MARYLAND AUTOMOBILE
INSURANCE FUND
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chairman: John J. Corbley
Appointed by the Governor: Gerald H.
Cooper, Thomas H. Eminizer, Ejner J.
Johnson, August A. Krometis, William
H. Ross III.
Appointed by the Board of Directors of the
Industry Automobile Insurance Associa-
tion: Norman E. Biler, Harold Covey,
Thomas M. Mahar, Wallace H. Smith,
Stacy L. Williams.
THE AGENCY
John J. Corbley, Executive Director
Morgan S. Anderson, Jr., Director of
Fiscal Operations
Vincent H. Howley, Director of
Administration
Theodore S. Kurland, Director of Claims
Paul E. Pollock, Director of Underwriting
1750 Forest Drive,
Annapolis 21401 Telephone: 269-1680
The Maryland Automobile Insurance
Fund (MAIF) was created by Chapter 73,
Acts of 1972 to replace the Maryland Auto-
mobile Insurance Plan and the Unsatisfied
Claim and Judgment Fund (UCJF).
By Chapter 241, Acts of 1976, the Fund
is governed by an eleven-man Board of
Trustees. The Chairman of the Board is,
ex officio, the Executive Director of the
Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund. The
Board was created to advise the Executive
Director with respect to his exercise of the
powers and duties conferred on him by this
subtitle and to formulate policy for the
Fund. The Executive Director is the Ad-
ministrative head of MAIF and is its Chief
Executive Officer. He is responsible for the
exercise of all duties conferred on the
Fund, except those committed to the Board
of Trustees. The First Executive Director
was appointed by the Governor and serves
at his pleasure. A vacancy occurring in the
office of the Executive Director after July
1, 1976 is to be filled by the Board of
Trustees. The incumbent Executive Director
cannot vote on the selection of his succes- |
sor, and if the Board fails to agree on the
successor, the Governor shall appoint him.
Five members of the Board are ap-
pointed by the Governor with the advice
and consent of the Senate, and serve at his
pleasure. Five members are appointed by
the Board of Directors of the Industry Au-
tomobile Insurance Association in accord-
ance with Article 48A, Section 243M.
The MAIF is not part of any department
of the State government but is an inde-
pendent body, directly under the Governor.
It performs two basic functions: one, to
assume the role of the former UCJF, and
process and pay claims against uninsured
motorists; and two, to sell policies of auto-
mobile liability insurance to those Maryland
residents who have been rejected by at
least two private insurers or who have had
a policy of automobile liability insurance
cancelled or non-renewed for any reason,
other than non-payment of premiums. With
respect to the second function MAIF acts
as any private insurance company, and is
subject to regulation by the Insurance
Commissioner.
Effective January 1, 1974, every owner
of a motor vehicle registered in this State
must maintain the basic required primary
coverage of $20,000/40,000 bodily injury,
$5,000 property damage, and $2,500 eco-
nomic loss coverage. The advent of such
compulsory insurance should serve to re-
duce substantially the number of uninsured
claims. However, it is not expected that
they will disappear completely. There will
be hit and run accidents, out-of-state unin-
sured drivers, and Marylanders who will not
comply with the law. For that reason, the
UCJF function has been retained.
The MAIF receives no general funds
from the State of Maryland and its assets
are not part of the Treasury of the State.
As a result, MAIF is not subject to the
normal budgetary review procedures. The
reasons for this broad exemption were noted
in oral testimony before the Committee. The
testimony summarized the statutory opera-
tional environment which created ( 1 ) diffi-
culty in estimating what personnel and other
resources would be needed by MAIF in |
