Car Accident Laws in Maine: Fault, Insurance & Deadlines

Maine is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state. There is no mandatory PIP system here — the driver who caused the crash (or their insurer) is legally responsible for the damage. If you were hurt, you generally have six years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for injury or vehicle damage under 14 M.R.S. §752. That deadline is much shorter — 365 days just to file a notice of claim — if the vehicle that hit you was owned by a city, county, or state agency (a plow truck, police cruiser, school bus, etc.). Keep reading for the exact insurance minimums, the comparative-fault rule that can cut your payout, and what to do right now.

Is Maine a no-fault or at-fault state?

Maine is a traditional at-fault (tort liability) state. Whoever caused the collision — or more precisely, their auto liability insurer — is financially responsible for the other driver's medical bills, lost wages, vehicle repairs, and pain and suffering. There's no requirement to carry personal injury protection (PIP) and no restriction on suing the at-fault driver directly for a serious injury the way "no-fault" states sometimes impose.

In practice this means:

• You file a claim against the at-fault driver's liability insurance, not your own (unless you're using your own med-pay or UM/UIM coverage — see below).
• If the insurer disputes fault or the offer is too low, you can sue the at-fault driver in Maine's court system within the statute of limitations.
• Because Maine has no no-fault threshold to "step outside" of, you don't have to prove a special injury severity level to bring a claim the way some no-fault states require.

Minimum auto insurance required in Maine

Under 29-A M.R.S. §1611 and Maine Bureau of Insurance guidance, drivers registering a private passenger vehicle in Maine must carry at least:

• Bodily injury liability: $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident
• Property damage liability: $25,000 per accident
• Medical payments coverage: $2,000 per person — this one is mandatory in Maine, unlike most states where med-pay is optional
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM): $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident — also mandatory. Maine requires your UM/UIM limit to match your liability limit when that limit is higher than the minimum, unless you reject the higher matching amount in writing.

These are legal floors, not what you should actually buy. A serious crash can easily exceed $50,000/$100,000 in medical bills, and if the other driver is uninsured or carries only the state minimum, your own UM/UIM is often the only thing standing between you and an unpaid bill. Confirm current limits and any legislative changes directly with the Maine Bureau of Insurance before relying on these numbers for a specific claim, since minimums can be updated by the legislature.

Statute of limitations: your deadline to sue in Maine

Maine sets these civil deadlines for motor vehicle crashes:

• Personal injury (driver, passenger, motorcyclist, cyclist, pedestrian): 6 years from the date of the crash — 14 M.R.S. §752
• Property damage (vehicle, cargo, other personal property): 6 years from the date of the crash — 14 M.R.S. §752
• Wrongful death: 3 years from the date of death, not the date of the crash — 18-C M.R.S. §2-807 (longer if the death was caused by a homicide)

Six years is longer than the injury deadline in many states, but do not treat it as a reason to wait. Evidence disappears, memories fade, and insurers often use delay against you. If any defendant is a government entity, the effective deadline is far shorter — see below.

Shorter deadline: crashes involving a government vehicle

If a municipal, county, or state vehicle (plow truck, transit bus, police car, state agency vehicle) was involved, your claim is governed by the Maine Tort Claims Act, not the ordinary 6-year rule:

• Notice of claim deadline: written notice must generally be filed within 365 days of the accident — 14 M.R.S. §8107. Miss this and your claim can be barred even though the 6-year lawsuit deadline hasn't run.
• Damage cap: total recovery against a governmental entity or its employee is capped at $400,000 per occurrence, including costs — 14 M.R.S. §8105.

If a government vehicle or employee was involved in your crash, treat the notice deadline as urgent and confirm the current requirements with the Maine Attorney General's office or the specific governmental entity involved — the notice rules are technical and strictly enforced.

Shared fault in Maine: the comparative-negligence rule

Maine follows modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar, under 14 M.R.S. §156. If you are found less than 50% at fault, you can still recover, but your damages are reduced to reflect your share of the blame. If you are found equally (50%) or more at fault, you recover nothing.

Maine's version is unusual. Rather than mechanically subtracting a fault percentage, the statute directs the jury to reduce your damages "to such extent as [it] thinks just and equitable" given your share of the responsibility — and the jury is instructed to make that reduction in dollars and cents, not as a fixed percentage. So if a jury finds you partly responsible, it lowers your award by an amount it considers fair, and if it finds you equally or more at fault, recovery is barred entirely. Because insurance adjusters routinely try to shift a larger share of fault onto an injured claimant to reduce or kill a payout, how fault gets allocated is often the single most contested issue in a Maine crash claim.

When you must report a crash in Maine

Under 29-A M.R.S. §2251, a crash is a "reportable accident" if it involves:

• Bodily injury or death to any person, or
• Apparent property damage of $2,000 or more

A reportable accident must be reported immediately, by the quickest means of communication, to a state police officer or the nearest state police field office, the county sheriff's office, or the local police department where the crash happened. This is separate from — and in addition to — notifying your own insurance company, which you should also do promptly under your policy's terms. If you're unsure whether your crash meets the threshold, report it anyway and let the responding officer make the call; a written report protects you later if a claim or dispute develops.

What to do after a crash in Maine

1. Check for injuries and call 911 if anyone is hurt, or if the crash may meet the $2,000 property-damage/injury reporting threshold.
2. Stay at the scene and move vehicles out of traffic only if it's safe and required to do so.
3. Wait for police and get the crash report number — Maine's official crash report is the primary record insurers and courts will rely on later.
4. Exchange information: names, license and plate numbers, insurance company and policy number for every driver involved.
5. Photograph everything — vehicle positions, damage, skid marks, road/weather conditions, traffic signs, and visible injuries.
6. Get witness contact information before people leave the scene.
7. See a doctor promptly even if you feel fine — some injuries (concussions, soft-tissue injuries, internal injuries) surface hours or days later, and a documented gap in treatment is a common excuse insurers use to devalue a claim.
8. Notify your own insurer promptly, but be cautious about giving a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company before you understand the value of your claim.
9. Note if any government vehicle was involved and act quickly — you may have only 365 days to file a formal notice of claim.
10. Track every expense: medical bills, prescriptions, mileage to appointments, lost wages, and property damage estimates.

This article is general information about Maine law, not legal advice for your specific situation — confirm current statutes, insurance minimums, and deadlines with the Maine Bureau of Insurance, Maine's court system, or a licensed Maine attorney before relying on it.