Automobile insurance provides you with important financial protection against losses and potential liability incurred as a result of an automobile accident. 

The professionals at Tetrault Insurance will help you understand the elements of your automobile insurance policy and choose the right coverage for your individual needs.

As you select coverage options, review these Twelve Key Areas of Protection to guide you through the required and optional coverage choices in Massachusetts.

1. Bodily Injury to Others
pays for damages (e.g. medical expenses, pain and suffering) to anyone injured or killed by your car only in an accident that occurs in Massachusetts, up to basic limit of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident.

2. Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
pays up to $8,000 to you or anyone you let drive your car, anyone living in your household, passengers and pedestrians, no matter who causes the accident. PIP pays for medical expenses, replacement services and 75% of any lost wages.

NOTE: PIP covers owners of cars and motorcycles, and members of their households, if they are injured while occupying or struck by a car that does not have Massachusetts Compulsory Insurance.

3. Bodily Injury Caused by an Uninsured Auto
protects you, anyone you let drive your car, household members and passengers (unless covered by another Massachusetts policy with similar coverage) against losses caused by an uninsured or unidentified (“hit and run”) driver. A minimum limit of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident is required. This coverage does not pay for property damage or damage to your auto.

4. Damage to Someone Else’s Property
pays for damage to another person’s property and costs associated with the loss of use of that property, when you, a household member or another authorized driver cause an accident. A minimum limit of $5,000 is required.

5. Optional Bodily Injury to Others
is an optional coverage which extends your liability protection (the basic $20,000/$40,000 limits under Bodily Injury to Others) up to the amount you purchase under this part. This option provides coverage for accidents beyond Massachusetts to anywhere in the United States, its territories or possessions, or Canada. This coverage also pays for damages suffered by guests in your auto.

6. Medical Payments
is an optional coverage for medical expenses for you, your household members and passengers, over and above amounts covered by Personal Injury Protection (PIP) no matter who caused the accident. The minimum amount you can buy is $5,000 if insuring an automobile and $500 if insuring a motorcycle.

7. Collision
coverage pays for damage to your car, less any applicable deductible, no matter who causes the accident. If your car is financed, your lender may require this coverage as well as a particular deductible amount.

8. Limited Collision
pays for collision damage to your car. You must not be more than 50% at fault, and the owner of the other vehicle must be identified.

9. Comprehensive
coverage pays for damage to or loss of your car, less any applicable deductible, resulting from perils such as fire, theft, vandalism, and striking an animal, but not collision. This coverage allows up to $15 per day (to a limit of $450) for substitute transportation (rental or other transportation costs including taxi, bus, and train fare) until your stolen auto is recovered.

10. Substitute Transportation
coverage reimburses up to $15 a day for car rental or transportation costs including taxi, bus, and train fare (up to $450), while your car is undergoing collision or covered repairs. Coverage of up to $100 a day (up to a limit of $3,000) is available for an additional cost.

11. Towing and Labor
coverage pays up to $50 for towing and labor charges each time your car breaks down whether or not there is an accident involved. You are covered only for the on-site labor costs at the breakdown site (not any parts) needed to get your car running again. Coverage up to $100 per disablement is available for an additional cost.

12. Bodily Injury Caused By An Underinsured Auto
pays for bodily injury damages to you, household members and passengers, unless they have a policy of their own, or are covered by a Massachusetts auto policy of another household member with similar coverage. It pays you up to the difference between the total amount collected from the bodily injury liability insurance covering the owner and driver of the other car, and the limits you purchased for this coverage.