Titling & Sales Tax

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of November 2024. Question I’ve been googling and checking out MAIA for the answer to how long someone has to request a title and/or pay sales tax on a purchased vehicle. I believe the 10 days for both is the best…

Minor Rules & Regulations

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of November 2024. Question We have an insured who has a child who is 17 years of age, already graduated high school, and is working every day part-time. The child’s license is now being suspended for going 10 miles over the…

Odometer Reading

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of November 2024. Question We have a registration for an antique vehicle out of Maine. Our customer bought it. He dropped a brand-new engine in it. He would like us to register/title the car in MA with “0” as the odometer…

HO-6 Policy

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of October 2024. Question I was wondering if you could clarify something for me. I have a client who is purchasing a condo policy, and I am putting together the HO6. It was an older three-family converted ted to condos, and…

HO6 Condo Coverage A

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of August 2024. Question My client inherited a condo in Maine from their parents. When the parents lived there, they added a screened-in porch off the back of the unit. My client is saying the parents were allowed to add the…

Coverage for Tree Struck by Lightning & Debris Removal

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of August 2024. Question Lightning struck a tree. I know a home policy covers the tree itself for $500, but is there full coverage to remove the dead tree? Answer Laura Poulin: With respect to the ISO HO forms, the limit…

Paying Commission To An Employee With An Expired License

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of August 2024. Question One of our employees had their producer license expire because they did not achieve the required continuing education credits. In MA, you may reinstate your license within 12 months of the missed renewal deadline for a late…

Motorized Wheel Chair

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of August 2024. Question Good Afternoon. I have an insured who recently got a chair to assist his wife with mobility through Medicare. He is with his Insurance on an HO3 form. He is concerned if there is any coverage under…

Diminished Value

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of August 2024. Question I know a couple of years ago, there was a court case concerning Diminished Value and what a claimant has to do to present a claim for this. I could not find anything on the website. Do…

Oil Remediation

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of August 2024. Question Do you have any articles on oil remediation and common endorsements regarding the Homeowners’ Policy? Or an online course? Answer Laura Poulin: The unendorsed ISO HO0003 policy excludes losses to an insured’s property arising from pollutants unless…

Funeral Expensed Under the Auto Policy

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of August 2024. Question Unfortunately, we have an insured who passed away in a car accident. Obviously, we know that PIP will pay for funeral expenses. He also has $5,000 in Medical Payments. When you read the coverage section, it sounds…

Lienholder Code List

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of August 2024. Question I know you sent me a list of electronic title states. Now I can’t find it! Would you please resend it or let me know how I can find it? Answer Kathy Cormier: Here is a link…

Golf Cart for Street Use

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of June 2024. Question Do you happen to know of a carrier that will write a golf cart for street use in MA? I called the carrier and they will do it if they are writing another vehicle. I am trying…

Age of RTA

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of June 2024. Question I hope all is well! Is there a hard and fast rule about how old the stamped RTA form can be before the RMV rejects it? I assumed one month, but can you confirm that? Thanks for…

Surviving Spouse and Trailer

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of June 2024. Question I have an insured (surviving spouse) who would like to retain 2 of her husband’s trailers. I understand that the surviving spouse process cannot be used on trailers. The RMV is looking for an approval for plate…

Business Merged with Name Change

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of June 2024. Question I have a commercial client who merged his business with another. The name has changed, but the FEIN has remained the same. The insured has one commercial auto insured by Safety under the name prior to the…

Traveling Nomad

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of June 2024. Question We currently write an HO4 for an insured with MPIUA (due to claims). His legal residence is in Leominster, where he has some personal property. He also has some personal property in a storage unit in Leominster.…

Off Premises Power Loss and Resulting Power Surge

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of May 2024. Question We have an insured that had a loss back in March from the last snow storm. A tree fell on a pole and caused a power surge to his house. The pole was off premise. Carrier is…

In-Law Apartment vs. Two-Family

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations, and statutes in effect as of May 2024. Question Hope all is well – we are having a lively discussion in our office and can’t agree, so I said I will ask MAIA, “What is the difference between a one-family with an in-law apartment and a…

Earth Movement Exclusion & Blasting Operations

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of May 2024. Question We had an interesting call last week from a prospect. The individual lives near a quarry where blasting takes place on a regular basis. If the blasting causes any damage to his home or pool, would it…

Garagekeepers vs. On-Hook Coverage

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of May 2024. Question If an Insured already has Garagekeepers Legal Liability coverage, does it also need On-Hook Coverage CA0402 or is On-Hook Coverage for a pure towing operation that does nothing more than pick up and deliver autos between other…

HO-3 Coverage

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of April 2024. Question Here’s a story and just trying to see if there is any chance of HO-3 coverage. Policyholders’ 9 yr old is visiting his 15 yr old cousin in Brockton (postage stamp lots).  The older kid (that lives…

MA Fair Plan

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of April 2024. Question I hope you are well! We quoted some MPIUA homes last week, and today, two were rejected because they said we didn’t use the new RCT info from 2/24. Coverage A went up over $300K on one!…

RTA Questions & Answers

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of April 2024. Questions & Answers A few questions have come up at our agency, and I was hoping you could help. If a dealership (non-drive) sells a vehicle, is that dealership responsible for completing the RTA? If it is a…

Lease Buyout and Plate Reassignment

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of April 2024. Question Quick question for you. I’ve noticed recently that the registry has allowed folks buying out their leases to keep the same plates. Can you tell me what we check off on the RTA to indicate this? Answers…

WC Classification

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of March 2024. Question I have an insured who operates a not-for-profit cemetery. They want to appeal the assignment of class code 9220; see the email excerpt below. I have been on the DIA website and called their general number but…

Assisted Living Coverage

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of March 2024. Question I have a client. He & his wife are both Named Insured (NI). He is now in a nursing home. Policy on HO 00 05 05 11. I believe the HO 04 59 05 11 Assisted Living…

Coverage for MAIP Policy on Imported Vehicle

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of March 2024. Question I have a question regarding a personal auto policy. One of my clients plans to import a 1995 Nissan ATLAS from Japan for personal use, with no business involvement. The vehicle weighs 6000 pounds and has the…

WC for Uninsured Subs

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of March 2024. Question Do you have anything I can show the Insured regarding the Workers Comp Audit we discussed on Friday? He hired a sub to do about $20K in work last year; the sub is also a carpenter and…

GL Certificates

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of January 2024. Question Looking to see if you can assist. Question about issuing GL certificates. I have an insured who is a roofer/carpenter. His GL policy excludes snow removal…he has requested that we send a certificate to a vendor for…

Flood Coverage for Storage Unit

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of January 2024. Question Would Flood contents coverage extend to a storage unit? Also, been out of the Flood game for a while…can you cancel prorate or is it fully earned? Answer Laura Poulin: To answer your questions, I assume you…

Endorsement for Company Furnished Vehicles

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of January 2024. Question Isn’t there an endorsement we can add on a personal auto policy for a client that uses his company furnished car for personal use too? We have a client who works for a company and furnished a…

Property Non-Renewal Notice Due to Inspection

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of January 2024. Question Can you please help with the questions below? Some of the account managers here are struggling with all the non-renewals we’re receiving from our standard companies for mainly property but also auto. For property, we would typically…

Named Non-Owner

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of December 2023. Question Hi there…are these 100% earned, short rate, or carrier specific? Thank you! Answer Irene Morrill: The CAR manual and the AIB manual discuss “short rate cancellation” of auto policies unless the insured requests cancellation within 30 days…

High Value Vehicle

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of December 2023. Question We have an insured taking delivery of a New Used car today – a 2022 Porsche with a Purchase price of 146,000. He bought the car from a dealer in Florida, and it is being delivered to…

Deferred Driver

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of December 2023. Question Please help me with this question today. I have a new insured who wants to bring 3 of his 4 autos from Carrier A. He wants to leave still 1 auto with Carrier A with his two…

PIP Procedures

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of November 2023. Question I have had two clients in the past few months: They went with a third party on rear-end collisions. Both were determined to not be 0 % at fault – the third-party company accepted full liability Each…

Maine Registered Trailers

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of November 2023. Question Can you tell me the scoop on businesses registering their trailers in Maine when we have the trucks registered and insured in Massachusetts? This is coming up more often than I like to see. When they register…

Passenger Injury While In a TNC Vehicle

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of November 2023. Question We have an insured whose son doesn’t’ drive, so they use LYFT. Her question is, if they don’t have proper coverage and her son is injured, what do they need to do? The insured (parents of the…

RTA and Personal Information

*This question was answered based on current rules, regulations & statutes in effect as of October 2023. Question I hope all is well in your corner of the insurance universe!! We have been advised long ago by our IT/Security firm that MA Privacy Laws prohibit the emailing of driver’s licenses as well as other data.…