Car Insurance in Massachusetts
What is car insurance?
Driving comes with the inherent risk of an accident, and there are other risks that drivers should protect against too. Car insurance won’t do anything to stop an accident or something else from happening. Should anything ever happen on the road, though, insurance can provide Massachusetts drivers with important financial protections.
Car insurance may help cover the costs of an accident or other incident. Policies are available for most types of vehicles, and come with many coverage options.
Are Massachusetts drivers required to have auto insurance?
Drivers in Massachusetts are generally required to carry auto insurance that at least meets the state’s minimum requirements. Additional coverage is highly recommended in most cases.
The state’s minimum requirements generally apply to four coverages:
- Bodily Injury Coverage ($20,000/person, $40,000/accident)
- Personal Injury Protection ($8,000/person)
- Uninsured Auto Coverage ($20,000/person, $40,000/accident)
- Property Damage Liability ($5,000/accident)
Higher limits and additional coverages are recommended, because a single accident could easily exceed these basic requirements.
What protections are available to drivers through auto insurance policies?
The coverages that auto policies offer can vary from one policy to another, but there are many protections that policies typically include as standard or optional. Some of these protections include:
- Personal Injury Protection: Typically covers driver and passengers in the insured car who experience injuries during an accident.
- Medical Costs Coverage: Typically covers driver and passengers’ medical expenses for injuries sustained during an accident.
- Physical Injury Coverage: Typically covers harm sustained by other drivers, passengers, or pedestrians during an accident.
- Comprehensive Coverage: Typically covers damages unrelated to accidents (collisions), such as vandalism, theft, fire, falling trees or animal strikes.
- Collision Coverage: Typically covers damages arising from an accident involving at least one other vehicle.
- Gap Coverage: Typically covers the difference between a lease or loan’s outstanding balance, and a vehicle’s value.
- Property Damage Liability Coverage: Typically covers damage to other vehicles or property during an accident.
- Underinsured/Uninsured Motorist Coverage: Typically covers accidents caused by drivers with inadequate or no insurance coverage.
Personal injury protection is commonly abbreviated “PIP.”
What coverages do lenders require when financing or leasing?
In addition to the state requirements, drivers who finance or lease a vehicle are usually obligated by the lender to carry certain coverages. Lenders normally require comprehensive, collision and gap coverages. This is to make sure the lender can be repaid in full even if the vehicle used as collateral is totaled.
Is Massachusetts a no-fault or at-fault state for auto insurance?
Massachusetts is a no-fault state, which means that your own auto policy’s personal injury protection usually pays accident-caused injury costs for you, other drivers and passengers in your vehicle. Your policy generally pays regardless of whether you caused the accident or the other driver did.
Can insurance companies use credit scores when calculating premiums?
Massachusetts forbids insurance companies from using credit scores when calculating drivers’ premiums. The state was one of the first to pass laws prohibiting the practice, and remains one of the few states that prohibit this.
How can drivers get car insurance for their cars and other vehicles?
If you have a car or other passenger vehicle that’s registered in Massachusetts, contact the independent insurance agents at Pike Insurance for help finding good car insurance. Our agents will closely review coverage needs with you, and then we can help you find the best available policy from among several insurance companies that offer policies in the state. With our assistance, you can have confidence that you’re well protected when on the road (or parked in a public lot).
