What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage — And Do I Have It?
Short answer: if you have an auto policy in D.C., Maryland, or Virginia, you very likely do — and it may be worth more than the at-fault driver's entire policy.
What UM and UIM coverage actually are
Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage steps in when the driver who hurt you has no insurance at all — or cannot be identified, as in many hit-and-runs. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage steps in when the at-fault driver has insurance, but not enough to cover what you actually lost. In both cases, your own insurer stands in for the missing coverage, up to the limits you purchased.
All three local jurisdictions build this protection into auto policies. It is not an exotic add-on; it is baked into the standard policy most people already pay for — and most people have no idea it exists until a lawyer finds it for them.
How to find it on your declarations page
Pull out the one- or two-page summary your insurer sends at each renewal — the declarations page. Look for lines reading "Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury," "Underinsured Motorist," "UM/UIM," or similar, with per-person and per-accident limits next to them. Those numbers are what your own policy may owe you after a serious crash.
The layers most people miss
Coverage does not stop with your own declarations page. Depending on the jurisdiction and the policy language, coverage may also exist under a household member's policy, the policy covering the vehicle you were riding in, an employer's policy if you were working, or a personal umbrella policy sitting above any of them. Whether coverages can be combined — "stacked" — depends on the policy language and the jurisdiction, and the rules have changed in recent years, particularly in Virginia. This is exactly the kind of question that is worth an hour of a lawyer's time and can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Why your own insurer is not on your side here
The moment you make a UM or UIM claim, your insurer's financial interest flips. You are no longer the customer whose premium it wants to keep; you are a claimant whose payout it wants to minimize. Expect the same skepticism, the same recorded-statement requests, and the same lowball valuations an at-fault driver's insurer would serve up.
The release trap
Do not sign a release from the at-fault driver's insurer until someone has checked your own coverage. Accepting the at-fault driver's limits the wrong way can destroy the underinsured claim permanently. Each of the three local jurisdictions has a procedure for accepting a policy-limits tender while preserving the UIM claim — and signing the standard release without following it can extinguish the most valuable coverage you have.
Uninsured & underinsured motorist claims →
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