Maryland Auto Allows Participants to Pause Payments During State of Emergency

Participants in FineFix, Maryland’s auto fine forgiveness program, will be allowed to pause their payment plans during the current state of emergency in Maryland. The Uninsured Division of Maryland Auto Insurance is taking this action in order to provide additional financial relief to Marylanders during the coronavirus pandemic.

Drivers who are enrolled in the program may pause payments from March 24, 2020, until 30 days after the current state of emergency in Maryland is ended. During this time, program participants will not be entered into default status on their payment plan for payments missed during the crisis.

Once the state of emergency ends, the original payment plan terms will be reinstated. Participants will have the same number of days remaining to complete their payments as they did on March 24, 2020.

The legislation that created FineFix provides six months from the date of the first payment for enrolled participants to complete the program. Enrollees who do not complete their payment plan within the six-month period are subject to reinstatement of any fines forgiven through FineFix. This pause in the payment deadline will prevent the reinstatement of forgiven fines during the current crisis.

During this period of time, enrolled FineFix participants may continue making payments if they are able to do so.

FineFix is a partnership between the Uninsured Division of Maryland Auto Insurance and the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA). This program gives eligible Marylanders the opportunity to pay 20% of their outstanding uninsured auto fines and have the remaining 80% forgiven.

More than 23,000 Maryland drivers enrolled in the program during the 2019 enrollment period and have had their uninsured auto fines reduced by 80%, representing more than $37 million in forgiven uninsured auto debts.

Source: Maryland Auto Insurance

Topics Auto Maryland