A Virginia uninsured motorist claim is a claim against your own auto insurance for injuries caused by a driver who had no insurance, not enough insurance, or who could not be identified after a hit-and-run. Virginia requires every auto policy to include this coverage, so most people injured by an uninsured driver have a claim even if they never knew they had the coverage.
Blank Kim Injury Law handles uninsured motorist (UM), underinsured motorist (UIM) and hit-and-run claims across Northern Virginia from our Fairfax office on Chain Bridge Road. We read the policies, notify the carriers correctly and, when needed, take the claim to court. Attorney Robert Kim speaks Korean, and our paralegal team speaks Spanish.
What uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is
Under Va. Code § 38.2-2206, every Virginia auto policy must include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. It protects you, and often members of your household and passengers in your car, when the at-fault driver cannot pay for the harm they caused.
| Situation | What usually happens |
|---|---|
| The at-fault driver had no insurance | Your uninsured motorist coverage stands in for the insurance the driver should have had |
| The at-fault driver had too little insurance | The driver’s insurer pays its limits, and your underinsured motorist coverage can address the shortfall |
| The driver fled and was never identified | The claim proceeds against an unknown “John Doe” driver and your own uninsured motorist carrier |
Virginia sets minimum liability limits for drivers in Va. Code § 46.2-472. Those minimums are low compared with the cost of a hospital stay, surgery or months of missed work, so underinsured claims are common even when the other driver did everything the law requires. How your UIM coverage interacts with the other driver’s limits depends on your policy language, which we review line by line.
Hit-and-run crashes in Virginia
A hit-and-run is both a crime by the fleeing driver and a coverage question for you. If the driver is found, the claim can proceed against them and their insurer. If not, it proceeds against the unknown driver and your own uninsured motorist carrier.
Virginia law and insurance policies set conditions on John Doe claims, including prompt reporting. Take these steps as soon as you can:
- Call 911 and make a police report right away, even if the damage looks minor.
- Write down everything you remember: the vehicle’s color, make, damage, partial plate, direction of travel.
- Look for cameras. Businesses along Route 1, Route 50 and Little River Turnpike, apartment garages and doorbell cameras often capture fleeing cars, but footage is overwritten quickly.
- Get names and numbers from anyone who saw the crash.
- Notify your own insurance company promptly, as your policy requires.
- Keep photographs of the damage to your car, which can show how the other vehicle struck you.
Pedestrians and cyclists hit by a driver who flees are often covered by their own household auto policy, even though they were not in a car. Read more about pedestrian accident claims and bicycle accident claims.
Why your own insurer becomes the other side
In an ordinary crash claim, your insurer is on your side. In an uninsured motorist claim, it steps into the shoes of the driver who hit you, and every dollar it pays is its own. Expect the same tactics you would expect from the other driver’s carrier:
- Arguing you were partly at fault, which under Virginia’s contributory negligence rule can bar a claim entirely
- Questioning whether a hit-and-run happened the way you describe
- Disputing whether treatment was related to the crash or reasonably necessary
- Asking for recorded statements and broad medical authorizations
You still owe your insurer cooperation under the policy, but you do not have to navigate it alone. When the claim goes to suit, Virginia procedure brings your UM carrier into the case, and it defends the claim much as the other driver’s insurer would.
Who uninsured motorist coverage protects
Coverage depends on the policy, but UM and UIM coverage commonly reaches more people than the named policyholder:
- The named insured and resident family members, in or out of a car
- Passengers in the insured vehicle
- Drivers using the insured vehicle with permission
- Rideshare drivers and passengers, with coverage depending on the app status; see our page on rideshare accident claims
More than one policy can apply to the same crash, for example the policy on the car you were in and the policy covering your household. The order in which they pay, and whether they can be combined, turns on policy language and Virginia law. We identify every policy early.
Other coverage while the claim is pending
Virginia has no personal injury protection or no-fault system. Medical payments coverage is optional in Virginia, under Va. Code § 38.2-2201, and if you bought it, it pays medical bills up to its limit regardless of fault. Read more about medical payments coverage.
Health insurance, short-term disability and paid leave can also bridge the gap. Payments from your own health insurance generally do not reduce what the at-fault side owes under Virginia’s collateral source rule, though health insurers can ask to be repaid from a recovery.
Deadlines for uninsured motorist claims
A Virginia personal injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years of the injury under Va. Code § 8.01-243(A), and that applies to a suit against an uninsured or unknown driver too. Property damage claims have five years under Va. Code § 8.01-243(B).
Your policy adds its own notice requirements, and a late report can give the insurer an argument to deny. See our guide to the Virginia statute of limitations, then start a free case review so an attorney can check the dates that apply to you.
How our Virginia uninsured motorist lawyers help
- Free case review by phone or online, with no obligation.
- Policy review. We gather every policy that may apply and read the UM, UIM and medical payments terms.
- Proper notice to each carrier, so a technical mistake does not cost you coverage.
- Investigation, including the search for a hit-and-run driver through police reports, cameras and witnesses.
- Negotiation and suit in the right Virginia court, including the Fairfax County courts near our Fairfax office.
