If the driver who hit you had no insurance, or carried the bare state minimum and your bills blew past it, the coverage that pays you is usually your own. Maryland builds that protection into every auto policy. The rules around it are specific, though, and a couple of them can quietly cost you the claim if you miss them.
Crashes here are constant. In Montgomery County alone, police logged 898 reported crashes in May 2025.1 A share of those involve drivers with no coverage or not enough to cover what they did, which is exactly the problem uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is meant to solve.
What every Maryland policy has to include
Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage is not optional in Maryland. Under the Insurance Article, every private passenger auto policy has to carry it, and that coverage "shall equal the amount of liability coverage provided under the policy" unless you waive it.2 Buy 100/300 in bodily injury liability, and your UM limit starts at 100/300 too. Waiving it down to a lower number takes an affirmative written waiver on a form the Insurance Commissioner approves, and only after your insurer gives you written notice of what you are giving up.3
The floor is the state's minimum security requirement: $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $15,000 for property damage, usually written 30/60/15.4 That minimum hasn't moved in years, and plenty of Maryland drivers carry exactly that and nothing more.
The coverage follows you, not just your car. It generally protects you, family members in your household, anyone riding in your insured vehicle, and you as a pedestrian if an uninsured driver hits you. Two pieces come standard. Uninsured motorist bodily injury covers your injuries. Uninsured motorist property damage covers your vehicle, and the Maryland Insurance Administration notes that the property damage side carries a $250 deductible set by law.5 A hit-and-run counts as an uninsured vehicle, so UM can apply even when the other driver is never identified, though most insurers want the crash reported to police right away.5
One thing your policy can't do is force you into binding arbitration over a UM dispute; Section 19-509 makes any such clause void.2 It can, however, exclude UM benefits in narrow situations, such as when the "uninsured" car is one owned by a member of your own household or driven by someone you formally excluded from the policy.2
Uninsured, underinsured, and the gap that catches people
"Uninsured" is the simple case: no policy, or a hit-and-run. "Underinsured" is where Maryland trips people up.
Maryland uses a gap approach. Your underinsured coverage helps only if your UM limit is higher than the at-fault driver's liability limit, and it pays just the difference. That is what happened in Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. Shilling: the at-fault driver carried $20,000, the injured driver carried $300,000 in UM/UIM, and the gap left up to $280,000 to reach.6 If the person who hit you carries the same limits you do, standard underinsured coverage gives you nothing extra, because there is no gap to fill.
This is the most misunderstood part of Maryland UM law. Your two policies don't stack. Whatever the at-fault driver's insurer pays gets subtracted from your limit, so together they never pay more than what you bought.
Enhanced coverage and the July 1, 2024 change
Maryland created a way around that subtraction, and as of mid-2024 it's the default. Enhanced underinsured motorist coverage (EUIM) sits on top of what the at-fault driver's insurer pays instead of being reduced by it, so you can collect your full limit in addition to their payment.7
For every new private passenger policy issued on or after July 1, 2024, EUIM is automatic unless you opt out. The Maryland Insurance Administration says it directly: "enhanced underinsured motorist coverage will become the default selection," and to decline it you have to "sign an opt out form saying you don't want" it.8 The statute requires that waiver to be an affirmative written statement on a form the Commissioner approves, and your insurer can't refuse to cover you just for keeping the enhanced version.7
If your policy predates July 2024, or you signed a stack of forms at renewal, pull your declarations page and check which version you actually have. On a serious crash the difference runs into tens of thousands of dollars.
Get your insurer's consent before you sign anything
This is the rule that quietly kills otherwise-good claims. When the at-fault driver's insurer offers a settlement that would use up their liability limits, you can't simply take it. Section 19-511 says you have to send that written offer, by certified mail, to your own UM insurer first.9
Your insurer then has 60 days to consent to the settlement or refuse. If it refuses, it has to pay you the amount of that offer within 30 days, which preserves its own right to go after the at-fault driver and keeps your underinsured claim alive.9 Sign the release and take the liability money without doing this, and you can wipe out your right to collect from your own policy. The certified mail and the 60-day clock are not formalities you can skip.
Two deadlines, two different clocks
The lawsuit against the driver who hit you runs on Maryland's general three-year limit, measured from the date of the crash.10
The claim against your own insurer works differently. Because UM coverage is a contract, the Court of Appeals held in Shilling that the three-year clock on a UM claim doesn't start at the crash. It starts when your insurer denies your demand for benefits.6 That can give you breathing room, but it's a poor thing to rely on; make your demand in writing and keep a record of every response.
Contributory negligence is the sharper edge. Maryland is one of a handful of states where being even slightly at fault for the crash can bar your recovery completely.11 Your UM insurer steps into the shoes of the at-fault driver, so that same defense applies to your own claim. The Insurance Administration is blunt that UM coverage pays only when the other driver is "found to be 100% at fault."5 Anything that pins part of the blame on you can sink the claim.
After a crash in Maryland
Start with the official crash report, which records who was involved and what the responding officer concluded. You can request Maryland crash reports here. If your car lost market value even after a clean repair, that is a separate diminished value claim worth running down. And when the dollars are large or your own insurer digs in, a Maryland attorney who handles UM disputes earns their keep; you can find one through the legal directory.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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thatcarhitme.com, Montgomery County, MD Crash Report, May 2025. https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/maryland/montgomery-county/may-2025-report
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Md. Code, Insurance § 19-509 (Uninsured motorist coverage, in general). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-509&enactments=false
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Md. Code, Insurance § 19-510 (Uninsured motorist coverage, waivers). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-510&enactments=false
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Md. Code, Transportation § 17-103 (required security, minimum liability limits). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtr§ion=17-103&enactments=false
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Maryland Insurance Administration, Uninsured Motorist Coverage (consumer page). https://insurance.maryland.gov/Consumer/Pages/uninsured-motorist.aspx
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Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Shilling, 468 Md. 239 (2020). https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2020/38a19.pdf
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Md. Code, Insurance § 19-509.1 (Enhanced underinsured motorist coverage, in general). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-509.1&enactments=false
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Maryland Insurance Administration, Enhanced Underinsured Motorist (EUIM) Coverage. https://insurance.maryland.gov/Consumer/Pages/EUIM.aspx
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Md. Code, Insurance § 19-511 (Uninsured motorist coverage, settlement procedures). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gin§ion=19-511&enactments=false
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Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101 (three-year statute of limitations for civil actions). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj§ion=5-101&enactments=false
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Coleman v. Soccer Ass'n of Columbia, 432 Md. 679 (2013). https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2013/9a12.pdf