In most cases, the answer is your own auto policy. California requires every insurer to offer uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage under Insurance Code 11580.2, and that coverage can only be declined in writing. If you did not sign a written waiver, you almost certainly have it. UM coverage steps in when the driver who hit you had no insurance or fled the scene. UIM coverage steps in when the driver had a policy, but one too small to cover your injuries, which is common now that the state minimum is only $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident and $15,000 in property damage under Vehicle Code 16056 (the limits in effect since January 1, 2025).
That is the short version. The longer version matters because a UM or UIM claim is not like an ordinary claim on your own policy. You are asking your company to pay what the other driver should have paid, and from that moment the company evaluates you the way an opposing insurer would. Below is how these claims work, what the hit-and-run rules require, how the underinsured math is done, and the deadlines you cannot miss.
How uninsured motorist coverage works
Uninsured motorist coverage is bodily injury coverage you buy for yourself. It pays the damages you would have been entitled to recover from the at-fault driver, up to your UM limit. It applies when the other driver had no policy, when the policy had lapsed, when the driver’s insurer denies coverage, or when the driver cannot be identified after a hit and run.
Three features of UM coverage surprise people.
- It is bodily injury coverage: medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering. Damage to your car is handled separately, through collision coverage or the optional uninsured motorist property damage coverage some policies include.
- It follows the person, not just the car. In general, you are covered when driving your car, riding as a passenger in someone else’s car, or struck while walking, riding a bicycle or riding a motorcycle the policy covers. The exact scope depends on the policy language.
- You still have to prove the case. You have to show that the other driver was at fault and that the crash caused your injuries, exactly as you would in a lawsuit against that driver.
Your own insurer becomes the opposing party
This is the part people find hardest to accept. You have paid premiums for years, you did nothing wrong, and now your own company is questioning whether you were really hurt. Once you make a UM or UIM claim, the insurance company pays less if your injuries are minor, if you share fault, or if your symptoms can be blamed on something other than the crash. Expect a request for a recorded statement, a broad medical authorization, and a close reading of every prior medical record it can obtain.
Your policy does contain a cooperation clause, which generally requires you to report the crash promptly and answer reasonable questions, and refusing outright can put the coverage at risk. So report the collision right away, describe it accurately, and do not guess at speeds, distances or your medical history. It is sensible to speak with a lawyer before giving a recorded statement to your own carrier, because a statement that seems harmless on day three can be quoted back at you in arbitration a year later.
UM and UIM disputes that cannot be resolved by agreement generally go to arbitration under the policy’s terms rather than to a jury. The arbitrator decides fault and damages much as a jury would, and how the claim is documented from the first week shapes what happens there.
Hit and run: the extra conditions
A driver who flees is treated as an uninsured motorist, so UM coverage is the usual path for a hit-and-run injury. Two conditions apply that do not apply to an ordinary UM claim, and both are enforced.
Physical contact. When the other vehicle is never identified, California generally requires actual physical contact between that vehicle and you or the vehicle you were in. A driver who swerves to avoid a car that never touches them and hits a pole has a much harder claim. Contact can sometimes be shown indirectly, but it is a real limitation.
Prompt reporting. The crash generally must be reported to the police or the CHP within a short period, commonly 24 hours, and the insurer must be notified within the period the policy specifies. The police report is usually made at the scene. The notice to your own insurer is the step that gets missed.
Underinsured motorist coverage and how the math works
Underinsured motorist coverage is where the state minimum matters most. A driver carrying the 30/60/15 minimum has $30,000 available for any one injured person. An emergency room visit, an ambulance and a course of physical therapy can exceed that, and a surgery certainly will. Under Howell v. Hamilton Meats (2011), recoverable medical damages are the amounts actually paid or owed rather than the billed figures, but even at paid rates a serious injury rarely fits inside minimum limits.
UIM coverage in California is a difference-of-limits coverage, and that is where people get caught. Your UIM limit is not added on top of the other driver’s policy. Instead, the other driver’s liability limit is subtracted from your UIM limit, and the difference is the most your UIM coverage will pay. If your UIM limit is the same as or lower than the at-fault driver’s liability limit, your UIM coverage pays nothing.
Two consequences follow. First, UIM coverage only has value if you buy limits higher than the state minimum. A policy with 30/60 UIM limits provides no underinsured benefit against a driver who carries 30/60 liability limits. Second, the at-fault driver’s policy generally has to be exhausted, meaning the full liability limit paid, before the UIM claim matures, and your own insurer typically must be notified before you accept that payment. Settling without that notice can jeopardize the UIM claim. When someone with a serious car accident injury calls us and the other driver has minimum limits, checking the UIM limits on every household policy is one of the first things we do.
Other coverage that may exist
Medical payments coverage
Medical payments coverage, often called med pay, is optional in California. Where it exists, it pays medical expenses for you and your passengers without regard to fault, up to a limit that is usually modest, and it pays quickly. Some policies allow the insurer to recoup med pay from a later recovery, so the policy language should be checked.
Household policies and resident relatives
UM coverage often extends to relatives who live in the insured’s household, whether or not they own a car. A student living at home or an adult child who moved back in may be an insured under a parent’s policy. When more than one policy applies, the policies’ terms and the UM statute determine which pays first and whether limits can be combined. Gathering the declarations page for every vehicle in the household is part of the work.
Coverage on the vehicle you were in
If you were a passenger, the UM coverage on the car you were riding in generally applies to you as well. If you were in a rideshare vehicle during a trip, Public Utilities Code 5433 requires UM/UIM coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident since January 1, 2026.
Suing the uninsured driver personally
You can sue an uninsured driver in California and obtain a judgment. The practical question is whether the judgment can be collected. An uninsured driver is, more often than not, a person without significant assets. A judgment can be enforced through wage garnishment or liens on property, and an unpaid judgment from a crash can lead to a suspension of the driver’s license. Even so, collecting from a person with no property is slow and often unsuccessful.
For that reason, a lawsuit against the uninsured driver is usually pursued when it protects the UM claim or when the driver has assets, a business, or an employer that may share responsibility. Where the driver was working at the time, the employer’s commercial policy may be the real source of recovery.
Fault still matters
Under Li v. Yellow Cab (1975), California applies pure comparative negligence: your recovery is reduced by your own percentage of fault, not barred. Your own insurance company will apply this rule against you in a UM claim, and every percentage point it can assign to you reduces what it owes. Photographs, the police report, witness information and early medical care keep those percentages honest.
The deadlines that apply
Several clocks run at once, and they are not the same length.
- The DMV SR-1 within 10 days. Vehicle Code 16000 requires every driver in a California collision involving injury, death or more than $1,000 in property damage to file an SR-1 with the DMV within 10 days, regardless of fault. The SR-1 is also how the DMV learns that the other driver was uninsured.
- Notice to your own insurer. Your policy sets its own notice requirements for a UM claim, and hit-and-run claims carry the short windows described above. Report promptly and in writing.
- The 40-day rule. Once your insurer has proof of claim, the Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations require it to accept or deny the claim within 40 days (10 CCR 2695.7), and Insurance Code 790.03 prohibits unfair claims practices. Complaints about claims handling can be made to the California Department of Insurance.
- Two years. Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 gives you two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. UM policies also contain their own provisions for how and when a UM claim must be formally asserted or arbitration demanded, and those vary by policy. The safe course is to treat two years as the outer limit for everything and to act well before it. If a government vehicle or a dangerous road condition was involved, a written claim is due within six months under Government Code 911.2.
Key points
- If the driver who hit you has no insurance, your own uninsured motorist coverage is usually the source of recovery, and Insurance Code 11580.2 requires insurers to offer it unless declined in writing.
- The state minimum of 30/60/15 under Vehicle Code 16056 is rarely enough for a serious injury, and UIM pays only the difference between your limit and the other driver’s.
- In a UM or UIM claim your own insurer evaluates you as an opposing party, so report promptly but get advice before a recorded statement.
- Hit-and-run UM claims generally require physical contact with the unidentified vehicle and prompt reporting to police and to your insurer.
- Med pay, household policies covering resident relatives, and coverage on the car you were in may add to what is available.
- Suing the uninsured driver personally is possible but often not collectible, and the two-year deadline under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 applies to every path.
Frequently asked questions
How do you find out whether you have uninsured motorist coverage?
Look at the declarations page of your auto policy for a line labeled uninsured motorist bodily injury or UM/UIM. If you do not see it, ask your insurer in writing whether you signed a UM waiver. Under Insurance Code 11580.2 the coverage can only be rejected in writing, so without a signed waiver it is generally part of the policy.
Will a UM claim raise your rates?
California restricts insurers from surcharging a policyholder for an accident the policyholder did not cause, and a person struck by an at-fault uninsured driver is generally protected by that rule. Worry about premiums keeps many people from making valid claims, and it is usually misplaced.
What if you were a passenger and the driver of your car was also uninsured?
Your own UM coverage, if you have a policy, generally applies to you as a passenger in someone else’s vehicle. If you live with a relative who carries auto insurance, that policy may cover you as a resident relative. If neither exists, a claim against the at-fault driver personally may be the only route.
Can you make a UM claim if the other driver’s insurer denies coverage?
Often, yes. When the other driver’s company denies coverage, for example because the policy had lapsed or the driver was excluded, the driver is treated as uninsured and your UM coverage can respond. Your insurer will want documentation of the denial, and the denial itself should be examined, because coverage is sometimes denied on grounds that do not hold up.
Being hit by a driver with no insurance feels like a dead end, and it usually is not. The coverage is often already in your policy or a household policy, and the deadlines for using it are short. Call Manoukian Law Firm at (818) 818-5031 for a free consultation, or reach us through the contact page. Every case is prepared as though it will be tried, and there is no fee unless we win.
