Hit by an Uninsured or Underinsured Driver in California: What Are Your Options?

Being hurt by a driver who has no insurance — or nowhere near enough to cover your injuries — is more common in California than people expect, and it is one of the most misunderstood situations in personal injury. The good news is that you often still have a path to recovery, usually through coverage on your own policy. The bad news is that California's rules have some traps. Here is how uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage works in this state. This is general information, not legal advice.

Start with the reality: California minimums are low

California is an at-fault state, so the driver who caused the crash (and their insurer) is normally responsible for your injuries. The problem is how little coverage many drivers carry. As of January 1, 2025, California's minimum liability limits rose to 30/60/15 — $30,000 for injury to one person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage — up from limits that had been unchanged since 1967. Those minimums are better than before, but a single serious injury can blow past $30,000 quickly, and plenty of drivers carry only the minimum or drive with no insurance at all. That is exactly the gap uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is meant to fill.

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage: when they have nothing

Uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage (UMBI) is part of your own auto policy, and it pays for your injuries — medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering — when the at-fault driver has no insurance, or in a qualifying hit-and-run. In California, insurers are required to offer UM/UIM coverage, and you can only decline it by waiving it in writing. Many people who think they rejected it actually have it, so the first step is to check your policy. Making a UM claim does not sue the other driver — you are claiming against your own coverage that you paid for.

Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage: when they don't have enough

UIM is where California surprises people. It applies when the at-fault driver has insurance, but not enough to cover your injuries — and California uses a 'difference in limits' rule. Your UIM coverage pays only to the extent your own UIM limit is higher than the at-fault driver's liability limit. For example, if you carry $100,000 in UIM and the at-fault driver carries the $30,000 minimum, your UIM can add up to $70,000 on top of their $30,000, if your damages support it. But if you carry the same limit as the at-fault driver, the math leaves nothing — your UIM pays zero even though you are badly hurt. The practical lesson: carrying high UM/UIM limits is one of the best and cheapest protections you can buy, because it protects you from everyone else's thin coverage.

Hit-and-run: the physical-contact catch

If the driver who hit you fled and is never identified, your UM coverage can treat them as an uninsured motorist — but California requires actual physical contact between the phantom vehicle and you or your car for an uninsured-motorist bodily-injury claim. A car that cuts you off and forces you into a wall without ever touching you generally will not qualify, which is a hard rule that catches real victims. Report a hit-and-run to the police promptly, document everything, and preserve any witness information, because corroboration matters.

Where else recovery can come from

• Your own UM/UIM coverage — usually the primary source when the other driver is uninsured or underinsured.
• Medical payments (MedPay) coverage on your policy, which can pay medical bills regardless of fault.
• Other responsible parties — for example the driver's employer if they were working, or the owner of the vehicle.
• A commercial or rideshare policy, if the at-fault driver was working for a company or driving for Uber or Lyft.
• A dangerous-road-condition claim against a government entity, in the narrow cases where the road itself contributed (note the six-month claim deadline).

Watch the fine print — and the fact that it's your own insurer

A UM/UIM claim is against your own insurance company, which surprises people who assume their insurer is on their side here. In practice these claims can be adversarial: the insurer may dispute liability, dispute the severity of your injuries, and push a low number, and UM/UIM disputes are often resolved through arbitration under the policy. There are also notice and time requirements in the policy itself that are separate from the two-year deadline to sue an at-fault driver. Because of all this, it is worth talking to an attorney early — the consultation is free and the case is handled on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win.