Uninsured motorist coverage rules in Georgia

Getting hit by a driver who has no insurance, or nowhere near enough of it, happens more often than most people expect. In 2023 the Insurance Research Council estimated that more than one in seven drivers nationwide, about 15.4 percent, carried no liability insurance at all.¹ Georgia is an at-fault state, so the person who caused the wreck is the one whose insurance is supposed to pay for your injuries and vehicle damage.² When that driver has no policy, or a policy too small to cover your losses, uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on your own auto policy is what fills the gap.

Georgia's UM rules live in a single statute, O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11, and several of them work differently from what drivers assume. Here is what actually applies in Georgia.

You already have it unless you rejected it in writing

Every auto liability policy issued or delivered in Georgia has to include UM coverage, and it is added automatically at limits equal to your bodily injury liability limits.³ You do not have to ask for it. The only way it comes off your policy, or drops below your liability limits, is if you, the named insured, reject or reduce it in a signed writing.³ The Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance says the same thing in its consumer guide: insurers must offer UM, and it stays on the policy unless the customer declines it in writing.⁴

The floor tracks Georgia's minimum liability limits. The state requires at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage.⁴⁵ So the smallest UM a Georgia policy carries, when it is not rejected, is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident.³

Who the coverage protects

Georgia UM follows people, not just the car listed on the declarations page. It protects the named insured, family members who live in the same household, and passengers occupying the covered vehicle with permission.³ Because it travels with the insured, your own UM can respond if an uninsured driver hits you while you are riding in someone else's car, and, depending on how your policy defines an insured, even if you are struck as a pedestrian.³

Add-on versus reduced coverage

This is the part specific to Georgia, and it decides how much money is actually available. Section 33-7-11(b)(1) sets up two forms of UM coverage.³

Add-on coverage, sometimes called "stacking" or "added-to," pays on top of the at-fault driver's liability insurance. If the other driver has a $25,000 policy and you carry $100,000 in add-on UM, you can collect the full $25,000 from them and then up to $100,000 from your own carrier for what is left.³

Reduced coverage, the "difference" or "reduced-by" form, pays only the gap between your UM limit and the other driver's liability limit. With the same numbers, $100,000 in reduced UM minus their $25,000 leaves $75,000 available from your carrier.³

For policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2009, add-on is the default. Reduced coverage applies only if the named insured selected it in writing.³ Pull out your declarations page to see which one you have, because the difference can run into tens of thousands of dollars.

Underinsured drivers count too

Georgia folds underinsured motorist protection into the same UM coverage. The statute's definition of an "uninsured motor vehicle" includes a vehicle whose available liability limits are less than the damages you actually suffered.³ There is no separate UIM box to check in Georgia. If the at-fault driver had a policy but it ran out before your medical bills and lost wages were paid, add-on UM steps in above their limit.³

Hit-and-run and phantom drivers

UM coverage in Georgia also reaches the driver who caused your crash and then left. When the owner or operator is unknown, the statute treats the vehicle as uninsured, but with a condition: there generally has to be actual physical contact between the unknown vehicle and you or your car.³ The exception is corroboration. Physical contact is not required if an eyewitness other than you backs up your account of how the crash happened.³ A Georgia crash report documenting the contact, or a named witness, can carry real weight here.

Procedurally, you sue the missing driver as "John Doe" and serve your own UM insurer as though it were a named defendant, and the company can defend the case in John Doe's name or its own.³ The UM carrier is entitled to at least 120 days of discovery after it is served before any hearing on the merits, so these claims take time to build.³

The deadlines and fault rules that shape a UM claim

A UM claim rides on the underlying injury case, so Georgia's statute of limitations controls it. You have two years from the date of the crash to bring a personal injury claim, including the claim that lets you reach UM coverage.⁶ Property damage, such as the hit to your vehicle, gets four years.⁷ Miss the two-year injury deadline and the UM money usually goes with it, so the carrier has to be brought in before the clock runs.

Fault still matters even when you collect from your own insurer. Georgia uses modified comparative negligence: your recovery drops by your share of fault and disappears once you are 50 percent or more responsible.⁸ A UM carrier stands in the shoes of the at-fault driver, so it can raise the same fault defenses that driver could.

One more coverage note. Georgia repealed its no-fault system in 1991 and has no mandatory personal injury protection (PIP). Medical payments (MedPay) coverage is optional, sold in set dollar increments you choose.⁴ MedPay can help with early medical bills no matter who was at fault, but it is a separate add-on and does not stand in for UM.

Checking and using your coverage

Pull your declarations page and look for two things: your UM limit, and whether the policy reads as added-to or reduced coverage. If UM was ever declined or lowered, that choice had to be in writing to count.³ For damage to the car itself, a UM property claim and a separate diminished value claim in Georgia may both be options. If your injuries are serious, or the carrier is disputing which form of coverage applies, it can help to talk with a Georgia attorney who handles UM claims.

This article is general information about Georgia law, not legal advice about your specific situation.

Sources

Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), reporting Insurance Research Council data, "IRC report reveals that one in three drivers were either uninsured or underinsured in 2023." https://www.iii.org/blog/irc-report-reveals-that-one-in-three-drivers-were-either-uninsured-or-underinsured-in-2023
Georgia Code, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-10 (Insurance required for motor vehicles; minimum coverage). https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-40/chapter-6/article-1/section-40-6-10/
Georgia Code, O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11 (Uninsured motorist coverage under motor vehicle liability policies). https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-33/chapter-7/section-33-7-11/
Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, Consumer Guide for Automobile Insurance. https://oci.georgia.gov/document/document/guide-auto-insurance/download
Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, Auto insurance resources. https://oci.georgia.gov/insurance-resources/auto
Georgia Code, O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 (Injuries to the person; two-year limitation). https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-9/chapter-3/article-2/section-9-3-33/
Georgia Code, O.C.G.A. § 9-3-32 (Injuries to personalty; four-year limitation). https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-9/chapter-3/article-2/section-9-3-32/
Georgia Code, O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 (Comparative negligence; reduction and bar of recovery). https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-51/chapter-12/article-1/section-51-12-33/

Uninsured Motorist Coverage Rules in Georgia