Fact-Checked: Why Trust Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima If there is one piece of advice I give friends and family since becoming a personal injury attorney, it is this: carry high uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. It is one of the most important protections you can buy for yourself and your family.
You can drive carefully, follow every traffic law, and still suffer life-changing injuries because someone else makes a careless decision. When that happens, the amount of insurance available can have an enormous effect on your ability to recover financially.
You cannot choose how much insurance the driver next to you carries. You can choose how much protection you purchase before a crash.
Ohio’s minimum insurance limits can leave a serious gap
Ohio’s minimum automobile liability insurance limits are $25,000 for bodily injury or death per person, $50,000 for bodily injury or death per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. These limits are commonly written as 25/50/25.
The $50,000 bodily injury limit is shared among everyone injured in the crash, subject to the $25,000 limit for each person. The separate property damage coverage does not increase the money available for injuries.
Consider what a serious injury can involve: emergency treatment, surgery, rehabilitation, time away from work, and lasting limitations. A driver can carry the legally required insurance while having nowhere near enough coverage to compensate someone for those losses.
What is the difference between UM and UIM?
Uninsured motorist coverage, or UM, can protect you when the driver responsible for your injuries has no applicable liability insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage, or UIM, can protect you when the available liability coverage is too low, subject to Ohio’s coverage rules and your policy.
Depending on the policy and claim, these coverages can help compensate for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other covered injury losses.
Having “full coverage” does not answer the question
“Full coverage” is not a reliable description of your protection. Someone may use that phrase because they have liability, collision, and comprehensive coverage, without knowing whether they also have UM/UIM.
Ohio does not require a policy to include UM/UIM, and insurers are not required to offer it. Check your declarations page and ask your agent to confirm both the coverage and its limits.
Ohio’s UIM offset makes higher limits especially important
In Ohio, UIM generally does not simply add its full limit to the other driver’s liability coverage. Available liability payments reduce the UIM limit.
For a simplified example, assume one injured person, sufficient proven damages, no other applicable coverage, and a covered claim. If the responsible driver has $25,000 available and you have a $100,000 UIM limit, your UIM coverage will be subtracted by the responsible driver’s $25,000 liability policy. Meaning that you will get a total recovery of $100,000, instead of $125,000.
Note: Kentucky allows you to stack at-fault parties coverage and your UIM coverage.
What if the driver has no insurance—or leaves the scene?
An uninsured driver may still be personally liable, but a judgment is only useful if there are assets or income available to collect. UM coverage gives you another potential source of recovery.
A hit-and-run can also support an Ohio UM claim when the driver cannot be identified, but independent corroborating evidence is required. Your account alone, without supporting evidence, may be insufficient. Witness information, video, photographs, and other evidence can matter. Report the crash promptly and preserve what you can safely obtain. Also, contacting an attorney immediately can allow them to send out preservation letters and obtain evidence that can help prove your claim and losses.
How much coverage should you buy?
My advice is to ask for quotes on substantially higher UM/UIM limits and buy the highest limits you can reasonably afford. Compare options such as $250,000/$500,000 or a $500,000 combined single limit, if available. Ask about matching your liability limits and whether additional UM/UIM protection is available through an umbrella or excess policy. Do not assume an umbrella includes it.
The right amount depends on your circumstances, available policies, and budget. People often fear getting higher coverage because they believe it will cost them significantly more per month on their bill. However, UM/UIM coverage is typically an inexpensive and affordable way to protect yourself. A serious injury can affect years of earnings and create care needs long after the initial hospital bills are paid.