An Act To Enhance Compliance with Motor Vehicle Insurance Requirements
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0836
Committee: Transportation
Sponsors: STEARNS, STEWART, DAVIS
Amends: 29-A MRSA §1601-B, 29-A MRSA §2458

Legislative Document
No. 836
H.P. 604
House of Representatives, March 8, 2021
An Act To Enhance Compliance with Motor Vehicle Insurance 
Requirements
Reference to the Committee on Transportation suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative STEARNS of Guilford.
Cosponsored by Senator STEWART of Aroostook and
Senator: DAVIS of Piscataquis.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  29-A MRSA §1601-B is enacted to read:
§1601-B.  Notification of cancellation of liability insurance
1.  Notice to Secretary of State required.  A company providing liability insurance 
for a motor vehicle registered in this State shall immediately notify the Secretary of State 
when that insurance coverage is cancelled or terminated or lapses.  If the company knows 
that replacement coverage has been secured in place of the coverage that has been cancelled 
or terminated or has lapsed, the company is not required to notify the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State shall develop by rule standard procedures for a company to use in 
providing notice under this subsection.
2.  Determination period.  Upon receipt of notice under subsection 1, the Secretary of 
State shall notify the motor vehicle owner whose insurance has been cancelled or 
terminated or has lapsed that the motor vehicle owner has 15 days to provide evidence of 
financial responsibility in the form of a reinstatement of liability insurance coverage or new 
liability insurance coverage.  Evidence may be provided by a company providing liability 
insurance for a motor vehicle or the insured motor vehicle owner.
3.  Suspension.  The Secretary of State, upon termination of a 15-day period under 
subsection 2 following receipt of the notice provided in subsection 1 and failure of the 
motor vehicle owner or a company providing liability insurance for a motor vehicle to 
provide proof of financial responsibility, shall suspend the motor vehicle owner's 
registration certificate and plates for that motor vehicle, in accordance with section 2458, 
subsection 2.  The suspension continues until that motor vehicle owner or a company 
providing liability insurance for that motor vehicle for that motor vehicle owner provides 
proof of financial responsibility to the Secretary of State pursuant to section 1605.
4.  Rulemaking.  The Secretary of State shall develop rules necessary to implement 
this section.  Rules adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules pursuant to 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 2.  29-A MRSA §2458, sub-§2, ¶U, as amended by PL 2017, c. 327, §20, is 
further amended to read:
U.  Has failed to provide the information required in section 401, subsection 2; or
Sec. 3.  29-A MRSA §2458, sub-§2, ¶V, as amended by PL 2019, c. 634, §6, is 
further amended to read:
V.  Has exceeded the motor carrier adverse safety limits established by the Secretary 
of State using the methodology developed by the bureau.; or
Sec. 4.  29-A MRSA §2458, sub-§2, ¶W is enacted to read:
W.  Has failed to provide proof of financial responsibility for that person's motor 
vehicle under section 1601-B, subsection 2.
SUMMARY
This bill:
1.  Requires a company providing liability insurance for a motor vehicle registered in 
this State to immediately notify the Secretary of State when that insurance coverage is 
cancelled or terminated or lapses and is not replaced with alternate coverage;
2.  Requires the Secretary of State to notify the motor vehicle owner whose insurance 
has been cancelled or terminated or has lapsed that the motor vehicle owner has 15 days to 
provide evidence of financial responsibility in the form of a reinstatement of coverage or 
new coverage;
3.  Requires the Secretary of State to suspend the registration certificate and plates for 
a motor vehicle if evidence of financial responsibility is not provided within that 15-day 
period; and
4.  Directs the Secretary of State to develop by rule standard procedures for a company 
to use in providing notice.