You did everything right. You paid your premiums. Then a driver with no insurance, or with nowhere near enough, hit you. Now what?
In many cases, the answer is your own policy. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, often called UM and UIM, is there for exactly this situation. The catch is that once you make that claim, your own insurance company starts acting like the other side.
Tennessee’s minimum coverage is low
Tennessee drivers only have to carry $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage. A single night in the hospital can use up $25,000. If you were seriously hurt, the at-fault driver’s policy may be gone almost immediately.
You may have more coverage than you think
Under Tennessee law, every auto policy issued in the state must include uninsured motorist coverage equal to its bodily injury liability limits unless the named insured rejected it, or chose lower limits, in writing. If your insurance company can’t produce a valid written rejection, the coverage may be there.
Other policies in your household, and the policy on the vehicle you were riding in, can also matter. Tennessee generally does not allow stacking coverage from multiple policies, so the order of coverage matters too. I read every policy.
Hit-and-run wrecks
If the driver who hit you fled and was never identified, you may still have a UM claim. Tennessee law has special proof requirements for unknown drivers, including either physical contact with the other vehicle or clear and convincing evidence of the other driver from someone other than the people in your car, plus a timely report to police. Report a hit-and-run right away and write down every witness.
Common UM and UIM problems
- Your insurer disputes how badly you were hurt
- Your insurer argues you rejected coverage
- Notice and consent-to-settle requirements in the policy
- Offsets and credits the insurer claims against your recovery
- The at-fault driver’s insurer offers its limits and your insurer has to be notified before you accept
Accepting the at-fault driver’s limits the wrong way can hurt your UIM claim. Call before you sign anything.
The other driver had $25,000. My client got $440,000.
My client was T-boned on Old Stage Road in Gray. She suffered a compression fracture in her back and later needed spine surgery. The other driver carried only $25,000 in coverage, the kind of number that makes most people think the case is over.
It was not. I fought her own insurance company over her underinsured motorist coverage, and it paid $410,000 on top of the other driver’s $25,000 limit. With a $5,000 medical payments waiver, the total value came to $440,000.
Every case is different. A past result does not guarantee the same outcome in your case.
“Don’t wait. Call Bates.”
Hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver? Call or text Robert at (423) 765-1215. Free consultation, no fee unless we win.