New Year Checklist: Review Your Auto Policy Limits and UM/UIM Coverage

Published January 6, 2026 · Injury Law Basics

The most painful conversation I have in this office goes like this. A client has been badly hurt by a driver who ran a red light. The surgeon's bills alone are past $100,000. Then we pull the insurance information and learn that the at-fault driver carried the Ohio minimum, and the client's own policy has little or no underinsured motorist coverage. There is almost nothing I can do to fix that after the crash.

There is a great deal you can do before one. The start of a new year is a good time to spend ten minutes with your auto policy. Here is the checklist I give friends and family.

Step 1: Find your declarations page

Your declarations page, often called the "dec page," is the one- or two-page summary at the front of your policy. It lists every coverage you bought and the dollar limit for each. If you cannot find a paper copy, log in to your insurer's website or app, or call your agent and ask for it by email.

Lay it next to this article. Every step below refers to a line on that page.

Step 2: Check your bodily-injury liability limits

Liability coverage pays other people when you cause a crash. Under R.C. 4509.51, the minimum an Ohio owner's policy must carry is $25,000 for injury to one person, $50,000 for injuries to two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for property damage. You will often see that written as 25/50/25.

Those numbers have not kept up with the cost of a hospital stay. If you cause a serious crash, anything above your limits can become a judgment against you personally. Liability coverage is usually inexpensive to raise, and for most working families, limits of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident, or higher, are worth pricing.

Step 3: Check your UM/UIM coverage, and match it to your liability limits

This is the line that matters most to you if you are ever hurt by someone else.

• Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays you when the driver who hurt you has no insurance, or when a hit-and-run driver cannot be identified.
• Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage pays you when the at-fault driver has insurance, but not enough to cover your losses.

Ohio does not require you to carry either one. R.C. 3937.18(A) says a policy "may, but is not required to," include UM and UIM coverage. That means some Ohio drivers have none and do not know it, because they declined it years ago to save a few dollars, or because no one explained it.

There is a second trap. Under R.C. 3937.18(C), your UIM limit is reduced by what the at-fault driver's insurance makes available. If you carry $25,000 in UIM and the other driver carries $25,000 in liability, your UIM coverage pays nothing. If you carry $100,000 in UIM, it can pay up to $75,000 on top of the other driver's $25,000. Our guide chapter on using your own insurance walks through that math with an example.

My rule of thumb: buy UM/UIM limits equal to your liability limits. You are protecting your own family with the same dollars you are using to protect strangers. Our UM/UIM claims page explains how these claims work once you need them.

Step 4: Add or raise medical payments coverage

Medical payments coverage, or MedPay, pays medical bills for you and your passengers after a crash no matter who was at fault. Limits are usually modest, often between $1,000 and $10,000, and the premium is small. MedPay is useful for covering health-insurance deductibles and copays, and for keeping providers from sending bills to collections while the injury claim is pending. If your dec page shows no MedPay, ask what it would cost to add.

Step 5: Make sure every driver and every vehicle is listed

Look at the list of drivers and vehicles on the dec page. Is everyone in your household who drives on it? Is every car, truck, and motorcycle at your address listed somewhere?

This matters for more than premiums. R.C. 3937.18(I)(1) allows policies to exclude UM/UIM coverage when you are hurt in a vehicle owned by, or regularly available to, you or a household member if that vehicle is not identified in the policy. A motorcycle insured with a different company, a teenager's car that never got added, or a work truck you drive every day can create a gap. Tell your agent about every vehicle and every driver, in writing, before you need the coverage.

Step 6: Ask about an umbrella policy

An umbrella policy adds a layer of liability coverage, often $1 million, on top of your auto and homeowner's policies. Many insurers also offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage at umbrella limits, although not all do and the terms vary. If you own a home, have savings, or simply want the strongest protection available, ask your agent two questions: what an umbrella costs, and whether it includes UM/UIM.

Step 7: Save the paperwork where your family can find it

After a crash, people are in the hospital, on medication, or caring for someone who is. That is not the moment to hunt for a policy number. Save a copy of your dec page in your phone, in your email, and in a folder at home, and tell your spouse or a trusted family member where it is.

Gather the dec pages for everyone in your household while you are at it. UM/UIM and MedPay coverage sometimes comes from a relative's policy, not just your own. Our guide chapter on preserving documents and records explains why insurance paperwork belongs in the same file as your medical records.

Why I push this every January

Ohio eased some of the penalties for driving without insurance last year, as we explained in our post on H.B. 29 and uninsured drivers. Whatever the penalties, some drivers on Dayton-area roads carry no insurance at all, and many more carry the bare minimum. When one of them causes a serious crash, your own UM/UIM coverage is often the only meaningful source of money for your medical bills, your lost wages, and your pain. Our page on hit-and-run and uninsured drivers covers what happens when the at-fault driver cannot be found.

What this means for you

• Pull your declarations page this week.
• Raise liability limits well above 25/50/25.
• Carry UM/UIM equal to your liability limits.
• Add MedPay if you do not have it.
• List every driver and vehicle in your household.
• Price an umbrella policy, and ask whether it includes UM/UIM.
• Save copies where your family can find them.

None of this requires a lawyer. But if you would like a second set of eyes, send us your dec page and we will tell you, at no charge, where the gaps are.