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Washington state has one of the highest rates of uninsured drivers in the country. According to the Insurance Information Institute, about 19% of Washington drivers had no insurance in 2023. A driver who does have insurance may only carry the state minimum of $25,000 per person, which may not cover the medical bills and lost income from a serious injury.
If the driver who hit you had no insurance or not enough of it, you can recover through the uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage on your own auto policy. The attorney you choose to pursue your UM/UIM claim can affect how much you recover.
You're dealing with an injury and the bills that come with it, and you need a lawyer who will fight for the full benefits you're owed so you can heal and get back to your life. Freeman Law Firm has recovered millions for injured victims across Washington. Call our Tacoma uninsured motorist attorneys at (253) 383-4500 for a free consultation. You'll pay nothing unless we obtain financial recovery on your behalf.
Washington law treats uninsured and underinsured drivers as one group. RCW 48.22.030(1) defines an "underinsured motor vehicle" to include a vehicle with no liability insurance at all, as well as a vehicle whose insurance limits are lower than the damages you're entitled to recover. Your UM/UIM coverage can apply to you, a family member or your designated driver, according to the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
Your UM coverage applies when no liability policy covered the at-fault driver at the time of the crash. It also applies to hit-and-run crashes and to crashes caused by a phantom vehicle that forces you off the road without making contact. Before your UM claim goes forward, we check whether any liability policy covered the other driver on the day of the crash.
If an uninsured driver causes a crash on Highway 512 that leaves you with $200,000 in medical bills, and your UM limit is $100,000, your UM coverage can pay up to $100,000.
Your UIM coverage applies when the at-fault driver has insurance but the policy limits are lower than your damages. Washington requires drivers to carry only $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash in bodily injury coverage (RCW 46.29.090), and the medical care and lost income from a serious injury can cost far more.
For example, say a driver on I-5 causes a crash that leaves you with $150,000 in medical bills and lost income:
Your UM/UIM limits match the liability limits on your policy unless you reject all or part of the coverage (RCW 48.22.030(3)). A named insured or spouse has to reject the coverage in writing (RCW 48.22.030(4)). Your declarations page lists your UM/UIM limits.
At Freeman Law Firm, we start by reviewing your declarations page and every auto policy in your household, since another policy in the household may also cover you.
A UIM claim comes in two parts. First you make a claim against the at-fault driver's insurance company, and then you make a claim against your own UIM coverage for the losses the at-fault driver's policy doesn't cover.
After a crash with an uninsured or underinsured driver, the following steps help protect your UM/UIM claim.
The UM/UIM rules for your claim can change with how the crash happened and where you were when you were hit.
Washington's UM/UIM statute covers injuries caused by a hit-and-run driver (RCW 48.22.030(2)). When the other driver can't be found, video from traffic cameras or businesses along I-5, SR-167 and Highway 512, witness names, a partial plate number and dashcam footage can help show how the crash happened.
A phantom vehicle is an unidentified vehicle that forces you into a crash without making contact. Your UM coverage applies to a phantom vehicle crash when two things are true (RCW 48.22.030(8)):
A witness with no claim of their own, dashcam video or footage from a nearby camera can provide the evidence.
If you were a passenger in a rideshare accident caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver, Washington requires the rideshare coverage to include UIM coverage of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident from the time you get in the vehicle until you get out (RCW 46.72B.180).
When the at-fault driver is from Oregon, Idaho or another state, your Washington UM/UIM coverage can apply if the driver's policy limits are lower than your damages. Which state's law governs the coverage can also affect your claim.
Your UM/UIM coverage protects the people insured under your policy, so it can apply when an uninsured or underinsured driver hits you while you're walking, riding a bike or riding in someone else's car. If you were a passenger, the driver's policy and your own policy may both provide UM/UIM coverage, subject to policy terms on how the two combine.
In a UM/UIM claim, the adjuster reviewing your claim works for your insurance company and can dispute what you're owed the same way the at-fault driver's insurance company would. The following are tactics an adjuster may use and how our attorneys respond:
Your policy may call for arbitration when you and your insurance company disagree about fault or the amount of your damages. In arbitration, an arbitrator reviews the records, hears from experts and issues an award.
For Tacoma crashes, disputes that need a judge can go to Pierce County Superior Court, including bad faith or IFCA claims against your insurance company and requests to confirm, vacate or change an arbitration award. We choose between arbitration and a lawsuit when your policy allows a choice, based on which one gives your claim a better chance at full payment.
You can sue an uninsured driver, but a judgment against a driver with no insurance may go unpaid if the driver has no money or property to collect from. We do an asset check on the uninsured driver to see whether a lawsuit could collect anything, and in our experience, uninsured drivers usually don't have enough assets to cover serious medical bills. Your UM/UIM coverage pays from your own policy, up to your limits.
Washington's Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA) lets you sue your insurance company when it unreasonably denies your claim or payment of benefits (RCW 48.30.015). Before you sue, you have to give written notice to your insurance company and the Washington State Insurance Commissioner at least 20 days ahead. If you win, the judge can increase the award to up to three times your actual damages and has to award attorney fees and litigation costs.
We send IFCA notice when your insurance company unreasonably denies or underpays your UM/UIM claim.
Read our guide “Unveiling Insurance Companies’ Compensation Traps” to learn more about insurance company tactics.
The cost of a serious injury can go past your UM/UIM limit, and other coverage may pay part of the difference:
At Freeman Law Firm, we plan how your medical bills get paid from the start of your case. A single hospital bill can use up your PIP, so we push to have the first hospital bill sent to your health insurance and save your PIP for doctor visits and physical therapy. When bills are left over, we negotiate with your medical providers to put off payment until your case ends.
When PIP pays your bills and you later recover through your UM/UIM claim, your insurance company can reduce your UM/UIM payment by the PIP it paid if your policy allows it, so you aren't paid twice for the same bills. Washington limits the reduction in two ways. Your insurance company can take the reduction only after you're fully compensated for your losses, and it has to pay its share of the attorney fees and costs you spent to get the UM/UIM recovery (Winters v. State Farm, 144 Wn.2d 869 (2001); Hamm v. State Farm, 151 Wn.2d 303 (2004)).
We check any PIP offset your insurance company takes against both limits before your settlement is paid out.
You generally have three years from the crash to sue the at-fault driver for your injuries, which is Washington's statute of limitations for personal injury cases (RCW 4.16.080).
Your UM/UIM claim against your own insurance company has a separate six-year deadline, because the claim is based on your insurance policy, which is a written contract (RCW 4.16.040). The six years start when your insurance company breaches the policy, for example by refusing to arbitrate your claim, and the Washington Supreme Court held that the policy terms in Safeco Ins. Co. v. Barcom, 112 Wn.2d 575 (1989), didn't replace the six-year deadline. Our car accident attorneys read your policy against Washington law and set a timeline for notice and filing so neither deadline passes.
The following questions can help you compare lawyers for a UM or UIM claim, along with how Freeman Law Firm answers each one:
Yes. UIM coverage pays the damages you're legally entitled to recover from the at-fault driver, up to your UIM limit (RCW 48.22.030(2)). In Washington, the damages you can recover from an at-fault driver include pain and suffering along with medical bills and lost income.
The UM/UIM coverage on your auto policy may not cover you on a motorcycle, because Washington's UM/UIM requirement for auto policies has an exception for motorcycles (RCW 48.22.030(2)). Insurance agents have to offer UM/UIM coverage on motorcycle policies, according to the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, so check whether your motorcycle policy includes it after a motorcycle accident.
Your UM/UIM coverage may not apply. Washington's UM/UIM requirement has an exception for a vehicle owned by or available for regular use by you or a family member that isn't insured under your policy (RCW 48.22.030(2)). If the vehicle has its own auto policy, the UM/UIM coverage on the vehicle's policy may apply instead.
At Freeman Law Firm, your medical care comes first. We connect clients with trusted medical providers in our network, and if you need treatment right away, we can help you get a letter of protection, which lets your provider be paid from your settlement so you don't have to pay up front while your UM/UIM claim is pending.
Attorneys Spencer Freeman and Kim Shomer lead the firm on a people-first, business-second principle, and they'll fight your insurance company for every dollar of UM/UIM coverage your policy provides. Call (253) 383-4500 for a free consultation. You'll pay nothing unless we obtain financial recovery on your behalf.