Who pays when the other driver can’t?

The short answer

An estimated one in three drivers in 2023 was uninsured or underinsured. Uninsured and underinsured motorist cover is the part of your own policy that pays when they cannot, and it is often optional.

In 2023, an estimated one in three drivers on the road was uninsured or underinsured, an estimate from injury claims rather than a count of drivers. The part of your policy that protects you from them is often optional.

Don't know a word? Press any purple word to see what it means. They're all listed at the bottom of the page.

One in three

Drivers who could not fully pay for a crash they caused, 2023.

15.4%were uninsured

18.0%were underinsured

33.4%either one: about one in three

20.6%uninsured in Florida, about one in five

Insurance Research Council, 2025; Insurance Information Institute. Estimates from injury claims, not a headcount of drivers. The Research Council is funded by insurers: these are the figures most often cited, and they are not neutral.

Good to know

What “underinsured” means

The driver had a policy, but the limits ran out before the bills did. In Florida, where bodily injury liability is not required for most drivers, a crash with someone carrying only the minimum can leave nothing at all for your injuries from their side.

The coverage that steps in

It pays for you when the other driver cannot.

What it does

Uninsured and underinsured motorist cover

It pays for your injuries, and your passengers’, when the driver who caused the crash cannot. In some states it also pays for your car.

Required in about 20 statesIn many others it is offered and can be turned down in writing.

Texas and CaliforniaIn Texas it is included unless you reject it in writing. In California the insurer must offer it and you can waive it.

Check your own policy for one word

Look at your declarations page for “uninsured” or “UM/UIM.” If it is missing, or its limits are lower than your own liability limits, ask what it would take to match them.

Remember this

Find “UM/UIM” on your declarations page. If it is missing or low, ask what it would take to match your liability limits.

Words on this page

Bodily injury liability: Pays for injuries you cause to other people in a crash, up to your limit.
Declarations page: The summary at the front of your policy: what is covered, the limits, the deductible and the price.
Liability limit: The most your insurer will pay for damage you cause someone else.
Uninsured motorist: Pays for you and your passengers when the driver who hit you has no insurance or too little.

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