completed its assumption of total responsibility
on July 1, 1975, when the clerical employees of
each office entered State service. The State has
also provided for local Property Tax Assessment
Appeal Boards in each subdivision. Each Board is
comprised of three appointed members. Clerical
assistance is provided by the Department.
MARYLAND AUTOMOBILE INSUR-
ANCE FUND
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chairperson: Vacancy
Appointed by the Governor: Gerald H. Cooper,
Ejner J. Johnson, August A. Krometis, Wil-
liam H. Ross III, John L. Ryan.
Appointed by the Board of Directors of the In-
dustry Automobile Insurance Association:
Norman E. Biler, Harold Covey, Thomas M.
Mahar, Wallace H. Smith, Stacy L. Williams.
THE AGENCY
Vacancy, Executive Director
Vincent H. Howley, Deputy Executive Director
Morgan S. Anderson, Jr„ Director of Fiscal
Operations
David C. Trageser, 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 o( 1972,
to replace the Maryland Automobile Insurance
Plan and the Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment
Fund (UCJF).
By Chapter 241, Acts of 1976, the Fund is
governed by an eleven-member Board of Trustees.
The Chairperson 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 administrative head of
MAIF and is its chief executive officer. He is re-
sponsible for the exercise of all duties conferred on

the Fund, except those reserved to the Board of
Trustees. The first Executive Director was
appointed by the Governor and continues to serve
at his pleasure. Future vacancies occurring in the
office of the Executive Director will be filled by the
Board of Trustees. The incumbent Executive Di-
rector 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 appointed by the
Governor willi llie advice and consent of the Sen-
ate and serve at his pleasure. Five members are
appointed by the Board of Directors of the Indus-
try Automobile Insurance Association in accor-
dance with Article 48A, sec. 243M (Chapter 241,
Acts of 1976).
The MAIF is not part of any department of the
State government but is an independent body di-
rectly 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
automobile liability insurance to those Maryland
residents who have been rejected by at least two
private insurers or who have had a policy of auto-
mobile liability insurance cancelled or non-re-
newed 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 Commis-
sioner.
Effective January 1, 1974, every owner of a mo-
tor 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 economic loss coverage. The
advent of such compulsory insurance should serve
to reduce 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 uninsured drivers, and
Marylanders who will not comply with the law.
For that reason the UCJF function has been re-
tained.
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 Commit-
tee. The testimony summarized the statutory oper-
ational environment that created (1) difficulty in
estimating what personnel and other resources
would be needed by MAIF in order to operate,
and (2) the impossibility of accurately estimating