UNINSURED MOTORISTS








Photos: Elena Michaels


Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage reimburses policyholders in an accident involving an uninsured, underinsured or hit-and-run driver. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have mandatory requirements for uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. A handful of states, including Texas and Utah, have passed laws and begun to develop and implement online auto insurance verification systems to identify uninsured motorists.

In 2009, 13.8 percent of motorists, or about one in 7 drivers, were uninsured according to a 2011 study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC). This marks a drop from 2008 when the percentage rose to 14.3 percent after declining for four straight years. The study found that the uninsured motorist problem varies greatly from state to state. At the extremes, Mississippi had the highest uninsured motorist ratio, at 28
percent, and Massachusetts had the lowest, at 4.5 percent.

The IRC measures the number of uninsured motorists based on insurance claims using a ratio of insurance claims made by people who were injured by uninsured drivers relative to the claims made by people who were injured by insured drivers. The study attributes the brief rise in the national rate in 2008 to the economic downturn.

UNINSURED MOTORISTS, 1990-2009 (1)

Year
Percent
1990
15.4%
1991
15.1
1992
15.6
1993
16.0
1994
15.1
1995
14.2
1996
13.8
1997
13.2
1998
13.0
1999
12.7
2000
13.4
2001
14.2
2002
14.5
2003
14.9
2004
14.6
2005
14.5
2006
14.3
2007
13.8
2008
14.3
2009
13.8

(1) Percentage of uninsured drivers, as measured by the ratio of uninsured motorists (UM) claims to bodily injury (BI) claims frequencies.

Source: Insurance Research Council.


TOP TEN HIGHEST AND LOWEST STATES BASED ON ESTIMATED PERCENTAGE OF
UNINSURED MOTORISTS, 2009 (1)

Rank Highest Percent uninsured Rank Lowest Percent uninsured
1
 Mississippi
28.0%
1
 Massachusetts
4.5%
2
 New Mexico
25.7
2
 Maine
4.5
3
 Tennessee
23.9
3
 New York
5.4
4
 Oklahoma
23.9
4
 Pennsylvania
6.6
5
 Florida
23.5
5
 Vermont
7.1
6
 Alabama
21.8
6
 Nebraska
7.8
7
 Michigan
19.5
7
 Idaho
7.9
8
 Kentucky
17.8
8
 Utah
8.2
9
 Rhode Island
17.6
9
 South Dakota
8.6
10
 Indiana
16.3
10
 North Dakota
9.1

(1) Percentage of uninsured drivers, as measured by the ratio of uninsured motorists (UM) claims to bodily injury (BI) claims frequencies.

Source: Insurance Research Council.


 

ESTIMATED PERCENTAGE OF UNINSURED MOTORISTS BY STATE, 2009 (1)

State
Uninsured
Rank (2)
 State
Uninsured
Rank (2)
Alabama
21.8%
5
 Montana
11.4%
25
Alaska
13.0
21
 Nebraska
7.8
38
Arizona
11.9
23
 Nevada
13.2
20
Arkansas
16.0
11
 New Hampshire
10.9
27
California
15.0
15
 New Jersey
11.2
26
Colorado
15.2
14
 New Mexico
25.7
2
Connecticut
9.5
33
 New York
5.4
41
Delaware
10.8
28
 North Carolina
13.5
19
D.C.
15.3
13
 North Dakota
9.1
34
Florida (3)
23.5
4
 Ohio
15.7
12
Georgia
15.7
12
 Oklahoma
23.9
3
Hawaii
11.2
26
 Oregon
10.4
30
Idaho
7.9
37
 Pennsylvania
6.6
40
Illinois
14.9
16
 Rhode Island
17.6
8
Indiana
16.3
9
 South Carolina
10.7
29
Iowa
11.5
24
 South Dakota
8.6
35
Kansas
9.8
32
 Tennessee
23.9
3
Kentucky
17.8
7
 Texas
14.9
16
Louisiana
12.9
22
 Utah
8.2
36
Maine
4.5
42
 Vermont
7.1
39
Maryland
14.9
16
 Virginia
10.8
28
Massachusetts
4.5
42
 Washington
16.1
10
Michigan
19.5
6
 West Virginia
10.8
28
Minnesota
13.0
21
 Wisconsin
14.6
17
Mississippi
28.0
1
 Wyoming
10.3
31
Missouri
13.7
18
      

(1) Percentage of uninsured drivers, as measured by the ratio of uninsured motorists (UM) claims to bodily injury (BI) claims frequencies.

(2) Rank calculated from unrounded data.

(3) In Florida, compulsory auto laws apply to PIP and physical damage, but not to third party bodily injury coverage.

Source: Insurance Research Council.

AUTOMOBILE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY LIMITS AND ENFORCEMENT BY STATE

 State
 Insurance required (1)
Minimum liability limits (2)
Insurer verification of insurance (3)
AL
BI & PD Liab
25/50/25
c, d*
AK
BI & PD Liab
50/100/25
a
AZ
BI & PD Liab
15/30/10
a, b
AR
BI & PD Liab, PIP
25/50/25
b, d
CA
BI & PD Liab
15/30/5 (4)
a, b, d
CO
BI & PD Liab
25/50/15
a, d
CT
BI & PD Liab
20/40/10
a
DE
BI & PD Liab, PIP
15/30/10
a, b, c, d
DC
BI & PD Liab, UM
25/50/10
a, c
FL
PD Liab, PIP
10/20/10 (5)
a, d
GA
BI & PD Liab
25/50/25
a, d
HI
BI & PD Liab, PIP
20/40/10
a
ID
BI & PD Liab
25/50/15
none
IL
BI & PD Liab, UM
20/40/15
a, b, c
IN
BI & PD Liab
25/50/10
a
IA
BI & PD Liab
20/40/15
a
KS
BI & PD Liab, PIP, UM
25/50/10
a,c
KY
BI & PD Liab, PIP
25/50/10 (5)
a, d
LA
BI & PD Liab
15/30/25
a, d
ME
BI & PD Liab, UM, UIM 
50/100/25 (6)
b
MD
BI & PD Liab, PIP (7), UM, UIM
30/60/15
a
MA
BI & PD Liab, PIP, UM, UIM
20/40/5
a, d
MI
BI & PD Liab, PIP
20/40/10
a
MN
BI & PD Liab, PIP, UM, UIM
30/60/10
a, c
MS
BI & PD Liab
25/50/25
a
MO
BI & PD Liab, UM
25/50/10
a, c, d
MT
BI & PD Liab
25/50/10
a
NE
BI & PD Liab, UM, UIM
25/50/25
a, b
NV
BI & PD Liab
15/30/10
a, d
NH
FR only, UM
25/50/25 (6)
a
NJ
BI & PD Liab, PIP, UM, UIM
15/30/5 (8)
a, d
NM
BI & PD Liab
25/50/10
a, c
NY
BI & PD Liab, PIP, UM
25/50/10 (9)
a, d
NC
BI & PD Liab, UM, UIM (10)
30/60/25
a, d
ND
BI & PD Liab, PIP, UM, UIM
25/50/25
c
OH
BI & PD Liab
12.5/25/7.5
a, c
OK
BI & PD Liab
25/50/25
a, c, d
OR
BI & PD Liab, PIP, UM, UIM (11)
25/50/20
a, c
PA
BI & PD Liab, PIP
15/30/5
a
RI
BI & PD Liab
25/50/25 (5)
c
SC
BI & PD Liab, UM
25/50/25
a, d
SD
BI & PD Liab, UM, UIM
25/50/25
a
TN
BI & PD Liab
25/50/15 (5)
a, d
TX
BI & PD Liab
30/60/25
a, d
UT
BI & PD Liab, PIP
25/65/15 (5)
d
VT
BI & PD Liab, UM, UIM
25/50/10
c
VA
BI & PD Liab (12), UM, UIM
25/50/20
a, b, c, d
WA
BI & PD Liab
25/50/10
a
WV
BI & PD Liab, UM
20/40/10
a
WI
BI & PD Liab, UM, UIM
25/50/10
a
WY
BI & PD Liab
25/50/20
c, d

(1) Compulsory Coverages:

BI Liab=Bodily injury liability
PD Liab=Property damage liability
UM=Uninsured motorist
PD=Physical damage
Med=First party (policyholder) medical expenses
UIM=Underinsured motorist
PIP=Personal Injury Protection. Mandatory in no-fault states. Includes medical, rehabilitation, loss of earnings and funeral expenses.
In some states PIP includes essential services such as child care.
FR=Financial responsibility only. Insurance not compulsory.


(2) The first two numbers refer to bodily injury liability limits and the third number to property liability. For example, 20/40/10 means coverage up to $40,000 for all persons injured in an accident, subject to a limit of $20,000 for one individual, and $10,000 coverage for property damage.

(3) a. Insurer must notify Department of Motor Vehicles or other state agency of cancellation or nonrenewal.
b. Insurer must verify financial responsibility or insurance after an accident or arrest.
c.Insurer must verify randomly selected insurance policies upon request.
d. Insurers must submit entire list of insurance in effect, which may be compared with registrations at a state agency. Also known as a computer data law. Also includes cases where insurers are required to report new issues and/or renewals.

(4) Low-cost policy limits for low-income drivers in the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan are 10/20/3.

(5) Instead of policy limits, policyholders can satisfy the requirement with a combined single limit policy. Amounts vary by state.

(6) In addition, policyholders must also carry at least $1,000 for medical payments.

(7) May be waived for the policyholder but is compulsory for passengers.

(8) Basic policy (optional) limits are 10/10/5. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage not available under the basic policy but uninsured motorist coverage is required under the standard policy.

(9) In addition, policyholders must have 50/100 for wrongful death coverage.

(10) Mandatory in policies with UM limits exceeding 30/60.

(11) Mandatory when UM liability limit is greater than required FR.

(12) Compulsory to buy insurance or pay an Uninsured Motorists Vehicle (UMV) fee to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

*Effective January 1, 2013.

Source: Property Casualty Insurers Association of America; state departments of insurance and motor vehicles.