Maine Requires Bodily Injury Liability Coverage
Maine requires bodily injury liability coverage to register a vehicle and drive legally. The state mandates minimum limits of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident, meaning your policy must pay up to $50,000 for injuries to one person and up to $100,000 total when multiple people are injured in a single crash you cause. These limits apply to every vehicle you insure in Maine, whether you own one car or several.
The requirement exists because Maine operates under a fault-based insurance system. When you cause an accident, your bodily injury liability coverage pays the other driver's medical bills, lost wages, and pain-and-suffering claims up to your policy limits. Without it, you cannot register a vehicle with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and driving uninsured exposes you to license suspension, fines, and personal liability for the full cost of injuries you cause.
Compare car insurance rates in your state
Get quotes from licensed carriers — no obligation, no spam, results in minutes.
Get Your Free QuoteMaine Bodily Injury Minimums
$50,000 / $100,000
The state requires $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident in bodily injury liability coverage. These limits represent the floor, not a recommendation — many drivers carry higher limits to protect assets beyond the minimum.
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles
What the Per-Person and Per-Accident Limits Mean
The $50,000 per person limit is the maximum your policy pays for one individual's injuries in a crash you cause. The $100,000 per accident limit is the total your policy pays when multiple people are injured in the same crash, regardless of how many individuals file claims.
You owe the remaining $50,000 out of pocket. The per-accident cap applies even when no single person's claim hits the per-person limit, so a crash with several moderate injuries can exceed your coverage faster than one severe injury to a single person.
Maine does not cap your personal liability at the policy limit. When damages exceed your coverage, the injured party can sue you for the difference, pursue wage garnishment, and place liens on your property. Households with multiple vehicles face the same limits per vehicle — adding a second or third car does not increase the per-accident cap unless you raise the limits on each policy.
Your policy pays up to the per-accident limit total, even when multiple people are injured and each claim is under the per-person cap.
How Maine Verifies Bodily Injury Coverage
When you register a vehicle, the BMV requires your insurance carrier to file electronic proof that your policy meets the state's minimum limits: $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident for bodily injury liability, and $25,000 for property damage. The carrier files this proof directly with the state, so you do not submit paper documents unless the electronic filing fails. The BMV cross-references your registration against the carrier's filing and will not issue plates without confirmed coverage.
After registration, Maine monitors your coverage continuously. If your carrier cancels your policy or you drop coverage, the carrier notifies the BMV electronically within a set window. The BMV then suspends your registration and sends a notice requiring you to surrender your plates or provide proof of new coverage. Driving on a suspended registration triggers fines, potential license suspension, and liability for the full cost of any accident you cause while uninsured.
Related Articles
What Happens When You Drive Without Bodily Injury Coverage
The Secretary of State's Bureau of Motor Vehicles administers the suspension and requires proof of coverage before reinstating your registration. If you cause an accident while uninsured, you are personally liable for the full amount of the other party's medical bills, lost wages, and other damages with no policy limit to cap your exposure.
The state does not offer payment plans for damages you owe after an uninsured accident. The injured party can sue you, obtain a judgment, and pursue wage garnishment or property liens to collect. Maine's fault-based system means the at-fault driver pays, and without insurance that burden falls entirely on you. Households with multiple vehicles face compounded risk: if any vehicle on your property is uninsured and you or a household member drives it, the same penalties and liability apply to that vehicle.
The BMV does not waive the fee, and coverage must be active before you can register or drive legally again.
Maine Uninsured Motorist Rate
5.7%
Approximately 5.7% of Maine motorists drive uninsured, below the national average but still representing thousands of drivers on the road without coverage. This is why the state also requires uninsured motorist coverage as part of the mandatory minimum package.
Insurance Information Institute, 2023
Bodily Injury Coverage Across Multiple Vehicles
Each vehicle you insure in Maine must carry its own bodily injury liability coverage meeting the state's $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident minimums. Adding a second or third car to your policy does not pool the limits — if you cause an accident while driving any vehicle on your policy, that vehicle's limits apply to the crash.
This structure matters when you are deciding whether to raise limits. If you own multiple vehicles and your household's total assets exceed $100,000, the minimum limits on each car leave you exposed. A single at-fault accident can exceed the per-accident cap, and the injured party can pursue your assets beyond the policy limit regardless of how many cars you insure.
Compare Carriers That Write Maine Bodily Injury Policies
Sixteen carriers write auto insurance in Maine and file coverage electronically with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. All carriers must offer policies that meet the state's minimum bodily injury liability limits, but the cost of those policies varies by carrier, your driving record, the vehicles you insure, and where you garage them. Households insuring multiple vehicles should compare quotes from at least three carriers, because the carrier offering the lowest rate for one car may not offer the best rate when you add a second or third vehicle to the policy.
Use the site's comparison tool to request quotes from carriers licensed in Maine. Enter your vehicle count, garaging address, and coverage preferences to see which carriers write policies for your household and how their rates compare. The tool filters for carriers that file electronically with the BMV, so every quote you receive meets the state's proof-of-insurance requirements without additional paperwork.