The Massachusetts Senate was successful in adding Section 8A of S-1930 to its version of the 2016 State Budget that increases the Property Damage Threshold for Minor and Major accidents. Here is the wording of the amendment:

Increase Surcharge Threshold for Minor Accidents

Messrs. Montigny, Joyce, Moore and Rodrigues moved that the bill be amended by inserting after section 8, the following new section:

SECTION 8A. Paragraph (b) of section 57A of said chapter 6C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the first sentence the following 2 sentences: For an at-fault accident claim, a minor accident shall be an accident for which the claim payment exclusive of any deductible exceeds $1,000 but is not more than $5,000 under (i) property damage liability coverage, (ii) collision coverage, (iii) limited collision coverage, (iv) for accidents occurring on or after January 1, 2006, bodily injury liability coverage if there is neither a surchargeable property damage liability coverage claim nor a surchargeable collision coverage claim, or (v) as a result of an incident with a bodily injury liability coverage claim. For an at-fault accident claim, a major accident shall be an accident for which the claim payment exclusive of any deductible exceeds $5,000 under either (i) property damage liability coverage, (ii) collision coverage, (iii) limited collision coverage, (iv) for accidents occurring on or after January 1, 2006,bodily injury liability coverage if there is neither a surchargeable property damage liability coverage claim nor a surchargeable collision coverage claim or (v) as a result of an incident with a bodily injury liability coverage claim.

The current thresholds are Minor Accident: $500 -$2,000 in damage to someone else's property, collision, limited collision, or bodily injury to others; Major Accident $2,001+ in damage. If the language survives the budget conference committee, the new threshold for Minor Accidents will be $1,001 and the threshold for Major Accidents will be $5,001. The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents has been made it a priority in 2015 to promote bills S-548/H-806 that would do the same thing as the amendment accomplishes, which would benefit drivers across the commonwealth.

To help ensure that this amendment survives the conference committee process, voters are encouraged to contact members of the conference committee listed below to urge them to approve the budget amendment: