Filing a Car Accident Lawsuit in Maine

Maine gives crash victims six years to file most injury claims, but wrongful death cases get only three. Here are the state's fault rules, insurance minimums, damage caps, and deadlines, each tied to the statute.

ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial
Jun 6, 2026
6 min read

Filing a car accident lawsuit in Maine

Getting hurt in a crash on I-95 or a back road in Aroostook County starts the same way everywhere: medical bills, a wrecked car, an insurance adjuster who calls fast. What changes from state to state are the rules that decide whether you can sue, how long you have, and how much you can collect. Maine has its own answers, and several of them catch people off guard. Here is what actually governs a car accident claim in Maine.

The deadline: six years, with one big exception

Maine gives you longer than most states. You have six years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit, because car accident injury claims fall under the general six-year limit for civil actions.1 There's no separate, shorter statute for personal injury the way many states impose a two or three year window. That same six-year clock covers damage to your vehicle.1

The exception matters when someone dies. A wrongful death claim isn't governed by the six-year rule. It has to be filed within three years of the date of death, and only a homicide-related death stretches that to six years from when the estate's representative discovers the claim.2 Miss the three-year deadline and the case is gone, even though an injury claim from the same crash would still be alive.

Waiting until year five is a bad idea either way. Evidence disappears, and Maine's comparative fault rule means the other side will look hard for any way to pin part of the blame on you.

Fault, and how a snowy road can cut your recovery

Maine is an at-fault (tort) state. The driver who caused the crash, through their insurer, pays for the harm.3 There's no no-fault system forcing you to run everything through your own insurer first.

How much you actually collect turns on Maine's modified comparative negligence rule. If you share some of the blame, your damages drop by your share. But there's a hard cutoff: if a jury finds you were equally or more at fault than the other driver, you recover nothing.4 You have to be less than 50 percent responsible to win anything. Maine also does something unusual with the math. Instead of stating your fault as a percentage, the jury reduces your award to whatever dollar figure it finds "just and equitable."4

This is where Maine winters do real damage to claims. Average snowfall runs 40 to 80 inches across the state's interior and up to 100 inches at the northern tip.5 Insurers routinely argue that a driver on a snow-covered road should have slowed down, so part of the crash is on you. Showing that you drove reasonably for the conditions can be the difference between a full recovery and a reduced one.

No PIP, but mandatory medical payments coverage

Maine doesn't have true no-fault PIP. It requires something narrower. Every standard personal auto policy has to include at least $2,000 in medical payments coverage for costs incurred within one year of the crash, and you can't reject it.6 That $2,000 is first-dollar money for early treatment while the fault question gets sorted out.

Minimum liability limits in Maine sit above the national floor: $50,000 for injury to one person, $100,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage, usually written as 50/100/25.7 Policies also carry $500 in towing and storage coverage.7 Those numbers matter, because they cap what a bare-minimum at-fault policy will pay out.

Uninsured and underinsured drivers

A 50/100 policy can be exhausted fast by a serious injury, which is why Maine's UM/UIM rule is worth knowing. Insurers must include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage equal to your own bodily injury liability limits unless you sign a written rejection before the policy takes effect, and even a reduced amount can't fall below Maine's 50/100 minimum.8 If the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough, your own UM/UIM coverage steps in. Pull your declarations page; plenty of Maine drivers carry more of this than they realize.

What you can recover, and the limits

Maine puts no cap on compensatory damages in an ordinary car accident case. Medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering are bounded by the evidence, not by a statute.

Punitive damages are a different story. Under Tuttle v. Raymond, you have to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the at-fault driver acted with malice.9 Reckless conduct doesn't clear that bar. In Tuttle itself, a driver who sped through a red light and split another car in half fell short of it.9 Even drunk driving, standing alone, usually doesn't establish malice, though it stays powerful evidence in the underlying negligence case.

Wrongful death claims run on their own limits. Damages for the loss of a loved one's comfort, society, and companionship are capped at $1,000,000, adjusted each year for inflation, and punitive damages in a death case are capped at $500,000.2

Distracted driving as evidence

If the other driver was on a phone, Maine law helps you. The state bans holding or manipulating any handheld phone or electronic device while driving, including while stopped at a red light or stop sign.10 Hands-free use is allowed only for licensed drivers 18 and older. A first violation carries a $50 fine and later ones run $250, and an officer can stop a driver for this alone.10 A citation, or phone records showing use at the moment of impact, is strong proof of negligence.

Drunk drivers and the bar that served them

If a drunk driver hit you after being over-served, Maine's Liquor Liability Act can reach the bar or restaurant. A server that negligently or recklessly serves a visibly intoxicated person who then causes a crash can be held liable, but non-medical damages are capped at $350,000 per occurrence.11 The claim against the server also has to be brought within two years, a far shorter window than the six-year injury deadline.12

Building the case: reports and vehicle damage

Get the police crash report. Maine State Police, through the state's crash reporting service, sell copies for $10 each, and the fee is non-refundable.13 The report locks in the officer's diagram, the statements, and any citations while memories are fresh. You can start that on our Maine crash reports page.

Don't overlook your car's value. Even a well-repaired vehicle is worth less once it has a documented wreck on its record, and Maine's six-year property damage window gives you time to pursue it. Our Maine diminished value page walks through how that claim works.

When to bring in a lawyer

A minor fender-bender with clear fault and small bills may not need one. Serious injuries, a disputed-fault snow crash, a wrongful death, or a crash with an underinsured driver almost always do, and most injury lawyers take these cases on contingency. To compare attorneys who handle Maine crash cases, start with our legal directory.

This article is general information about Maine law, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. Maine Legislature, 14 M.R.S. § 752 (limitation of civil actions). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec752.html

  2. Maine Legislature, 18-C M.R.S. § 2-807 (wrongful death). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec2-807.html

  3. Maine Bureau of Insurance, A Consumer's Guide to Personal Auto Insurance. https://www.maine.gov/pfr/insurance/sites/maine.gov.pfr.insurance/files/inline-files/12.6.24Consumers%20Guide%20to%20Personal%20Auto%20Insurance.pdf

  4. Maine Legislature, 14 M.R.S. § 156 (comparative negligence). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec156.html

  5. NOAA / North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, Maine State Climate Summary. https://statesummaries.ncics.org/chapter/me/

  6. Maine Legislature, 29-A M.R.S. § 1605-A (medical payments coverage). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec1605-A.html

  7. Maine Legislature, 29-A M.R.S. § 1605 (required insurance limits). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec1605.html

  8. Maine Legislature, 24-A M.R.S. § 2902 (uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/24-a/title24-Asec2902.html

  9. Tuttle v. Raymond, 494 A.2d 1353 (Me. 1985). https://law.justia.com/cases/maine/supreme-court/1985/494-a-2d-1353-0.html

  10. Maine Legislature, 29-A M.R.S. § 2121 (handheld device ban). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec2121.html

  11. Maine Legislature, 28-A M.R.S. § 2509 (Maine Liquor Liability Act, damages limit). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/28-a/title28-Asec2509.html

  12. Maine Legislature, 28-A M.R.S. § 2514 (Maine Liquor Liability Act, limitation of actions). https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/28-a/title28-Asec2514.html

  13. Maine State Police, Maine Crash Reporting Online Search & Ordering Service. https://apps1.web.maine.gov/online/mcrs/index.html

About This Guide

Written by: ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial

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