If an uninsured driver hits you in Indiana, the money to put things right usually comes from your own auto policy, not theirs. Same story when the at-fault driver carries a bare-minimum policy that runs dry before your bills stop coming. That's what uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage are for, and Indiana handles them differently than most people assume.
This page sticks to the Indiana-specific rules: what the state requires, the exact dollar floors, how the word "underinsured" gets measured against your own coverage, the set-off that shrinks your check, and the deadline that can quietly end your claim.
Indiana makes the coverage automatic unless you sign it away
Every newly written Indiana auto liability policy has to include both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. The only way to go without it is to reject it in writing.12 That rule lives in Indiana Code 27-7-5-2, and the Indiana Department of Insurance repeats it in plain terms: "Each newly written Indiana auto liability policy must include uninsured and underinsured motorist's coverage unless you reject this in writing."2
Two details in the statute matter for you. You can reject both coverages or just one of them.1 And once you reject, the insurer doesn't have to keep offering it; the rejection carries forward onto your renewals until you ask for the coverage back in writing.1 So if you waived UM or UIM years ago to trim a premium, it may still be missing from your policy today. Pull your declarations page and check what you actually have.
The minimum numbers
Indiana's floors, straight from the Department of Insurance:2
- Uninsured motorist bodily injury: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident
- Uninsured motorist property damage: $25,000
- Underinsured motorist bodily injury: $50,000
The UM bodily injury figures track Indiana's minimum liability limits of 25/50/25 set by Indiana Code 9-25-4-5, where the $25,000 property damage minimum took effect July 1, 2018.3 UIM is handled on its own: the statute says underinsured coverage must be made available in limits of "not less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)," and insurers can't sell it below that.1
Those are the legal floors. They're rarely enough, and the reason sits in how Indiana defines the word "underinsured."
How Indiana decides who counts as underinsured
Here's where the numbers bite. Indiana Code 27-7-5-4 defines an underinsured motor vehicle as one whose available bodily injury liability limits are less than the limits of your own underinsured motorist coverage at the time of the crash.4 Indiana compares the other driver's liability limit against your UIM limit, not your damages against their coverage.
Play that out. Say you carry the $50,000 UIM minimum and the driver who hit you also carries $50,000 in liability. Their limit isn't lower than yours, so their car isn't "underinsured" as to you, and your UIM never opens up, even if your injuries run well past $50,000. Carry $100,000 in UIM instead, and that same driver is underinsured, so you can reach your own policy for the gap. Buying a higher UIM limit is the only thing that widens that window.
An uninsured vehicle is simpler. It's a car with no liability insurance at all, or one whose driver isn't in compliance with Indiana's financial responsibility law.4 A hit-and-run driver who's never identified generally falls under UM as well, though no-contact "phantom vehicle" claims turn on your policy's conditions and the proof you can put together, so a police report and independent witnesses carry weight.
The set-off that shrinks the check
Indiana lets your insurer subtract what you already collected from the at-fault driver before it pays UIM. Indiana Code 27-7-5-5 caps underinsured benefits so they fill the gap between your damages and what the liable party paid, up to your policy limit, rather than stacking on top of a full liability recovery.5 In practice, if the other driver's insurer pays its limit and your UIM sits above that, you're pursuing the difference from your own carrier, not a second full payout. This is why the size of your UIM limit, relative to the at-fault driver's, decides how much room is left to recover.
The deadline is shorter than the contract suggests
A UM or UIM claim is a claim against your own insurer, which makes it a contract claim. Written contracts in Indiana carry a ten-year limitations period under Indiana Code 34-11-2-11.6 Don't lean on that number. Most auto policies contain a suit-limitation clause that forces you to sue much sooner, often within two or three years of the crash, and Indiana courts enforce reasonable versions of those clauses.
The wrinkle is timing. You usually can't collect UIM until the at-fault driver's liability limits are exhausted, and that can drag past the policy's suit deadline. The Indiana Supreme Court hit exactly that problem in State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Jakubowicz. The policy demanded suit within three years of the accident while also requiring the tortfeasor's coverage to be exhausted first, and the Court held that the two provisions conflict, making the policy ambiguous, so it was construed against the insurer.7 The safe move is to treat the two-year personal injury clock as your working deadline, since Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 gives injury claims two years,8 and to read your own policy's suit-limitation clause early. Put your carrier on notice well before either date.
Your own fault still counts
Indiana runs a modified comparative fault system with a 51% bar under Indiana Code 34-51-2-6.9 That matters here because in a UM or UIM claim you're effectively standing in for the uninsured or underinsured driver, so the payout still depends on that driver's share of fault against yours. If you're found 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing. Below that line, your recovery drops by your own percentage, so 20% fault on a $50,000 claim leaves $40,000.
Med pay, PIP, and your car
Indiana is an at-fault (tort) state with no personal injury protection requirement, so there's no PIP box to check.2 Medical payments coverage is an optional add-on that pays medical bills for you and your passengers no matter who caused the crash, which can cover costs while a UM or UIM claim works through.2 If the uninsured driver also wrecked your car, UM property damage or your own collision coverage handles the repair, and any lingering diminished value on the vehicle is a separate question with its own rules.
What to do after an uninsured driver hits you
Get the official crash report; it's held by the Indiana State Police and it's the first thing your carrier will ask for.10 Read your declarations page to confirm you actually carry UM and UIM, and at what limits. Notify your insurer promptly and keep every medical and repair bill. Watch the policy's suit-limitation date, not just the two-year statute. If your injuries are serious or your insurer starts fighting over fault or value, an Indiana attorney who handles UM and UIM claims can keep the deadline and the set-off rules from working against you.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
-
Indiana Code 27-7-5-2 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/27#27-7-5-2
-
Indiana Department of Insurance, Auto Insurance. https://www.in.gov/idoi/consumer-services/types-of-insurance/auto-insurance/
-
Indiana Code 9-25-4-5 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/9#9-25-4-5
-
Indiana Code 27-7-5-4 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/27#27-7-5-4
-
Indiana Code 27-7-5-5 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/27#27-7-5-5
-
Indiana Code 34-11-2-11 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-11-2-11
-
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Jakubowicz, No. 45S05-1605-CT-253, 56 N.E.3d 617 (Ind. July 26, 2016), Indiana Courts case summary. https://caseclips.courts.in.gov/2016/08/01/state-farm-v-jakubowicz
-
Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-11-2-4
-
Indiana Code 34-51-2-6 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-51-2-6
-
Indiana State Police, Crash Reports. https://www.in.gov/isp/crash-reports/