What Is Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Virginia?

Many people have no idea what uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is, and most don’t even realize they have it on their own auto policy. In simple terms, UM/UIM coverage is insurance you carry on your own policy that protects you if you’re hurt in a car crash caused by a driver who has no insurance at all, or not enough insurance to cover your injuries.

If you have a Virginia auto insurance policy, you have this coverage. Virginia law requires it. But most drivers never check the actual dollar amounts sitting behind that coverage, and that’s often the difference between a fair recovery and a serious financial shortfall after a crash.

Virginia’s Minimum Coverage Requirements

Every Virginia driver is required to carry minimum liability limits of:

• $50,000 bodily injury per person
• $100,000 bodily injury per accident
• $25,000 property damage per accident

This is commonly written as 50/100/25. Real insurance coverage is mandatory for every registered vehicle in Virginia; there is no fee you can pay instead of carrying a policy.

UM/UIM Coverage Matches Your Liability Limits by Default

Under Virginia Code Section 38.2-2206, your UM/UIM coverage automatically matches your liability limits unless you specifically sign a written rejection to reduce it. So if you carry the state minimum of 50/100/25 in liability coverage, your UM/UIM coverage is also 50/100/25 by default.

That sounds like solid protection on paper. In practice, serious injuries can quickly exceed those numbers, especially once surgery, extended treatment, lost wages, and pain and suffering are added up. Carrying only the state minimum can still leave you underinsured relative to what a serious crash actually costs.

Example

Consider a driver who is seriously injured in a crash and requires shoulder surgery. Her medical bills alone total $125,000. The at-fault driver carries the state minimum, $50,000 in bodily injury coverage per person. When the injured driver checks her own policy, she discovers she also carries only the state minimum for UM/UIM coverage, another $50,000.

Because her UIM coverage is no longer reduced by the at-fault driver’s liability payout—a change explained below—she is not limited to a single $50,000 recovery. She can potentially recover the full $50,000 from the at-fault driver’s policy and then look to her own $50,000 UIM policy to help cover the remaining medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Even with both policies, however, the combined $100,000 would still leave her at least $25,000 short of her medical bills alone, with nothing available for lost wages or pain and suffering. Without the additional UIM coverage, that shortfall would be even greater.

Higher limits change this picture significantly. If she had carried $100,000 in UIM coverage instead of the minimum, she could potentially have had a total of $150,000 available from both policies, providing substantially more protection for her medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.

UIM Coverage Now Stacks Instead of Being Reduced

One of the most important protections in Virginia’s current law involves how your UIM coverage interacts with the at-fault driver’s insurance. Your insurer is no longer allowed to automatically subtract the at-fault driver’s liability payout from your UIM benefits unless you specifically elect that reduction in writing. This means your UIM coverage can pay out in addition to the at-fault driver’s coverage, rather than being offset by it, giving injured Virginians access to significantly more of the coverage they’ve actually paid for.

Insurers Can Be Held Accountable for Bad-Faith Claims Handling

Virginia law now allows policyholders to hold their own insurance company accountable if it acts in bad faith while handling a UM/UIM claim. This gives claimants real leverage when an insurer delays, lowballs, or denies a legitimate claim without justification. Virginia lawmakers have also continued refining the rules around how underinsured motorist claims are settled and how insurers coordinate after a settlement, adding more structure and predictability to the claims process.

The Bottom Line: Check Your Actual Coverage

Don’t assume “full coverage” means you’re adequately protected. Ask your insurance agent for the exact numbers on your declarations page, both your liability limits and your UM/UIM limits, and don’t assume they’re higher than the state minimum just because you’re paying a certain premium.

Given how quickly serious injury costs can climb, we recommend carrying at least $100,000 in liability and UM/UIM coverage where your budget allows, often for a relatively small increase in premium. That extra coverage can make a real difference if you or a family member is ever seriously hurt by an underinsured or uninsured driver.