Car Insurance Requirements in Maryland

Whether you’re hitting the winding Appalachian roads, cruising down the streets in Ocean City, or stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in Baltimore, drivers across the Old Line State must be familiar with the state’s car insurance laws and requirements. 

It’s crucial to ensure you’re following the car insurance laws in the state where your vehicle is registered, as you can face hefty fines, license suspension, and even jail time if you fail to follow the law. Car insurance exists for your safety, too, so to ensure your protection on Maryland’s roads, it’s always good practice to carry as much coverage as mandated by the law. We encourage those with car insurance in Maryland to carry more than the law requires.

Let’s look at what type of coverage is mandated by Maryland auto insurance laws and how you can ensure your protection wherever you’re headed in the Old Line State.

To ensure your car insurance adequately protects you, Maryland state law requires all drivers to have $30,000 in bodily injury liability per person, $60,000 in bodily injury liability per person per accident, $15,000 of property damage liability per accident (or 30/60/15 liability coverage), and 30/60/15 uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM). If you finance or lease your vehicle, your lender may require you to have collision coverage and comprehensive coverage on your policy.

As long as your policy contains each of these coverages at their listed limits, you’re adequately protected under state law. You may find that the required coverages don’t offer as much protection as you would like. Many drivers in the state opt for full coverage rather than minimal liability coverage policies to feel more protected on the roads.

Maryland insurance requirements state that all drivers with a vehicle registered need car insurance. Marylanders must meet the minimum requirements of 30/60/15 liability coverage and 30/60/15 UM/UIM coverage. Failure to follow these requirements may lead to fines, license suspension, or jail time. 

By law, drivers in Maryland aren’t allowed to drop auto insurance. Even a policy with minimum coverage will help protect you against uninsured drivers or those likely to cause accidents on Maryland’s roads. Here at Clovered, we always recommend you carry at least the minimum coverage required by law in your state. If you have room in your budget, we highly encourage boosting your coverage to a full coverage policy instead of a minimum one.

While the law doesn’t require a full coverage policy, it does provide much more protection than a minimum coverage policy. Those with full coverage policies may carry collision coverage to help cover the costs of repairs to their vehicle if the at-fault party doesn’t have sufficient coverage to help with those costs.

Policyholders with a full coverage policy may also opt for comprehensive coverage to cover their vehicle against perils while it isn’t in use. Policyholders may also add Medical payments coverage (MedPay) to help pay for their medical expenses if the at-fault party in an accident doesn’t have sufficient coverage.

The Maryland state minimum auto insurance policy must have at least 30/60/15 liability coverage and 30/60/15 UM/UIM. The state has relatively lax laws regarding car insurance coverage, so many drivers can afford to carry at least the required minimum car insurance coverage. However, drivers who fail to comply with this law can face expensive fines, license suspension, or jail time.

Let’s further investigate what you need on your car insurance policy in Maryland.

Regarding bodily injury liability in Maryland, all drivers must have at least $30,000 per person per accident and at least $60,000 per accident on their policies. This coverage will appear as your liability coverage; if you opt for this limit, it will appear as 30/60/15 liability coverage. The 15 stands for $15,000 of property damage liability coverage.

Liability coverage helps cover medical expenses for the other party involved in an accident caused by the policyholder. While it isn’t necessary, it’s never a bad idea to exceed the liability coverage required by law. When you decide on limits for coverages that help pay your own expenses, like PIP or MedPay, you can make a very informed decision knowing how much your health insurance may help to cover or how much you might have saved away in case of an emergency. 

With liability coverage, you cannot make such an informed decision. Since liability coverage protects the other driver in an accident caused by you, the policyholder, you cannot know the state of that person’s finances until it’s too late and you’re on the hook. We always recommend carrying more liability coverage than the law mandates. 

Maryland car insurance requirements state all drivers must have 30/60/15 liability coverage and 30/60/15 uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM). For both coverage types, there are required limits for both bodily injury liability and property damage liability. Maryland is unique in its required uninsured motorist property damage coverage (UMPD).

Many states don’t require drivers to have UM/UIM coverage, and in states where it’s necessary, residents typically only have UM bodily injury coverage. Maryland requires its residents to carry UM bodily injury and UMPD to help policyholders cover vehicle damage should they get into an accident with an uninsured motorist. 

States with many uninsured motorists will often mandate no-fault coverage, like PIP, or some form of uninsured motorist coverage. The Old Line State has a relatively high amount of uninsured drivers, with about 15% of drivers in the state lacking sufficient Maryland vehicle insurance. The national average amount of uninsured drivers is just below 10%, so Maryland has a high-than-average number of uninsured drivers, hence the mandatory uninsured motorist coverage.

Maryland doesn’t have a no-fault law, meaning it’s a tort or at-fault state. This means in the event of an accident, drivers in Maryland will use the at-fault party’s auto insurance to cover their medical expenses or repairs to their vehicle. In most tort states, drivers must have some form of liability coverage, which acts as tort coverage. Liability coverage will kick in to help the at-fault policyholder cover the medical expenses or cost of repairs they owe the victim of the car accident. 

While Maryland is a tort state and doesn’t have a no-fault law, all insurers in Maryland must offer their policyholders at least $2,500 of PIP on their insurance policies. PIP is most common in no-fault states, as it’s a coverage type that covers the policyholder’s expenses, as opposed to the expenses accrued by the other party in an accident. 

Maryland car insurance requirements don’t mandate PIP, but insurers are required to offer it. Drivers can waive PIP, and they may choose to if they have health insurance that would cover the medical expenses PIP would cover, but it’s a good idea to carry PIP on your auto insurance regardless. PIP is a great added protection against uninsured or underinsured drivers who may not have adequate liability coverage to cover your medical expenses should they injure you in an accident they cause.

If you need to boost your current policy to the recommended auto insurance coverage in Maryland, the best way to do so while getting the best deal is to get and compare quotes from several insurers. Shopping around for quotes is the best (and easiest) way to get Maryland’s best and cheapest policy. Lucky for you, we have a free quoting tool right here at Clovered. If you prefer to chat with an agent about your quote, call us at 833-255-4117 or email us at [email protected].