Hit by an uninsured driver. Here's who actually pays.

Who pays when the driver who hit you has no insurance?

Here's the answer nobody likes: usually, your own policy does — through coverage you may or may not have bought. The other driver's wallet is mostly theoretical; someone who couldn't afford a premium rarely has savings waiting for your ER bill. And this isn't rare: Insurance Research Council data published by the Insurance Information Institute estimated that about one in ten Arizona drivers (10.6%) was uninsured in 2023. On a normal Tucson commute, you pass uninsured cars every few minutes.

Two different coverages handle the two different damages. Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage typically pays for injuries — yours and your passengers' — when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Your car is a separate story: in Arizona, repairs after an uninsured-driver crash usually run through your own collision coverage, with your deductible. If you carry liability-only, the honest news is that your policy typically has nothing pointed at your own bumper — worth knowing before the crash, not after.

What is UM/UIM coverage — and do you actually have it?

UM steps in when the other driver has no insurance. Underinsured motorist (UIM) steps in when they have some — say, Arizona's $25,000 minimum — and your bills sail past it. One ambulance ride and a night of imaging can do that without trying.

Arizona takes this seriously enough that the law (ARS 20-259.01) requires every insurer writing auto policies here to offer you both UM and UIM in writing, on a state-approved form — and your declarations page is the final word on what you chose. So "do I have it?" has a two-minute answer: pull your dec page and look for lines reading Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist with dollar limits next to them. If those lines are blank or say "rejected," somebody declined it — maybe years ago, maybe to shave a few dollars a month. It's typically one of the cheaper coverages on the policy for what it does, and it's the one this entire page is about.

What should you do at the scene?

1. Call 911 if anyone might be hurt — and get checked even if you feel fine. Adrenaline hides injuries, and a same-day medical record matters later.
2. Get the police report started. "No insurance" is exactly the situation where an official report earns its keep.
3. Collect the driver's info anyway: name, phone, license, plate, photos of both cars. No insurance card doesn't mean no identity.
4. Photograph everything — positions, damage, the intersection — and get witness numbers before they drive off.
5. Tell your own insurer promptly. A UM claim is a claim on your policy, and policies generally expect timely notice. Waiting weeks can genuinely complicate it.

Will using your own coverage raise your rates?

The fear that keeps people from filing — and Arizona actually has a law aimed at it. ARS 20-263 generally prohibits an insurer from raising your premium as a result of an accident you didn't cause or significantly contribute to. How that protection applies to a particular claim can depend on the circumstances, and it doesn't freeze your price forever — the whole market can still move at renewal, as anyone watching Tucson auto rates lately knows. But "I can't use the coverage I paid for or I'll be punished" is not how it's supposed to work here, and if a surcharge shows up tied to a not-at-fault crash, that's worth questioning.

Can't you just sue the uninsured driver?

You can. Collecting is the problem. A lawsuit can win you a judgment, but a judgment against someone with no insurance and no assets is a piece of paper with a filing fee attached — attorneys call it being judgment-proof. Sometimes it's worth pursuing anyway, and the driver may separately face license and registration trouble that tends to end in SR-22 territory. But as a plan for getting your surgery paid for this year, it's a poor one. (That's general information, not legal advice — a personal injury attorney can read your specific situation.) UM coverage exists precisely so your recovery doesn't depend on the other driver's balance sheet.

What does medical payments coverage add?

Medical payments coverage — medpay — is a small, quiet coverage that typically pays medical bills for you and your passengers after a crash regardless of fault, usually in modest limits. It's not a substitute for UM/UIM; think of it as the fast first layer that can handle the urgent-care visit and the copays while a bigger claim gets sorted out. Whether it earns its premium depends on your health coverage — someone with a high-deductible plan often gets more from it than someone with rich employer insurance.