Underinsured Motorist Coverage in California: Why Your Own Policy May Matter Most

One of the hardest conversations I have with injured clients starts with a simple fact: the driver who hit them only carried the minimum insurance required by California law. As of January 1, 2025, that minimum is $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage under Senate Bill 1107, up from $15,000. That is a real improvement. It is also nowhere near enough when someone suffers a serious injury. In the cases I handle in San Diego and Kern counties, the coverage question decides more outcomes than most people expect, and it is usually decided by policies bought long before the crash.

This is where your own insurance policy becomes the most important coverage you own. It is called underinsured motorist coverage, often shortened to UIM, and most drivers have no idea what it does until they need it.

What underinsured motorist coverage does

When the at-fault driver’s insurance is not enough to cover your damages, your underinsured motorist coverage steps in to fill the gap, up to the limits you purchased. It is part of your own auto policy, and you make the claim against your own insurance company.

A common misunderstanding: this coverage does not raise the other driver’s limits. It is a separate source of recovery that belongs to you. If the other driver carries the $30,000 minimum and your damages are $150,000, their carrier pays its $30,000 and your UIM coverage can respond for the remainder, subject to your UIM limits.

You must resolve the underlying claim first

In California, you generally cannot pursue your underinsured motorist claim until the claim against the at-fault driver is resolved. In practice, that means accepting the defendant’s policy limits first. Accepting those limits is a prerequisite, not an option. Only then does your UIM claim move forward.

This sequencing matters because it affects strategy. Your attorney needs to evaluate the full picture, the defendant’s limits, your UIM limits, liens, and costs, before advising you to accept anything.

Why I advise carrying as much UIM coverage as you can afford

You cannot control what insurance the driver who hits you carries. California still has a significant number of drivers with minimum limits or no insurance at all. The one policy you do control is your own.

When I review a client’s case and find they carry only minimum UIM coverage, or rejected it entirely to save on premiums, it limits what I can recover for them through no fault of their own. The additional premium for meaningful UIM limits is small compared to the protection it buys. If you take one piece of advice from this post, it is this: call your agent and check your underinsured motorist limits today. If they are at the minimum, raise them.

Check your declarations page

Your declarations page lists every coverage on your policy and its limit. Look for “uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury” and note the per-person and per-accident figures. If you cannot find it, or the numbers are at the state minimum, that is a conversation worth having with your insurance agent this week, not after a crash.

Attorney Q&A: Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Why do you tell people to carry as much underinsured motorist coverage as they can afford?

Because the other driver’s coverage is the one thing you cannot control. Plenty of California drivers carry only the state minimum, and when I work through a low-limits case, whether it is worth pursuing comes down to lien reductions and what my client actually nets. Even a negotiated recovery is often inadequate for a serious injury. Your own UIM coverage is the protection you choose for yourself before anything happens.

Do you have to settle with the at-fault driver before making a UIM claim?

Yes. Accepting the defendant’s policy limits is a requirement before you can pursue your own underinsured motorist coverage. That sequencing is one reason the settlement with the other driver has to be handled carefully, because it opens the door to the UIM claim.

The driver who hit me only has the minimum policy. What does that actually pay?

Since January 1, 2025, California’s minimum limits under Senate Bill 1107 are $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage. If your damages are $150,000 and the other driver carries the $30,000 minimum, their carrier pays $30,000. Your UIM coverage is what can respond for the rest, up to the limits you bought.

What if I only carry minimum UIM coverage, or turned it down?

Then it limits what I can recover for you, through no fault of your own. I see it when I review a client’s policy after a crash: they rejected the coverage or kept it at the minimum to save on premiums, and there is no way to fix that after the fact. Check your declarations page now, while you can still change it.

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