Every state must have a code written to ensure the safety of its motorists. Each of these rules has to be followed at all costs. Any violation will be severely penalised. Any driver violating these will be putting his life along with many others’s lives in danger. One of the most important rules for the motorists today is the mandatory auto insurance rule. Auto insurance has been mandatory in most of the states in America. This is to ensure that each driver on the road is capable of paying of paying for the damages he might have caused if he is involved in an accident.
Every state must fix the minimum amount of insurance coverage a person must have. This is known as the minimum liability and it varies from state to state. In the state of Maryland the minimum liability is fixed at 20/40/15. This stands for a minimum of twenty thousand dollars for bodily injury per person in an accident and forty thousand dollars in total per accident. The fifteen thousand dollars is for property damage and is mandatory. Bodily injury covers any medical costs incurred by the victim of the accident and also pays for lost wages, if any. Property damage will pay for any repairs or replacements to the victim’s car and also pay for any damage to buildings, lamp posts, fences etc.
Uninsured Motorist’s coverage is useful when a driver is involved in an accident with a driver who is not insured as instructed by the law. He will not have any insurance and this policy will help pay for any and all of your damages. Though many states have not made this coverage mandatory, the state of Maryland has made it mandatory. The amount for uninsured motorist’s coverage is the same as the amount for minimum liability. That means twenty thousand dollars per person and forty thousand dollars in total for bodily injury and fifteen thousand dollars for property damage.
The state of Maryland also makes it mandatory to carry personal injury protection or PIP. This type of insurance coverage is very common with no fault states. This kind of insurance is mostly used to pay for lost wages due to injury and inability to work. The state of Maryland has fixed the minimum amount at two thousand five hundred dollars. This form of insurance has very low rates. Many insurance companies will only offer a maximum amount of ten thousand dollars. Going in form maximum amount is a very good option.
There are a few other kinds of insurance that once buy as well. One kind of insurance coverage that is commonly mistaken for uninsured motorist’s coverage is the underinsured motorist’s coverage. This policy will pay for all your damages if the person who caused the accident has been insured but not for the adequate amount. The other kinds of insurance coverage would be physical damage coverage. Comprehensive and collision damage are the two kinds of coverage policies in physical damage. Collision will pay for damages if your car is damaged in an accident and comprehensive will pay for damages caused by other agents such as vandalism and theft.
