Best Maine SR-22 Insurance in 2024
What are Maine SR-22 requirements?
If you committed a driving violation in Maine, you may be required by the state or court to get SR22 insurance. A Maine SR-22 is a document that proves to the state that you’re carrying the minimum coverage requirements. SR22 insurance in Maine is sometimes also called a certificate of auto insurance or a certificate of financial responsibility. If your driver’s license was suspended or revoked, you may need SR22 insurance in order to get it reinstated.
While SR-22 insurance is not actually a different type of insurance from typical car insurance, the term is often used to describe car insurance coverage for those who need an SR-22 endorsement because an SR22 affects your car insurance coverage and cost. In Maine, SR-22 insurance after a DUI conviction costs an average of 73.5 percent more than car insurance for standard drivers.
SR22 insurance is generally required for three years in Maine. You must maintain SR-22 insurance throughout your entire filing period with no lapse in coverage. If you have a lapse in SR-22 insurance coverage, the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) will be notified by your insurance company with an SR-26, which tells the state that you no longer have an active insurance policy with the company.
You have a grace period to renew the policy or purchase a new one. If you don’t activate an SR22 insurance policy before the grace period is up, your license may be suspended. Additionally, you may not be able to renew your vehicle registration or register a new car if you don’t maintain your SR-22 insurance coverage.
Maine offers violation free credits to drivers who remain free from driving violations. Drivers can get one point each year they remain violation free. These points can be used to countervail demerit points on your driving record. You may be able to use points to offset SR-22 requirements or minimize fees in certain cases.
There are three types of SR-22 insurance forms in Maine:
- Operator’s SR-22 insurance covers motorists who do not own a vehicle.
- The Owner’s Certificate covers motorists who own a vehicle.
- The Operator’s-Owner’s Certificate covers all vehicles owned or not owned by a motorist.
Do you want to find out how much you'll spend on SR-22 insurance?
Use our comparison tool to compare insurance quotes from multiple companies by entering your ZIP code.
What are the SR-22 insurance limits in Maine?
If you’re required to have SR-22 insurance in Maine, you’ll be required to have at least the following coverage:
Liability coverage:
- $50,000 bodily injury per person
- $100,000 bodily injury per accident
- $25,000 property damage per accident
Medical Payments coverage:
- $2,000 per person
Bodily injury caused by an uninsured/underinsured motorist
- $50,000 per person
- $100,000 per accident
If you don’t fulfill coverage limits for your SR22 insurance requirement, your license will automatically be suspended until you get SR22 insurance and you’ll have to pay a fee to get your license reinstated.
Who needs an SR22 in Maine?
In Maine, SR22 insurance is required in a few scenarios in order for you to get your license reinstated. SR-22s are required after you’ve committed certain violations of the law. You could need SR22 insurance for the following reasons:
- Conviction for operating under the influence (OUI) - called a DUI or DWI in most states
- Driving without car insurance
- Driving with a revoked or suspended license
- Having repeated traffic violations in a certain amount of time, including speeding tickets
- Numerous at-fault accidents
- A fatal at-fault accident or one that results in injuries
- Reckless driving or dangerous driving
- Assignment from a court order
- Failure to pay fines from tickets
- Refused consent to breathalyzer or blood alcohol test
Drivers who committed an OUI offense may be eligible to restore their driving privilege with the installation of an ignition interlock device. On a first offense, a person may install the ignition interlock device and have their driving privilege restored after a 30-day license suspension.
How are Maine SR22 insurance rates calculated?
If you need SR-22 insurance in Maine, you’ll be considered a high-risk or non-standard driver. Most insurance providers charge high premiums for high-risk drivers to cover the higher risk they pose, but the cost of SR22 insurance can vary by company. There are many other factors that go into the cost of SR-22 insurance such as your age, gender, location, credit score, vehicle type, marital status and so on.
One of the most common reasons drivers need SR-22 insurance is because of a DUI conviction. On average, drivers with one OUI conviction in Maine pay $1,330 per year for car insurance. That’s 73.5% more than car insurance for a driver with a clean driving record. However, the cost you pay differs significantly based on the company you buy car insurance from. In the table below, you can find average rates for Maine drivers who have one OUI conviction from some of the largest companies in the state.
| Company | Car insurance rate |
|---|---|
| Progressive | $810 |
| Concord Group | $823 |
| USAA* | $1,106 |
| Geico | $1,110 |
| State Farm | $1,205 |
| Farmers | $1,266 |
| Allstate | $1,789 |
| Liberty Mutual | $2,927 |
*USAA is only available to active and former military members and their families.
These rates are based on a 35-year-old single adult with one driver and one vehicle on a policy. The car used was a 2015 Toyota Highlander LEs. Full coverage was used with 100/300/50 limits and a $500 collision and comprehensive deductible. The driver had 1 DUI on their record. The rates displayed should only be used for comparative purposes as individual rates for high-risk insurance in Maine will differ. Rate data is provided by Quadrant Information Services.
How to get SR22 insurance in Maine?
If you need SR22 insurance in Maine, keep in mind that not all companies offer SR-22 insurance coverage. You can start by contacting your current insurance carrier to see if it offers SR22 insurance. If your auto insurance company offers insurance coverage to drivers who need an SR-22, your company can file the SR-22 form with your state and offer you car insurance coverage. If not, you’ll need to shop for a new auto insurance policy from a company that offers SR-22 coverage.
Even if your company does offer SR22 insurance, you may still want to shop around for a new policy. Car insurance with an SR-22 can be expensive, so it may pay to get quotes from multiple companies.
Use the table at the top of this page to find all the car insurance companies that offer SR-22 insurance in Maine with a minimum of 25 reviews. If you want to see which companies customers say are the best car insurance companies for SR22 insurance in Maine, sort the table by highest rated. You can sort through companies and find the ones you want to get quotes from. To get quotes, click on the orange "Click for quote" button next to the company, call the number available, or visit the company's website.
If you want to read customer reviews of the company, click the company name in the table and you will be directed to the company’s profile page containing information about the company and reviews.
Is there an SR-22 fee in Maine?
In Maine, you may be required to pay a filing fee for your insurance company to file the SR-22 form. The SR-22 filing fee generally ranges from $20 to $50 depending on the insurance company.
Depending on your conviction, you may be required to pay other fees such as a license reinstatement fee. If you’ve been convicted of an OUI in Maine, you can expect to pay up to about $7,000.
How are car insurance rates calculated?
When searching and comparing car insurance quotes, it can be frustrating trying to understand how your insurance rates are calculated. While there is no exact formula that each car insurance company uses when providing you a quote, there are many factors that do contribute to the price you pay for your insurance. Among the factors that car insurers consider are:
- Your driving record
- How much you drive
- Location
- Age
- Marital status
- Gender
- Your car’s make, model and year
- Your credit history (in some states)
- Amount of car insurance coverage (required coverage and optional add-ons, such as collision and comprehensive)
One of the biggest misunderstanding when it comes to insurance rates is that the history of drivers in your area also contributes to how much you pay. For instance, even if you go two years without an accident, if there were a lot of accidents near you recently, your rates might still go up. Why is that the case?
Insurance companies disperse risk across all policyholders so that when it comes time to pay a claim, they have enough money to pay out. But imagine a scenario where they only raised rates for drivers with an accident. For drivers who had an expensive claim, drivers simply wouldn't be able to afford the raised rates that are based off how much their insurer had to pay after a motor vehicle accident. So instead, insurance companies slightly increase rates across the board to offset the costs, though of course the at-fault driver may see a larger increase.
How much car insurance do I need?
You certainly don’t want to be underinsured or uninsured while staring at a claim after a car accident or other damage to your car. But at the same time, there’s no sense in paying for more coverage than you need, right? So it begs the question: How much car insurance coverage do you actually need?
The answer, as frustrating as it may be, is it depends. For example, someone insuring a brand-new, leased car is likely required to purchase collision and comprehensive coverage, but for someone driving an older car that doesn’t have much value, it may not make sense to purchase optional coverage. Plus, states have different car insurance requirements. There are 12 no-fault states that require its drivers to purchase personal injury protection (PIP).
So when it comes to determining what car insurance coverage and limits you should purchase, it’s important to do your research. Talk with an insurance agent or your insurance company to determine what makes the most sense for your situation.
How to save money on your car insurance?
At the end of the day, we’d all like to have the best coverage at a cheap, affordable price. While you never want to sacrifice quality to save a couple of dollars, there are some different ways you can lower your car insurance premium.
Here are six ways you may be able to lower your car insurance rates:
- Bundle your car insurance with other policies
- Consider raising your deductibles
- Pay your car insurance policy in full
- Try usage-based car insurance
- Monitor price changes to your policy
- Shop for better insurance rates
How do we rank car insurance companies?
Wondering how Clearsurance determines scores for insurance companies? Our algorithm analyzes a range of inputs from our community of unbiased insurance customers, including:
- Cost
- Customer Service
- Overall Experience
- Claim service
- Purchasing experience
- Likelihood to recommend
Car Insurance Guide
Whether you’re buying your insurance directly or going through an agent, understanding the different car insurance coverage options is a must. Do you know what is covered by comprehensive coverage? Are you familiar with uninsured motorist coverage? Do you know how a deductible works?
We want to make sure you’re equipped with a proper knowledge of car insurance, so check out our practical guide to understanding car insurance. Looking for more educational information about car insurance? Check out our blog for more information and topics related to car insurance.