated the old system, the insurance companies are allowed to establish a merit rating plan. The merit rating plan is not required by the state. It is used to determines the cost of the premium that will be charged to the policy holder based on his driving record. The old system requires the insurance company to charge a fee for violation of the traffic rules. The new system allows the insurance company to decide whether they will impose a penalty fee for traffic violation. The insurance company is not allowed t use accident that occur 6years ago to increase your premium cost. Besides, the insurer cannot use a traffic violation that happen more than 5 years ago to increase the cost of your premium.
You must carry the proof of insurance provided by your insurance company. The proof of insurance contains several details including start and expiry date, description of vehicle, identification number, and liability limits. The proof of insurance should be kept in your vehicle so that you can show it to the traffic police if he happens to stop you on the highway.
If you fail to show the proof of insurance, you will be penalized with a traffic citation. Besides, your premium will increase. The amount of increase in the premium depends on several factors including driving record, violations of the traffic rules and severity of the accidents.
Massachusetts Division of Insurance
- One South Station, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02110
- Phone: (617) 521-7794
- www.mass.gov
Massachusetts Highway Department
- 10 Park Plaza, Suite 3170, Boston, MA 02116
- Phone: (617) 973-7800
- Fax: (617) 973-8040
- www.mhd.state.ma.us
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