Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Claims in Ohio

You bought insurance, you drove carefully, and someone else ran a light or drifted into your lane. Then you learn the driver who hurt you has no insurance, or a policy so small it will not cover a week in the hospital. This happens constantly, and it is exactly what uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage exists to fix.

In 19 years as a Dayton police officer and more than 30 years practicing law, I have learned that the drivers who cause the worst collisions are often the ones carrying the least insurance. If you are seriously hurt, your own policy may be your most important source of recovery. This page explains how that coverage works, where the traps are, and why your own insurer will not simply hand you what you are owed.

What UM and UIM coverage actually is

Ohio's uninsured and underinsured motorist statute is R.C. 3937.18. In plain terms:

• Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays you, from your own policy, what you would have collected from an at-fault driver who had no liability insurance. Under R.C. 3937.18(B)(1), an "uninsured motorist" includes a driver with no bodily injury policy, a driver whose insurer denies coverage or becomes insolvent, and a hit-and-run driver who cannot be identified.
• Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage applies when the at-fault driver has some insurance, but less than your UIM limits. R.C. 3937.18(C) says UIM coverage applies where the limits available from everyone liable to you "are less than the limits for the underinsured motorist coverage."

Ohio does not require UM/UIM coverage. R.C. 3937.18(A) says a policy "may, but is not required to," include it. Many people have it without knowing; check your declarations page or call us and we will read it for you.

Under R.C. 3937.18(D), you still must prove what you would have had to prove against the at-fault driver: negligence, causation, and damages. UM/UIM does not change the rules. It changes who pays.

Why Ohio's minimum limits leave so many people exposed

Ohio's financial responsibility law, R.C. 4509.01(K), sets the minimum liability coverage at $25,000 per person for injury or death, $50,000 per crash for two or more people, and $25,000 for property damage. Those figures took effect December 22, 2013, under House Bill 278; before that, the per-person minimum had been $12,500 since 1969.

An ambulance ride, an emergency room visit, a CT scan, and a night of observation can exhaust $25,000. A surgery, a spinal injury, a brain injury, or a death goes far beyond it. If the driver who hit you carries the minimum and you are seriously hurt, the only question that matters is how much UIM coverage you bought. Buy as much as you can afford; it is usually inexpensive, and it is the one part of your policy that protects you rather than the other driver.

How the Ohio "setoff" works

R.C. 3937.18(C) is explicit: UIM coverage "is not and shall not be excess coverage," and the UIM limits "shall be reduced by those amounts available for payment under all applicable bodily injury liability" policies.

What that means in dollars:

• You carry $100,000 in UIM coverage and the at-fault driver carries the $25,000 minimum. Your UIM coverage is reduced by that $25,000, leaving up to $75,000 of UIM on top of the other driver's $25,000, for a potential total of $100,000.
• You carry $50,000 in UIM coverage and the at-fault driver carries $50,000. Your limits are not higher, so there is no UIM claim at all, even if your damages are far higher.

This "limits-to-limits" comparison is the most misunderstood part of Ohio auto insurance. $100,000 of UIM does not mean $100,000 more money; it means the most you can collect from all sources combined is generally your UIM limit. If your limits equal or fall below the at-fault driver's, UIM does nothing for you. Have a lawyer run the numbers before you accept anyone's settlement.

Hit-and-run and "phantom vehicle" claims

If the driver who hit you fled and was never identified, Ohio treats that driver as uninsured, but with a condition. R.C. 3937.18(B)(1)(c) requires "independent corroborative evidence" that the unidentified driver caused your injury. The statute goes on to say your own testimony is not independent corroborative evidence "unless the testimony is supported by additional evidence."

Insurers use this provision to deny claims where the only account is yours, and they fight hardest in "phantom vehicle" cases, where another car ran you off the road without touching you. What counts as corroboration:

• An independent witness who saw the other vehicle.
• Physical evidence: paint transfer, debris, or skid marks consistent with your account.
• Dashcam or surveillance video.
• A police report documenting physical evidence, and your 911 call made at the time.

As we explain on our hit-and-run and uninsured drivers page, report immediately, photograph everything, and get names from anyone who stopped. Evidence that disappears within a day is the difference between a paid claim and a denied one.

Who is covered: resident relatives and passengers

UM/UIM coverage follows people, not just cars. Most Ohio policies cover the named insured, a spouse, and relatives living in the same household, whether they are hurt in the insured car, in someone else's car, or as a pedestrian or bicyclist. Passengers in the insured car are typically covered too. A college student who still lists the family home as a residence is usually covered under a parent's policy.

Each policy defines "insured" and "resident relative" in its own words, and R.C. 3937.18(I) allows exclusions, including one for vehicles owned by or regularly available to a household member but not listed on the policy. We read the actual policy language on every claim rather than accepting an adjuster's summary.

Notice, consent to settle, and subrogation

Three policy provisions can quietly destroy a claim if nobody is watching.

Notice. Policies require you to notify your own insurer of a potential UM/UIM claim promptly. If you wait until after you have settled with the at-fault driver to tell your insurer, expect a fight.

Consent to settle. Before you accept the at-fault driver's policy limits and sign a release, your own insurer typically must be told and given the chance to consent. The reason is R.C. 3937.18(J): when your insurer pays a UM/UIM claim, it is entitled to the proceeds of any recovery against the at-fault driver, a right called subrogation. If you sign a release without notice to your insurer, it can argue you "prejudiced" that right and deny your UIM claim entirely.

The right sequence. Obtain the at-fault driver's limits in writing, send written notice of the tender to your UIM carrier, give it the policy-required time to respond, and only then sign. The insurer either consents or pays you the tendered amount itself and pursues the at-fault driver on its own. Either way, you are protected.

Stacking

"Stacking" means adding together the UM/UIM limits of more than one policy, or more than one vehicle on the same policy. R.C. 3937.18(F) expressly allows insurers to prohibit stacking, both "interfamily" (across households) and "intrafamily" (within the same household). Most Ohio policies now contain anti-stacking language, and courts generally enforce it.

Do not assume stacking is impossible, though; some policies, particularly older or out-of-state ones, lack the required language. When a seriously injured client has more than one potentially applicable policy, we read every one.

Your own insurance company is not on your side

You have paid premiums for years, but on a UM/UIM claim your insurer stands in the shoes of the at-fault driver. Its interest is to pay you as little as possible, and it uses the same tactics: requesting a recorded statement, demanding your entire medical history, questioning whether the crash caused your injury, and offering a fraction of the claim's value.

The adjuster will be friendly. That is the job. Our guide to dealing with insurance adjusters explains why you should not give a recorded statement or sign a blanket medical authorization before talking to a lawyer. That advice applies with full force to your own company.

Deadlines: shorter than you think

Ohio's statute of limitations for a bodily injury claim is two years under R.C. 2305.10(A). A UM/UIM claim, however, is a contract claim against your insurer, and R.C. 3937.18(H) allows the policy to require that the claim or suit be brought "within three years after the date of the accident," or within one year after the at-fault driver's insurer becomes insolvent, whichever is later.

Most Ohio policies use that three-year period. Your policy, not just the Revised Code, sets the clock, and it may run while you are still treating or negotiating with the at-fault driver's insurer. We calendar every deadline on day one and, where necessary, file suit against the UIM carrier to protect the claim. Our deadlines and timeline chapter explains how these periods fit together.

Why UM/UIM matters most in the worst cases

For a minor injury, the at-fault driver's minimum policy may be enough. For spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, fractures requiring surgery, permanent impairment, and wrongful death, it almost never is. A well-chosen UIM policy can be the difference between a recovery that covers a lifetime of care and one that covers the first month.

Our chapter on using your own insurance explains how MedPay, UM/UIM, and health insurance work together. If the crash involved a commercial vehicle, see our car and truck accident page; commercial policies are larger, and UIM may still apply on top of them.

Frequently asked questions