Coverage Descriptions For MA Auto
Provided by the MA Division of Insurance
1. Bodily Injury to Others: pays for damages (e.g. medical expenses, pain and suffering) to anyone injured or killed by your car only in an accident that occurs in Massachusetts, up to a basic limit of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident. Injuries to the driver or passengers in your car are not covered under this Part; please refer to Personal Injury Protection (Part 2) for information about that coverage.
If you drive outside of Massachusetts or in places where the public has no right of access, or if you drive with guests in your car, please see Optional Bodily Injury to Others (Part 5), for coverage that will protect you in such situations.
2. Personal Injury Protection: pays up to $8,000 to you or anyone you let drive your car, anyone living in your household, passengers and pedestrians, no matter who causes the accident. Personal Injury Protection pays for medical expenses, replacement services and 75% of any lost wages.
Your PIP coverage pays for medical expenses in excess of $2,000 that are not paid for by your medical insurance only after these expenses have been submitted to the medical insurer to determine what it will and will not pay. Your PIP coverage will not pay for expenses over $2,000 that your medical insurer would have paid if the injured person had sought treatment in accordance with the terms of your health plan.
Your health insurance may not cover all of your medical expenses from an auto accident such as cosmetic and dental services, co-payments and deductibles. Also, your disability policy may have long waiting periods. The small savings from the larger deductible may not be worth it.
The driver and passengers, while riding a motorcycle, are not covered by PIP. However, the owner of the motorcycle must purchase this coverage to protect other people who may be injured by the motorcycle.
3. Bodily Injury Caused by an Uninsured Auto: protects you, anyone you let drive your car, household members and passengers (unless covered by another Massachusetts Policy with similar coverage) against losses caused by an uninsured or unidentified ("hit and run") driver. A minimum limit of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident is required. This coverage does not pay for property damage or damage to your auto.
4. Damage to Someone Else’s Property: pays for damage to another person’s property and costs associated with the loss of use of that property, when you, a household member or another authorized driver cause an accident. A minimum limit of $5,000 is required. With the rising costs of automobile and property repair, it may make sense to purchase more than the required $5,000 minimum limit. This can be done at minimal cost. Limits of $50,000 or $100,000 are frequently purchased.
5. Optional Bodily Injury to Others: extends your liability protection (the basic $20,000/$40,000 limits under Bodily Injury to Others) up to the amount you purchase under this part. This option provides coverage for accidents beyond Massachusetts to anywhere in the United States, its territories or possessions, or Canada. This coverage also pays for damages suffered by guests in your auto.
6. Medical Payments: covers medical expenses for you, your household members and passengers, over and above amounts covered by Personal Injury Protection no matter who caused the accident. The minimum amount you can buy is $5,000 if insuring an automobile and $500 if insuring a motorcycle.
7. Collision: pays for collision damage to your car, less any applicable deductible, no matter who causes the accident. If your car is financed, your lender may require this coverage as well as a particular deductible amount
Deductible Options:
Deductibles are available in the amounts of $300, $500, $1000, $2000
Waiver of Deductible:
Buying Collision coverage with a "waiver of deductible" means that the collision deductible you choose will not apply when an accident is caused by an identified party and you are 50% or less at fault
8. Limited Collison: also pays for collision damage to your car. You must not be more than 50% at fault and the owner of the other vehicle must be identified
9. Comprehensive: pays for damage to or loss of your car, less any applicable deductible, resulting from perils such as fire, theft, vandalism, and striking an animal, but not collision. this coverage allows up to $15 a day (to a limit of $450) for substitute transportation (rental or other transportation costs including taxi, bus and train fare) until your stolen auto is recovered. Personal property is not covered unless it is permanently installed in your car, such as a tape deck If your car is financed, your lender may require this coverage.
10. Substitute Transportation: reimburses up to $15 a day for car rental or transportation costs including taxi, bus and train fare (up to $450/max), while your car is undergoing collision or covered repairs. Coverage is available in increments of $30/day, $45/day, & $100/day for an additional cost. Remember this only applies to covered losses and you can not transfer the coverage between different cars you own.
11. Towing & Labor: pays up to $50 for towing and labor charges each time your car breaks down whether or not there is an accident involved. You are covered only for the on-site labor costs at the breakdown site (not any parts) needed to get your car running again. Coverage of up to $100 per disablement is available for additional cost.
12. Bodily Injury Caused by an Underinsured Auto: pays for bodily injury damages to you, household members and passengers, unless they have a policy of their own, or are covered by a Massachusetts auto policy of another household member with similar coverage. The accident must be caused by someone without enough bodily injury coverage. It pays you up to the difference between the total amount collected from the bodily injury liability insurance covering the owner and driver of the other car, and the limits you purchased for this coverage.
Information provided by "Your Consumer Guide Ways to Save" located at http://www.mass.gov/doi/Consumer/WaysToSave_contents.html