Know Your Massachusetts Auto Insurance Limits
The last time you purchased auto insurance, you had plenty of choices. It didn’t take long before you realized that by, choosing the lowest minimums allowable by Massachusetts’ law, you could save a lot of money. But what do those auto insurance limits mean and what exactly is covered?
Understanding your Massachusetts auto insurance limits and how they’ll affect you if you get into an accident is worth knowing. You may quickly realize that you don’t have enough insurance.
Liability: 20/40/5
- $20,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for one person injured in an accident
- $40,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for all injuries in one accident
- $5,000 in property damage coverage
If you only choose the state required limits, these are the maximum amounts that your insurance carrier will pay out if you’re in an accident. Most of the time, these limits are much too low to actually cover the total cost of an accident. If the accident “totals” the other person’s vehicle, $5,000 won’t even begin to cover the cost of replacing their car. You’ll be the one responsible for whatever your insurance doesn’t cover.
UM/UIM BI: 20/40
This coverage protects you from uninsured motorists (UM) and underinsured motorists (UIM) and the bodily injury they can cause you if they hit you. “Uninsured” is pretty self-explanatory – this person doesn’t have any insurance. “Underinsured” means they have insurance but not enough to actually cover your medical costs in the accident. Massachusetts’ minimum limits are $20,000 for one person and $40,000 for all injuries. If you select only the minimum required coverage limits, your insurance company is only going to pay this amount. Any medical costs over and above will be your responsibility. The expenses can add up quickly.
PIP: $8000
Because Massachusetts is a “no-fault state”, which means your car insurance has to pay for bodily injury damages you may experience in an accident no matter who’s at fault, you also have a PIP minimum to consider. PIP stands for Personal Injury Protection. The state minimum is $8,000. It doesn’t cover property damage at all. Considering that one MRI could cost up to $1250, and a trip to the ER in an ambulance can add up even more charges, $8,000 isn’t going to go very far.
Choosing the state minimums for your insurance coverage may satisfy Massachusetts’ law and save you a little money, but it’s not going to help you if you’re in an accident with multiple injuries or a lot of damage. It’s definitely not going to do much good if both you and the other driver are underinsured – which can easily happen when you choose the minimum Massachusetts auto insurance limits required by law.
If you have any concerns about your auto insurance policies, contact us. We’ll make sure that you’ve got the right coverage in place.
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