Maryland residents know the hazards on the road, whether they are driving the Baltimore streets to work and back, or driving further into to the Washington, D.C. area or perhaps enjoying the beautiful Appalachian Range and foot lands, Maryland auto insurance is a must. There is no doubt that Maryland auto insurance is quite expensive. Even with the $92.00 decrease in the average Maryland auto insurance rate, Maryland drivers still paid $2134 for auto insurance in 2007.  Of course, individual rates will differ according to each insured’s particulars.

Maryland Auto Insurance Requirements

The State of Maryland needed to cut down on lawsuits clogging up the courts and made Maryland one of the few no fault auto insurance states. In no fault states every insured must carry Personal Injury Protection to cover medical expenses, loss of salary and death benefits.

Even with no fault insurance, there are exceptions, if the medical expenses and property damages are too severe that the insurance does not cover it, the driver deemed to be at fault will be responsible to pay for the expenses and damages.  Therefore, the state requires that Maryland auto insurance companies offer at least the basic amounts of Bodily Injury Protection and Property Damage set at the rate of 20/40/10. The breakdown is as follows:

• Bodily Injury Protection – In the event that the insured is the driver who is at fault, his/her insurance company will be required to payout up to $20,000 to be used for medical expenses for an injured party.
• In the event of more that one party is insured the cap is set for medical costs is $40,000.
• Property Damage Liability a small amount of $10,000 must be covered by Maryland car insurance companies in the event that the at fault driver, has caused damage to the other drivers, car or other property.

We all know that medical expenses are on the rise and car and property damages can run into the thousands of dollars, therefore it is not very prudent to carry the bare minimums required by law.  Maryland drivers should insure themselves for higher amounts.

The State of Maryland also recommends that each Maryland driver carry Comprehensive and Collision insurance, this will insure there will be coverage for damages to personal vehicles should the insured be deemed to be the one at fault or the insured driver who is at fault does not carry enough insurance.

Every Maryland resident is required by law to also purchase Uninsured /Underinsured Motorist coverage protects insured against the damages cause by those drivers both inside of Maryland state and coming from out of state who may not have sufficient or any insurance at all. Maryland auto insurance for UM protection will also insure against hit and run driver damage.