Do you know how Massachusetts car insurance really works?

Every time you get behind the wheel, you trust in your insurance provider to take care of you in the event of a collision or crash. Even minor motor vehicle accidents can have massive price tags with catastrophic consequences for the individuals involved.

A motor vehicle insurance policy helps protect you from the financial liabilities of a crash. It also protects everyone else on the road by ensuring they have access to compensation if you cause a crash. While you probably pay your insurance premium on time either monthly or semi-annually, you might not really understand how your liability policy works.

Educating yourself more about Massachusetts motor vehicle insurance makes you a smarter consumer and can help you advocate for yourself if you ever need to file a claim.

Massachusetts requires more thorough insurance than other states

Every state has its own standard when it comes to motor vehicle insurance. A handful of states require no-fault insurance, which is quite expensive. Many other states only require coverage that offsets a specific financial amount of liability.

Massachusetts has some of the broadest requirements for insurance outside of no-fault states. Every driver must carry certain amounts of coverage. Those requirements include:

• $5,000 worth of property coverage
• $20,000 for medical coverage for one person
• $40,000 of medical coverage per accident
• medical coverage in the same amounts for injury resulting from a crash caused by an uninsured driver
• $8,000 of personal injury protection per person

In most other states, uninsured driver policies are usually riders that drivers securing a policy have to ask for and pay extra for. However, Massachusetts mandates uninsured driver coverage. That mandate can protect people. You have no way of knowing if the driver who causes a crash with you is insured or not. You shouldn’t have to worry about the financial repercussions of a crash because someone else didn’t carry adequate insurance.

Understanding insurance is the first step toward protecting yourself

In most cases, your insurance policy on your vehicle protects you from financial liability related to a crash you caused. If the other driver is responsible, their policy will cover the property damage and medical bills that result.

That is one reason why having uninsured driver coverage is important. Those extra protections ensure that you will have medical care regardless of the insurance status of the other driver in a crash. Knowing what your policy covers you for can help you understand what claims you can file after an accident.

Once you understand what the policy you carry on your vehicle really covers, you can better advocate for yourself in the wake of a collision. In some cases, you may need to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney about your options.