Car Accident Lawyers in Maine

A Maine car accident lawyer works with a filing deadline most other states do not offer: six years from the crash date, compared to the two-year window common almost everywhere else. That length changes how claims get negotiated, but it does not apply to every deadline that can arise from the same wreck, and Maine layers a fault-based insurance system and a strict comparative negligence cutoff on top of it.

Six Years to File — Longer Than Almost Anywhere

Under 14 M.R.S. § 752, an injured driver has six years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. That is one of the longest windows in the country, giving injured drivers far more room to complete treatment, understand the full extent of an injury, and negotiate with an insurer before a court filing becomes necessary. The exception is a wrongful death claim arising from a fatal crash, which generally must be filed within two years of death under 18-C M.R.S. § 2-807 — a much shorter clock that runs on the same underlying accident.

Fault-Based, Not No-Fault

Maine is a tort state for car accidents, not a no-fault state. An injured driver can pursue the at-fault driver’s liability insurance directly for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering, without first crossing a dollar or injury threshold the way drivers in no-fault states must. Mandatory medical payments coverage of at least $2,000 still pays early treatment costs regardless of fault, but it does not limit or replace a liability claim filed afterward.

Modified Comparative Negligence — the 50% Bar

Under 14 M.R.S. § 156, Maine reduces an injured driver’s recovery by their own percentage of fault, but only up to a point: a driver found 50% or more at fault recovers nothing at all. That makes fault allocation a central issue in any disputed Maine crash claim, since crossing the halfway line ends the case rather than merely shrinking the payout.

50/100/25 Liability Plus Medical Payments

• $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident — the bodily injury liability limits available from an at-fault driver’s policy.
• $25,000 property damage — the minimum available to repair or replace a damaged vehicle.
• $2,000 medical payments minimum — pays initial treatment costs regardless of fault while a liability claim is being sorted out.
• Uninsured motorist coverage — required to match the bodily injury liability limits, protecting drivers hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist.

No Cap on Compensatory Damages

Compensatory damages in a Maine car accident case against a private driver are not capped by statute, and Maine courts rarely award punitive damages even though none are capped when granted. The one significant exception is a claim against a government entity or employee, which is capped at $400,000 under the Maine Tort Claims Act unless the government’s own insurance coverage exceeds that figure.

Choosing Counsel in Maine

The Lawyer Atlas is a directory, not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice for your specific situation. Because Maine’s six-year deadline is unusually generous but a wrongful death claim runs on a much shorter two-year clock, ask any attorney you are considering to confirm which deadline actually applies to your case. Free consultations are standard, and Maine car accident attorneys typically work on contingency.

Browse the Augusta page above to find attorneys handling crash claims in and around the state capital.