In order to register a car in Massachusetts, you must have automobile insurance.  By law, you must purchase four coverages called Compulsory (or Mandatory) Coverages in, at least, minimum amounts required by law, and in higher amounts if you choose to do so.  You may also buy a variety of Optional Coverages to suit your needs.

Compulsory Coverage

There are four insurance coverages that are compulsory in Massachusetts:

• Bodily Injury to Others protects you, or someone you allow to drive your car, from legal liability if you accidentally injure or cause the death of someone else while operating your car.  It only covers losses if the accident occurs in Massachusetts and does not cover the injury or death of a passenger in your car. You must buy at least $20,000 per person and $40,000 if more than one person is hurt. 
• Personal Injury Protection (also known as PIP) covers medical expenses, up to 75% of lost wages and replacement services up to a limit of $8,000. Massachusetts is a no-fault state which means no matter who causes the accident, PIP will pay these expenses for you or anyone you let drive your car, anyone living in your household, passengers in your vehicle and pedestrians.
• Bodily Injury Caused by Uninsured Auto protects you, anyone you let drive your car, and household members and passengers (who are not covered under another similar Massachusetts policy) against loses caused by an uninsured or unidentified (“hit and run”) driver. You must buy at least $20,000 per person and $40,000 total for all people injured by the uninsured auto in the accident.
• Damage to Someone Else’s Property, also known as Property Damage, pays for damage to another person’s property when you, a household member or another driver you allow to use your car cause accidental damage to another person’s property. You must purchase a policy that has a minimum limit of $5,000.

Optional Coverages:

The losses that a person injured in an automobile accident incurs and the damage to property from an accident sometimes may be much greater that the insurance provided by the mandatory coverages. For most drivers, the minimum levels of insurance will not give them enough protection and they may want to insure themselves for other types of losses that may result from automobile accidents.  For those reasons, people choose to purchase higher limits of property damage and bodily injury coverage, to purchase collision and comprehensive coverage, or to purchase other types of coverage.  An insurance agent or other insurance professional can help you determine what types and levels of coverage you need. Agents and companies must inform you in simple language of your coverage options when you apply for an automobile insurance policy, or if you have questions at any time.

All companies offer the following coverages that you may wish to buy:

• Additional coverage for bodily injury to others, raising the limit to $35,000 for one person and $80,000 for all those hurt in the accident, providing bodily injury coverage for passengers in your car, and covering you if the accident occurs outside Massachusetts.
• Comprehensive and Collision coverage subject to a deductible of $500 unless you have an excessive history of claims. Collision coverage pays for damage to your auto that is caused by the physical contact of your auto with another object, such as another vehicle or property like a guard rail.  Collision coverage will pay for damage to your car no matter who caused the accident.  Limited collision will pay for such damage in certain circumstances. Comprehensive coverage pays for direct and accidental damage or loss to your vehicle that is caused by something other than a collision, such as vandalism, fire and theft, falling objects, larceny, or contact with a bird or animal.  Comprehensive coverage also covers glass breakage not related to a collision.
• Medical payments of at least $5,000. Medical payments  coverage pays for reasonable expenses for necessary bodily injury medical expenses and funeral services to anyone in your auto resulting from an accident, or if you or a household member is struck by an auto or while in someone else’s auto at the time of an accident.

Some of these coverages may be subject to important limitations and exclusions.  For example, if you are insuring a used private passenger automobile, an insurer may require it to be inspected before providing comprehensive insurance. The inspection may be deferred for ten calendar days – not including legal holidays and Sundays. If your auto is not inspected within the required time, these coverages will be automatically suspended. You may also be required to buy collision and comprehensive coverage if you have a loan on the car.

Other Optional Coverages:

Automobile insurers may offer additional optional coverages that you may want. You can learn more about all of the options available to you from each company in which you are interested. This includes coverages such as:

• Coverage for substitute transportation such as a rental car while your car is being repaired from a collision or comprehensive claim.
• Coverage for towing and labor when your car breaks down.
• Accident forgiveness.
• Roadside assistance.
• Auto loan/lease coverage, also known as Gap insurance. Gap insurance helps pay off your auto loan if your car is totaled or stolen and you owe more than the car’s depreciated value.
• Pet coverage.

Remember, your premium will increase if you choose to purchase higher limits of coverage or optional coverages. You should consult with your agent or insurance company about the coverages and amounts that best fit your financial needs while ensuring that you have the coverage you want should an accident occur.

Once you have decided what coverage you need, the next step is to obtain information about the cost of that insurance, including the premium, the reductions that insurers offer from the standard premium, and particular provisions in an insurance company’s policy that may affect your decision to buy from that company. 

Because insurance companies are not identical, it is important to obtain information from more than one company. Insurance companies market automobile insurance in two principal ways:  through insurance agents or directly online with their sales staff. Agents may represent one or two or many insurers.  When you contact an agency about buying auto insurance, start by finding out how many and what companies they represent.  You may be able to get cost quotes from several insurers from one or two agencies.  Be sure that each cost quote is for the same coverage, and reflects any discounts for which you may be eligible.

Before making phone calls or visiting insurer websites for a quote, pull together all of the information you need to get an accurate quote. Always ask for the same coverage levels for each quote so you can make an apples-to-apples comparison.

The insurer will ask about:

• The year, make and model of each vehicle you want insured. For the most accurate quote, use each vehicle’s VIN number.
• The name, license number and date first licensed of each licensed driver in your household, or a person who will customarily drive the car.
• Any special after-market equipment that has been installed in your car.
• Safety systems in your car such as anti-theft devices, seat belts and airbags.
• Your driving history and your vehicle usage such as the number of miles you drive each year.
• If you are changing insurers, you will be asked about any gaps in coverage.

You want to ask the insurer for:

• An estimate of the cost of each coverages that you want and the limits of that coverage. 
• Think about other insurance you might want to bundle with your auto insurance. Many companies offer discounts to customers who also buy a home or renter’s insurance policy.
• Ask for all of the discounts that might be available to you. Some discounts are required by law, such as discounts for passive restraint systems or other safety features, and discounts for drivers who are 65 years or older. Other discounts are optional including common ones such as low annual mileage, multi-car policies, and if you have a driver who is a good student.
• The policy’s term length – if one quote is much less than the others, it might be based on a 6-month policy.

It may take a few hours to assemble a significant number of quotes, but a small investment of time could save you many dollars in the long run. Once you have a collection of quotes, you can compare prices as well as other important factors such as claims handling reputation, the location of the agent or direct writer or the financial health of the company.

Sometimes you see or hear advertising that a switch from one automobile insurance company to another can save you money. Massachusetts law prohibits insurance advertisements from including untrue, false or deceptive claims. Since premium calculation is complicated and varies from company to company, no insurer can legitimately claim that every driver will save money by switching to them. Many advertisements say that “customers who switch save an average of…” This is not the same as saying that the average customer saves a certain amount by switching to that company.

Insurers are not identical, and changing companies might reduce the cost of your insurance, but no reliable comparison is possible without a careful review of the products to ensure that they provide identical coverage, offer discounts of equal value, and include policy benefits that are of value to you.

Companies that write insurance in Massachusetts: