Imagine you are driving home through Cincinnati when another driver runs a red light and hits your vehicle.
The police arrive. The other driver is clearly at fault. Then comes the bad news: the driver does not have auto insurance.
You did everything right. You purchased insurance. You followed Ohio law. You were not responsible for the crash.
So who pays for your injuries?
That is exactly the kind of situation uninsured motorist coverage may be designed to address.
And it is not a purely hypothetical concern. Insurance Research Council data estimated that 18.5% of Ohio motorists were uninsured in 2023. Put another way, the estimate is roughly one uninsured motorist for every five or six drivers.
For Cincinnati-area drivers, understanding uninsured motorist coverage in Ohio is an important part of deciding how much protection you want for yourself and your household.
What is Uninsured Motorist Coverage?
Uninsured motorist coverage, commonly called UM coverage, can provide protection when you suffer covered bodily injuries caused by a driver who does not have applicable liability insurance.
In a typical accident, the at-fault driver’s bodily injury liability insurance is supposed to respond to covered injuries for which that driver is legally responsible, up to the applicable policy limits.
But that system assumes the at-fault driver actually has insurance.
When an uninsured driver causes an accident, there may be no liability insurance available from that driver to compensate you for your bodily injuries.
UM coverage can help fill that gap, subject to your policy’s limits, terms, conditions, and exclusions.
What is Underinsured Motorist Coverage?
Underinsured motorist coverage, or UIM, addresses a related but different problem.
Instead of having no insurance, the at-fault driver has liability insurance, but their available bodily injury liability limits are lower than your UIM limits and insufficient to fully address your covered damages.
Consider a simplified example.
Suppose another driver causes a serious accident in Cincinnati and you sustain $80,000 in covered bodily injury damages.
The at-fault driver carries Ohio’s minimum $25,000 bodily injury liability limit per person.
That leaves a substantial gap between your damages and the at-fault driver’s available liability coverage.
If you have applicable underinsured motorist coverage with higher limits, your UIM coverage may provide additional protection, subject to Ohio law and your policy’s terms and limits.
Ohio’s UIM coverage does not simply stack on top of the at-fault driver’s liability limit. The amount available under applicable bodily injury liability coverage reduces the protection available under the UIM limit.
The key point is that underinsured motorist coverage can help protect you when the person who caused your injuries has some insurance, but not enough relative to your own UIM limits.
UM vs. UIM: What is the Difference?
The easiest way to remember the difference is:
Uninsured motorist coverage: The at-fault driver has no applicable bodily injury liability insurance or meets another policy definition of an uninsured motorist.
Underinsured motorist coverage: The at-fault driver has applicable liability coverage, but the available limits are lower than your UIM limits.
You will often see the two discussed together as UM/UIM coverage Ohio drivers may choose to purchase.
Both coverages shift the conversation from “How much insurance did the other driver buy?” to “What protection did I choose for myself?”
That can be an important distinction.
Does Ohio Require Uninsured Motorist Coverage?
No.
This is an area where outdated insurance information can cause confusion.
Under current Ohio law, an auto insurance policy may include uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or both, but insurers are not required by state law to include or offer those coverages.
Ohio law also does not currently require every driver to sign a written rejection simply because UM/UIM coverage is not on the policy.
That makes it particularly important to review your own declarations page and discuss your available options with your insurance professional rather than assuming the coverage is automatically included.
Your policy may have UM/UIM coverage, or it may not.
The only way to know is to check.
Why Should Cincinnati Drivers Care About Uninsured Drivers?
Ohio requires motorists to maintain proof of financial responsibility, yet some motorists still drive without insurance.
The Insurance Research Council estimated that 18.5% of Ohio motorists were uninsured in 2023.
That estimate does not mean that exactly 18.5% of every group of drivers you encounter in Cincinnati is uninsured. It is a statewide estimate based on insurance claims data.
Still, it puts the risk into perspective.
Every time you drive on I-71, I-75, I-275, local streets, or anywhere else in the Cincinnati area, you share the road with drivers whose insurance decisions you cannot control.
You can drive carefully.
You can maintain your vehicle.
You can purchase appropriate liability limits.
You can avoid distractions.
What you cannot do is make every other driver maintain adequate insurance.
UM/UIM coverage is one way of managing that risk.
What Could Happen After an Uninsured Driver Accident in Ohio?
Consider another hypothetical example.
A Cincinnati driver is traveling through an intersection when an uninsured motorist turns into the driver’s path. The collision causes significant injuries.
The injured driver needs emergency treatment, diagnostic testing, follow-up appointments, physical therapy, and time away from work.
Assume the injured driver has $60,000 in damages that would otherwise qualify under applicable uninsured motorist coverage.
If the at-fault driver has no liability insurance, there is no at-fault auto insurer available to pay a bodily injury liability claim.
The injured driver could attempt to recover directly from the person who caused the accident. But a driver who does not have insurance may or may not have the financial resources to pay a substantial judgment.
If the injured driver has applicable uninsured motorist coverage, however, that coverage may provide a source of recovery up to the applicable policy limits and subject to policy terms.
Without it, the injured person could face a much more difficult financial situation.
What If the Other Driver Has Only Ohio’s Minimum Insurance?
This is where underinsured motorist coverage Cincinnati drivers purchase can become especially relevant.
Ohio’s minimum bodily injury liability requirement is $25,000 per injured person and $50,000 for bodily injury to two or more people in one accident.
Imagine that you are seriously injured by someone carrying the minimum limit.
If your covered bodily injury damages total $100,000, the at-fault driver’s $25,000 per-person limit is far below that amount.
Having insurance and having enough insurance are not the same thing.
Underinsured motorist coverage may provide additional protection when its requirements are satisfied, and your UIM limit exceeds the amount available from the responsible driver’s bodily injury liability coverage.
That is why drivers should think about both uninsured and underinsured motorists.
One protects against a driver with no applicable liability insurance. The other can address situations where the at-fault driver’s limits are inadequate compared with the UIM protection you selected.
Doesn’t My Health Insurance Cover My Injuries?
Health insurance and uninsured motorist coverage serve different purposes.
Your health insurance may help pay eligible medical expenses after an accident according to the health plan’s deductibles, copays, coinsurance, network rules, and other terms.
But bodily injury damages after a serious accident may extend beyond medical bills.
Depending on the circumstances and applicable coverage, a claim may involve lost wages, pain and suffering, or other legally recoverable damages.
Health insurance generally is not designed to compensate you for all of those losses.
That is why having health insurance does not necessarily make uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage unnecessary.
The coverages perform different jobs.
What About Damage to My Car?
Drivers should also avoid assuming bodily injury UM/UIM coverage automatically pays to repair their vehicle.
Ohio’s uninsured and underinsured motorist statute primarily addresses bodily injury coverage. Coverage for damage to your own vehicle can depend on the coverages you purchased and the circumstances of the claim.
Collision coverage, for example, is generally designed to help pay for covered damage to your vehicle resulting from a collision, subject to your deductible and policy terms.
This is another reason to look at your auto policy as a collection of coverages rather than one blanket promise that “everything is covered.”
Liability, collision, comprehensive, medical payments, and UM/UIM coverage can each serve different purposes.
How Much UM/UIM Coverage Should You Have?
The appropriate amount depends on your individual situation and the options available from your insurer.
A useful starting point is to ask yourself how much protection you would want if you or a family member were seriously injured by someone with little or no insurance.
You might consider:
- Your current UM/UIM limits, if any
- Your bodily injury liability limits
- The number of drivers in your household
- How frequently household members drive
- Your financial resources
- Your health insurance
- Your income and the potential effect of missed work
- Your overall tolerance for financial risk
The goal is not simply to add coverage because it exists.
The goal is to understand the exposure and make a deliberate decision about how much of that risk you are comfortable retaining.
Why Your Liability Limits Do Not Protect You From Someone Else
This is one of the most important concepts in auto insurance.
Suppose you carry $250,000 in bodily injury liability coverage.
That is valuable protection if you cause a covered accident and are legally responsible for someone else’s injuries.
But it does not force the person who hits you to carry $250,000.
The other driver might carry Ohio’s $25,000 minimum.
They might carry a higher limit.
Or they might carry no insurance at all.
Your liability limit protects you against claims made against you. UM/UIM coverage can provide protection for covered bodily injuries you suffer because of certain uninsured or underinsured drivers.
Both can be important, but they protect against different directions of risk.
Hit-and-Run Accidents Can Create Additional Questions
Drivers also commonly ask whether uninsured motorist coverage applies after a hit-and-run.
Ohio law and individual policy language include specific rules regarding uninsured motorists, including certain situations involving an unidentified driver.
These claims can be more complicated than a straightforward accident in which both drivers remain at the scene and exchange information.
If you are involved in a hit-and-run, report the incident to law enforcement promptly, document as much as possible, notify your insurer, and discuss how your specific coverage applies.
Do not assume that every hit-and-run claim will automatically be covered. Policy terms and the facts of the accident matter.
Check Your Policy Before You Need the Coverage
Many drivers do not know whether they have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
That is understandable. Auto insurance declarations pages can contain numerous abbreviations, limits, deductibles, vehicles, and endorsements.
But UM/UIM is worth finding.
Look at your declarations page and determine whether uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverage are listed. Then check the limits.
If you are unsure what you are looking at, ask your insurance professional to walk through it with you.
A five-minute conversation today is much easier than discovering after an accident that you misunderstood your coverage.
Protecting Yourself From a Risk You Cannot Control
You can choose how carefully you drive and how much insurance you buy. You cannot choose the insurance limits of the stranger approaching the next intersection.
That is what makes uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage worth considering.
With an estimated 18.5% of Ohio motorists uninsured in 2023, the possibility of encountering an uninsured driver is not something Cincinnati-area drivers should automatically dismiss. Add drivers who carry only relatively low liability limits, and the potential financial exposure becomes even clearer.
UM/UIM coverage can help shift some of that risk away from your household, subject to the policy you purchase.
Covella Insurance Partners can help Cincinnati and Blue Ash drivers review their existing auto policies, determine whether UM/UIM coverage is included, and understand the limits and options available to them. A simple policy review can help you make an informed decision before an uninsured or underinsured driver makes that decision matter.
Frequently Asked Questions About Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Ohio
Is uninsured motorist coverage required in Ohio?
No. Under current Ohio law, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is optional. Insurers may include or offer UM/UIM coverage, but Ohio law does not require every auto policy to contain it.
Does Ohio require me to reject uninsured motorist coverage in writing?
No. Current Ohio law does not impose a general requirement that every driver sign a written rejection of UM/UIM coverage. If you have seen information saying otherwise, it may reflect older Ohio law. Check your current policy and available options with your insurer or agent.
What is the difference between uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage?
Uninsured motorist coverage generally applies when an at-fault motorist has no applicable bodily injury liability insurance or otherwise qualifies as uninsured under the policy. Underinsured motorist coverage may apply when the responsible driver’s available bodily injury liability limits are lower than your UIM limits.
How many Ohio drivers are uninsured?
Insurance Research Council data estimated that 18.5% of Ohio motorists were uninsured in 2023. The estimate is based on the ratio of uninsured motorist claim frequency to bodily injury claim frequency and should be understood as a statewide estimate rather than a literal count of uninsured vehicles.
Will UM/UIM coverage pay for damage to my vehicle?
Do not assume bodily injury UM/UIM coverage pays for physical damage to your vehicle. Collision coverage or other applicable coverage may respond to vehicle damage depending on your policy and the circumstances. Review your specific coverages with your insurance professional.
Do I need UM/UIM coverage if I have good health insurance?
Health insurance can help with eligible medical expenses, but it serves a different purpose from UM/UIM coverage. Depending on the claim and policy, UM/UIM coverage may address legally recoverable bodily injury damages beyond what a health plan pays.