Using Your Own Insurance: PIP, MedPay, and UM/UIM

This chapter of The DC, Maryland & Virginia Injury Guide walks through each coverage jurisdiction by jurisdiction.

Start with your declarations page

Find the declarations page of every auto policy in your household; it lists each coverage and its limits. You may be covered under your own policy, a resident relative's policy, and the policy on the vehicle you were riding in. Pedestrians and cyclists are often covered by their own household policies even though no car of theirs was involved.

What does Maryland PIP pay?

Maryland personal injury protection pays at least $2,500 per person for medical expenses incurred within three years of the crash, 85% of lost income, and essential household services for people who were not earning income, regardless of who caused the crash (Md. Code, Ins. §§ 19-505, 19-507). Many policies carry higher PIP limits, so check your declarations page.

Maryland PIP has four valuable features:

• Fault does not matter. PIP is payable without regard to anyone's fault, which matters in a contributory negligence state where the liability claim may be contested for months.
• It covers people outside the car. PIP covers the named insured and resident family members in any motor vehicle accident, passengers in the insured vehicle, and pedestrians and people on bicycles or other muscle-powered vehicles struck by the insured vehicle.
• No premium increase. An insurer may not raise your premium because of a PIP claim or payment (Md. Code, Ins. § 19-507(c)).
• No payback. A PIP insurer has no right of subrogation and cannot recover what it paid from the at-fault driver (Md. Code, Ins. § 19-507(d)). PIP benefits are yours to keep.

Watch the filing deadline. A policy may require the original PIP claim to be filed within a period of not less than 12 months after the crash, and the insurer must tell you the deadline after you give written notice of the accident (Md. Code, Ins. § 19-508). File early. Motorcycle policies are different: insurers may exclude PIP for motorcycles, mopeds, and motor scooters or sell it with deductibles and limits (Md. Code, Ins. § 19-505(c)(2)).

The Maryland PIP waiver

PIP is mandatory unless the first named insured signs an affirmative written waiver on the form the Insurance Commissioner requires, after receiving written notice of the coverage's nature, extent, and cost (Md. Code, Ins. § 19-506). A waiver binds each named insured, each listed driver, and family members 16 or older living in the household, which is why people are often surprised to learn they have no PIP. In some cases a listed driver or family member can still recover PIP under another policy on which that person is the first named insured and has not waived it. Some minimum-limits policies also allow PIP to be rejected outright (Md. Code, Ins. § 19-506.1). If an insurer says you waived PIP, ask for the signed form.

How does PIP work in D.C.?

In D.C., personal injury protection is optional coverage that insurers must offer, with medical and rehabilitation benefits of at least $50,000 per person, work loss benefits of at least $12,000, and funeral benefits up to $4,000, paid without regard to fault (D.C. Code § 31-2404). If you bought it, it can carry you through months of treatment.

D.C. PIP comes with a decision that Maryland PIP does not. You must notify your PIP insurer within 60 days of the crash whether you elect to receive PIP benefits (D.C. Code § 31-2405). If you elect PIP, you may sue the at-fault driver only if your injury causes substantial permanent scarring or disfigurement, a substantial and medically demonstrable permanent impairment that significantly affects your work or usual activities, an impairment that prevents substantially all of your usual activities for more than 180 continuous days, or medical expenses or work loss greater than the PIP benefits available. Claims for a death are preserved regardless.

If you make no election within 60 days, the statute says the mandatory liability insurance coverage applies, meaning your claim proceeds against the at-fault driver in the ordinary way. The insurer must tell you about the 60-day window in writing, and the window can be extended by written agreement. This is a real fork in the road, so talk to a lawyer before you sign the election form.

What is MedPay in Virginia?

Virginia does not have PIP. Instead, insurers must provide medical expense benefits (commonly called MedPay) and income loss benefits on request, with medical benefits of $2,000 per person unless you and the insurer agree to a different limit, and income loss benefits of up to $100 per week for up to one year (Va. Code § 38.2-2201). MedPay covers people in the insured vehicle and the named insured and resident relatives, including when they are struck as pedestrians.

Two features help Virginia policyholders. MedPay covers expenses incurred within three years of the crash, and if you insure up to four vehicles with MedPay on the same personal policy, the insurer must pay up to the limit on each vehicle when your expenses exceed one vehicle's limit. MedPay also may not be reduced because health insurance paid some of the same bills. You are not required to assign your MedPay to a medical provider, and an assignment is valid only if it meets the statute's written-notice requirements.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage

UM/UIM coverage pays when the driver who hurt you has no insurance, cannot be identified, or has too little insurance to cover your losses. Where many drivers carry only the legal minimum, it is often the difference between a fair recovery and a fraction of one.

Maryland: standard UM, enhanced UIM, and the 60-day consent rule

Maryland auto policies must include uninsured motorist coverage (or, where chosen or required, enhanced underinsured motorist coverage in its place), and on private passenger policies it must equal the liability limits unless the first named insured waives the higher amount in writing (Md. Code, Ins. §§ 19-509, 19-510). Under standard Maryland UM coverage, the insurer's limit is reduced by the amount paid by the at-fault driver's liability coverage. If you have $100,000 in UM and the at-fault driver pays $30,000, the most you can get from your own policy is $70,000.

Enhanced underinsured motorist coverage removes that reduction: it pays up to its full limit on top of what the at-fault driver's insurer paid (Md. Code, Ins. § 19-509.1). For new private passenger policies issued on or after July 1, 2024, insurers must provide enhanced UIM unless the first named insured waives it in writing. For renewal policies first issued before July 1, 2024, you have enhanced UIM only if you elected it.

Before you accept a settlement offer that would exhaust the at-fault driver's limits, Maryland requires you to send a copy of the written offer to your UM or enhanced UIM insurer by certified mail. The insurer then has 60 days to consent or refuse; if it refuses, it must pay you the amount of the offer within 30 days and take over the claim against the at-fault driver (Md. Code, Ins. §§ 19-511, 19-511.1).

If you have no UM coverage of your own, a Maryland resident hurt by an uninsured or unidentified driver may be able to make a claim against MAIF (Md. Code, Ins. § 20-601).

Virginia: UIM without the credit, since July 1, 2023

In Virginia, UM/UIM limits must equal your liability limits unless a named insured chooses lower limits, and for policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2023, underinsured motorist coverage is paid without any credit for the at-fault driver's liability coverage unless a named insured signs an election to reduce it (Va. Code § 38.2-2206; Va. Code § 38.2-2202). Using the same example, $100,000 in UIM and a $30,000 liability payment can now mean up to $130,000 in total coverage.

Other Virginia UM/UIM rules worth knowing:

• Hit-and-run. If the at-fault driver is unknown, you can sue "John Doe" and serve your own insurer. If there was no contact between the vehicles, the crash must be reported promptly to your insurer or to the police.
• Settling with the at-fault driver. Virginia lets you settle with the liability insurer for its available limits and sign a release in the form the statute describes without giving up your UIM claim (Va. Code § 38.2-2206(K)).
• More than one policy. The statute sets the order: first the policy on the vehicle you occupied, then policies on which you are a named insured, then policies under which you are another kind of insured.
• Higher minimums. For policies effective on or after January 1, 2025, minimum liability limits, and so minimum UM limits, are $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident (Va. Code § 46.2-472).

D.C.: mandatory UM, optional UIM

Every policy on a vehicle registered or principally garaged in D.C. must include uninsured motorist coverage of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and you may buy up to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident (D.C. Code § 31-2406). An uninsured vehicle includes one whose insurer denies coverage and one whose driver cannot be identified. Underinsured motorist coverage is optional in D.C.: insurers must offer it, but once you reject it they need not offer it again, and policies may prohibit stacking.

Will using my own coverage raise my rates?

In Maryland, an insurer may not increase your premium because of a PIP claim or payment (Md. Code, Ins. § 19-507(c)). In D.C., an insurer may not raise your rates on account of an accident unless it first determines you were at fault (D.C. Code § 31-2406(a)(5)).

Key points

• Collect the declarations page for every auto policy in your household; you may be covered in more than one place.
• Maryland PIP pays at least $2,500 regardless of fault, cannot raise your premium, and never has to be paid back. File within your policy's deadline.
• D.C. PIP requires an election within 60 days, and electing it limits your right to sue unless your injury meets a statutory threshold.
• Virginia MedPay is optional, stacks across up to four vehicles, and is not reduced by health insurance payments.
• Maryland requires certified-mail notice to your UM insurer before you accept a limits offer; Virginia UIM now pays on top of the liability limits unless you elected otherwise.

• Previous chapter: Dealing With Insurance Adjusters
• Next chapter: Medical Bills, Health Insurance, and Liens

Related practice areas

Related reading

• Maryland PIP: the no-fault coverage most crash victims forget
• Maryland's enhanced UIM coverage and the offset trap
• July 1, 2023: Virginia's UM/UIM offset ends
• Virginia's UM/UIM law: an FAQ on policies and renewals
• Hit-and-run in Virginia: John Doe claims and your UM coverage
• Medical Bills, Health Insurance, and Liens

Responsible attorneys: Ryan C. Posey and Jacob M. Lebowitz. Posey Lebowitz PLLC, 3221 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007.