What Maine Law Requires Before You Register
You're adding a second or third vehicle to your Maine policy, and you need to know exactly what coverage the state requires before the Bureau of Motor Vehicles will let you register it. Maine law sets three liability minimums: $50,000 per person for bodily injury, $100,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $25,000 for property damage. These figures appear on every proof-of-insurance card your carrier issues, and the BMV checks them at registration.
What catches most multi-car households off guard: Maine also mandates Personal Injury Protection and uninsured motorist coverage on every policy. You cannot decline them. When you add a vehicle to an existing policy, the carrier applies all five required coverages to the newly added car automatically, and the premium reflects that broader mandate. Understanding what each coverage does and why the state requires it helps you structure your household policy correctly from the start.
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Get Your Free QuoteMaine Liability Minimums
$50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000
Bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident, and property damage per accident. These are the lowest limits Maine law allows; your carrier will not issue a policy below them.
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles
The Five Coverages Maine Mandates
Maine requires bodily injury liability, property damage liability, Personal Injury Protection, and uninsured motorist coverage on every auto policy. Bodily injury liability pays medical bills, lost wages, and legal costs when you injure someone in an at-fault accident. The $50,000 per person limit means the carrier pays up to that amount for one injured person; the $100,000 per accident limit is the total the carrier pays when multiple people are hurt in the same crash. Property damage liability covers the other driver's vehicle and any property you damage, up to $25,000 per accident.
Personal Injury Protection covers your own medical bills and lost wages after an accident, regardless of who caused it. Maine law requires PIP on every policy, and you cannot waive it. Uninsured motorist coverage pays your medical bills and vehicle damage when the at-fault driver has no insurance or insufficient coverage. Maine's uninsured motorist rate sits at 5.7 percent, meaning roughly one in eighteen drivers on the road carries no insurance. The state mandates uninsured motorist coverage to protect you from that gap.
When you insure multiple vehicles on one policy, every vehicle gets all five coverages. The carrier does not let you apply liability to one car and skip PIP on another. The policy is the unit of coverage, and the state's mandates apply to the entire policy. If you own three cars and insure them together, all three carry the same liability limits, the same PIP, and the same uninsured motorist protection.
Maine does not allow you to decline PIP or uninsured motorist coverage. Every policy carries all five mandated coverages, and every vehicle on the policy is covered under them.
How the Minimums Apply Across Multiple Vehicles
When you add a second or third vehicle to your policy, the $50,000/$100,000/$25,000 limits remain the same. If you cause an accident while driving any of the three vehicles, the carrier pays up to those limits for that one accident. The limits do not stack. A multi-car policy with three vehicles insured at the state minimums carries the same liability protection as a single-car policy at the same limits. The difference is that any driver listed on the policy can drive any of the three vehicles, and the coverage follows.
This structure matters when you're deciding whether to carry higher limits. A household with multiple vehicles and multiple drivers faces higher exposure: more trips, more drivers, more opportunities for an at-fault accident. The state minimums protect you in minor accidents, but a serious crash with multiple injuries can exceed $100,000 in medical bills quickly. The premium increase is modest compared to the additional protection, and the higher limits apply to every vehicle and every driver on the policy.
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What Happens When You Add a Vehicle Mid-Term
Adding a vehicle to an existing Maine policy triggers a re-rating of the entire policy, not just an add-on charge for the new car. The carrier recalculates the premium based on the total number of vehicles, the drivers assigned to each, and the garaging address. If you bought a second car and added it mid-term, the carrier applies the same liability, PIP, and uninsured motorist coverages to the new vehicle immediately. You do not get to phase in the coverages or delay PIP until renewal.
Most carriers give you a grace period to report the new vehicle, typically between 14 and 30 days depending on the carrier. During that window, the newly purchased car is covered under your existing policy's liability and PIP limits. After the grace period ends, an unreported vehicle loses coverage, and a claim on that car will be denied. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles will not register the vehicle without proof of insurance that includes all five mandated coverages, so you cannot delay reporting to avoid the premium increase.
When you add the vehicle, ask the carrier how the multi-car discount applies. Most Maine carriers offer a discount when you insure two or more vehicles on the same policy, but the discount structure varies. Some carriers apply the discount to the second vehicle only; others reduce the premium on both. The discount does not change the required coverages, but it does reduce the total cost of meeting the state's mandates across multiple cars.
Maine Uninsured Motorist Rate
5.7%
Roughly one in eighteen drivers on Maine roads carries no insurance. Uninsured motorist coverage protects you when an at-fault driver cannot pay for the damage they caused.
Insurance Information Institute, 2023
Proof of Insurance and Registration
Maine requires proof of insurance at registration and at any traffic stop. The proof-of-insurance card your carrier issues lists the policy number, the covered vehicles, the liability limits, and the policy period. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles checks that the card shows at least $50,000/$100,000/$25,000 liability before issuing registration. If your card shows lower limits or does not list PIP and uninsured motorist coverage, the BMV will not register the vehicle.
When you insure multiple vehicles, the carrier issues one card listing all covered vehicles, or separate cards for each vehicle depending on the carrier's system. Keep a current card in each vehicle. If you're pulled over and cannot produce proof of insurance, the officer can issue a citation even if you have active coverage. The fine for driving without proof is separate from the penalty for driving uninsured, and the citation stays on your record.
Compare Carriers That Write Multi-Car Policies in Maine
Fifteen carriers write auto insurance in Maine, and all of them offer multi-car policies that meet the state's five-coverage mandate. The premium for insuring two or three vehicles on one policy varies significantly by carrier, even when the coverage limits are identical. State Farm, Geico, Progressive, Allstate, and Nationwide all write multi-car policies in Maine and offer online quotes. Dairyland, Bristol West, The General, and National General specialize in non-standard auto insurance and typically serve drivers with violations or lapses, but they also write standard multi-car policies.
When you compare quotes, confirm that every quote includes the state-required PIP and uninsured motorist coverages. Some comparison tools show liability-only quotes by default, and those quotes are not valid in Maine. A valid Maine quote includes all five mandated coverages, and the premium reflects that. Compare the total premium, the multi-car discount each carrier applies, and the claims process each carrier uses. The lowest premium is not always the best value when the carrier's claims process is slow or difficult.