It’s a question I hear all the time in my office: “The person who hit me didn’t have insurance, or didn’t have nearly enough to cover what I’m dealing with. Am I just out of luck?”
The honest answer is: probably not, but what happens next depends entirely on steps you may not know to take. California has more uninsured drivers on the road than most states, and the law anticipated exactly this problem. The protection usually is not found in the other driver’s policy. It is found in yours.
Start With Your Own Policy: Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
California requires insurance companies to offer uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage with every auto policy, and most drivers carry it, often without realizing what it does. In simple terms:
- Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage steps in when the at-fault driver has no insurance at all.
- Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage steps in when the at-fault driver has insurance, but their policy limits aren’t enough to cover your medical bills, lost income, and other losses.
In both situations, you’re not filing a claim against the other driver’s nonexistent or inadequate policy. You ultimately going to make a claim against your own insurance company, under coverage you have likely been paying for all along.
What That Process Actually Looks Like
- Report the accident and put your insurer on notice promptly. Don’t wait. Notify your own carrier that you may have a UM/UIM claim, even while the investigation into the other driver is still underway.
- Pull your full policy. Get a copy of your declarations page and your UM/UIM endorsement. These documents spell out your coverage limits and, importantly, any internal deadlines for demanding arbitration, which can be shorter than you expect.
- Document everything. Medical records, wage-loss documentation, repair estimates, photos — the same kind of proof you’d gather for any injury claim. Your own insurer will scrutinize your UM/UIM claim closely, sometimes more closely than they’d scrutinize a third-party claim.
- Understand: in California, these claims are resolved through arbitration, not a lawsuit. An arbitrator, typically a retired judge, will decide your claim rather than a jury. The procedures are set out in your policy and in California Insurance Code section 11580.2.
Why This Catches So Many People Off Guard
Here’s what troubles me most about these cases: people often don’t realize they have UM/UIM coverage until they need it, and by then, they’ve sometimes already said or signed something to their own insurer that complicates the claim. Insurance companies are not your adversary in the way the other driver’s company is, but they are still a business evaluating how much to pay you. Treat the process with the same care and preparation you would in any injury claim.
The Bottom Line
Being hit by a driver with no insurance — or not enough of it — doesn’t mean you have no recourse. It means your path forward likely runs through your own policy, your own insurer, and a process with real deadlines and real complexity. The earlier you understand that path, the stronger your position.
If you’ve been injured by an uninsured or underinsured driver and aren’t sure where to start, call my office at (714) 673-6500 or visit juryattorney.com/contact-us/ for a consultation. Let’s look at your policy and your options together.
This post is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice about any specific situation. Every policy and every accident is different — readers facing this situation should have their policy and circumstances reviewed individually.
