Auto FAQs

What is uninsured motorist (UM) coverage?

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Quick answer: Pays your medical bills and lost wages when you are hit by an uninsured driver. Critical because about 1 in 8 US drivers is uninsured.

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays your medical bills, lost wages, and other damages when a driver with no insurance causes a crash that injures you. Most policies pair it with underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage, which fills the gap when an at-fault driver has some insurance but not enough to cover what you lost.

What does uninsured motorist coverage pay for?

Georgia law requires every driver to carry liability coverage, but legal requirements and actual compliance are different things. A meaningful share of drivers on Georgia roads carry no coverage at all, and many more carry only the state minimum. When one of them causes a serious crash, UM and UIM coverage is what stands between you and unpaid bills.

UM and UIM coverage generally applies to:

  • Medical bills and follow-up care from injuries you or your passengers sustain in the crash
  • Lost wages if the injury keeps you out of work during recovery
  • Pain and suffering damages
  • In some cases, damage to your vehicle, depending on how your policy is structured

Why does Georgia’s minimum liability limit matter for UM coverage?

Even drivers who do carry insurance often carry very little of it. Georgia’s legal minimum is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per incident for bodily injury liability. A single ambulance ride, emergency room visit, and short hospital stay can exceed $25,000 on its own. A serious injury with surgery, rehabilitation, and weeks off work can run far beyond what a minimum-limit policy ever pays. UIM coverage is what closes that gap.

For example, a rear-end collision in Atlanta that sends a driver to the hospital with a broken vertebra and two weeks in recovery can easily generate $80,000 in medical bills and lost wages. If the at-fault driver carried Georgia’s $25,000 per person minimum, UIM coverage with a $100,000 limit would pay the remaining $55,000 that the at-fault driver’s policy cannot reach.

What is the difference between add-on and reduced UM coverage in Georgia?

Georgia law offers two structures for UM coverage: add-on and reduced (also called difference in limits). With add-on UM, your coverage sits on top of whatever the at-fault driver carries. With reduced UM, your carrier subtracts what the at-fault driver’s policy pays before applying your UM limit. The two structures can produce very different payouts from an identical limit, so the structure matters as much as the dollar amount you choose.

For example, if you carry $100,000 in UM coverage and the at-fault driver pays $25,000 from their own policy: under add-on UM you collect $125,000 total, while under reduced UM you collect only $100,000 total. The same UM limit produces a $25,000 difference in what you receive, purely because of the structure chosen at policy inception.

Can Georgia drivers stack UM coverage across multiple vehicles?

Most auto policies offer UM/UIM coverage in limits that mirror your liability limits, but you can often buy higher limits for modest additional premium. Stacking, carrying multiple vehicles on a policy and combining their UM limits, is available in Georgia under certain conditions and can increase the protection available after a serious crash.

How do you choose the right UM coverage level in Georgia?

A coverage review can walk you through which UM structure fits your situation, how high a limit makes sense given your income and medical exposure, and whether stacking is an option on your current policy. Schedule a coverage review with Olive Cover.