Updated June 2026
What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage Insurance?
Uninsured motorist coverage (UM) activates when another driver causes an accident and either carries no insurance or their liability limits are too low to cover your damages. It pays your medical expenses, lost wages, vehicle repair costs, and pain and suffering up to your selected limit. The coverage splits into two components: uninsured motorist bodily injury (UMBI) covers medical bills and injury-related costs, while uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) covers vehicle repair or replacement.
- You're stopped at a red light when an uninsured driver rear-ends you at 35 mph. You suffer whiplash requiring $8,400 in medical treatment, miss two weeks of work losing $2,100 in wages, and your vehicle sustains $5,200 in damage. If you carry $50,000/$100,000 UM bodily injury and $25,000 UM property damage, your policy pays all $15,700 in documented losses. Without UM coverage, you're left suing the at-fault driver personally—a process that typically costs $3,000–$7,000 in legal fees and rarely recovers full damages from an uninsured defendant.
- Another driver runs a stop sign and T-bones your vehicle. You sustain $45,000 in medical bills and $12,000 in vehicle damage. The at-fault driver carries only Washington's minimum $25,000 bodily injury liability. Their insurer pays their $25,000 limit, leaving you $20,000 short on medical bills alone. If you carry $100,000 UM bodily injury coverage, your policy pays the $20,000 gap after the at-fault driver's liability exhausts. Your UM property damage then covers the vehicle repair after subtracting what the other driver's property damage liability paid.
- Your parked vehicle is sideswiped overnight. The at-fault driver flees and is never identified. Repair costs total $4,800. Most UM property damage policies require identifying the at-fault driver to pay out—without a license plate, police report with vehicle description, or witness statement, the claim is denied. Collision coverage would pay this claim regardless of whether the at-fault driver is identified, minus your deductible.
Who Needs Uninsured Motorist Coverage Insurance?
Suspended license drivers reinstating in Washington should strongly consider UM coverage because you're statistically more likely to encounter uninsured drivers in the risk pools you'll share post-reinstatement. If you're filing SR-22 after a DUI, lapse, or excessive points violation, you'll typically be assigned to non-standard carriers whose customer base includes higher uninsured motorist rates than standard market averages. Once reinstated, one accident with an uninsured driver could trigger another suspension cycle if you're stuck with unpaid medical bills or vehicle damage you can't afford to repair.
Calculate your out-of-pocket exposure: multiply 13% (Washington's uninsured driver rate) by your annual collision risk based on miles driven, then estimate medical and vehicle damage costs you couldn't absorb from savings. If that figure exceeds $5,000 and you don't have health insurance or collision coverage, UM is worth the $10–$18/month cost. If you're reinstating on a tight budget, prioritize UM bodily injury first—medical bills bankrupt far more drivers than vehicle repair costs do.
How Much Does Uninsured Motorist Coverage Insurance Cost?
Uninsured motorist coverage adds $8–$18 per month ($96–$216 annually) to a Washington liability-only policy for minimum UM limits matching state liability minimums of $25,000 bodily injury per person.
- UM bodily injury limits—$25,000/$50,000 costs roughly $10/month; increasing to $100,000/$300,000 adds $15–$22/month
- Your ZIP code's uninsured motorist rate—King County averages 11% uninsured drivers while Spokane County averages 16%, raising UM premiums 20–30%
- Whether you add UM property damage—adding UMPD to cover vehicle repair typically costs an additional $3–$7/month
- Stacking provisions if you insure multiple vehicles—stacked UM allows combining limits across all vehicles on your policy, raising premiums 15–40% but multiplying available coverage
- Your base liability limits—carriers price UM as a percentage add-on to liability premium, so higher liability limits increase UM cost proportionally