Uninsured motorist coverage rules in Nebraska

Getting hit by a driver who has no insurance, or not enough of it, is more common than most Nebraskans expect. The protection that steps in when that happens is built into every auto policy sold in the state, and Nebraska writes its rules differently from a lot of its neighbors. Here is what actually applies here.

The coverage you can't turn down

Nebraska is one of the states that makes uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage mandatory. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6408, every auto liability policy issued in the state has to include both, at limits of at least $25,000 for one person's bodily injury and $50,000 per accident.¹ That matches the liability minimum drivers already carry under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-509.²

You can ask for more. The same statute lets you request higher limits in writing, and your insurer has to provide them up to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.¹ What you can't do is refuse the coverage. Many states let you sign a waiver and drop it; Nebraska's statute has no rejection option for the mandatory minimum. It also frees the insurer from any duty to remind you at renewal that higher limits exist,¹ so if you want more protection, the move is yours to make.

When the at-fault driver has no insurance

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage handles the driver who carried no liability insurance, whose insurer went insolvent, or who fled the scene. Nebraska's definition of an "uninsured motor vehicle" in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6405 specifically reaches the hit-and-run, but it draws a line based on contact.³

If the phantom driver actually hit you, the physical contact is enough on its own. If there was no contact, say another car ran you off the road and kept going, you can still claim UM benefits, but only if you reported the accident to law enforcement and the facts can be corroborated by competent evidence from an independent, disinterested person.³ A passenger in your own car doesn't qualify as disinterested. That rule is why the police report carries so much weight in a no-contact case. You can find how to request a Nebraska crash report separately.

When the at-fault driver doesn't have enough

This is where Nebraska genuinely parts ways with many states. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage applies when the at-fault driver had insurance, just not enough. Every state has to answer what "enough" gets measured against.

Nebraska measures the at-fault driver's liability coverage against your damages, not against your own policy limits. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6406 defines an "underinsured motor vehicle" as one whose liability insurance is less than the damages you actually sustained.⁴ A lot of states use a "limits to limits" test, where UIM applies only if the other driver's liability limit is lower than your UIM limit. Nebraska's damages approach is broader, because the other driver can count as underinsured even if they carried well above the state minimum.

How much you collect comes from Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6409. Your insurer's maximum liability is the amount of your damages, minus whatever you already received from anyone legally liable, and never more than your UIM limit.⁵ In plain terms, UIM fills the gap between what the at-fault driver's insurance paid and what your injuries are actually worth, capped at the limit you bought. That section also makes UM/UIM excess over any medical payments coverage you carry, and those med-pay dollars don't shrink your UM/UIM limit.⁵

You can't stack your policies

If you own more than one vehicle or hold more than one policy, don't assume the limits add up. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6410 prohibits stacking, so the UM/UIM limits on two or more vehicles can't be combined.⁶ When more than one policy could apply, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6411 caps your recovery at the highest single limit among them.⁷ Insuring three cars at $25,000 of UIM each gives you $25,000 of UIM, not $75,000.

Tell your own insurer before you settle

Nebraska attaches a specific procedure to any settlement with the at-fault driver's liability insurer, and skipping it can cost you the UIM claim. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6412, before you accept a tentative settlement you have to give your UIM insurer written notice by certified or registered mail, with documentation of your lost wages and medical bills and authorization to obtain the underlying reports.⁸

Your insurer then has 30 days. It can let the settlement stand, or substitute its own payment for the settlement amount so it can go after the at-fault driver's insurer itself. If it doesn't advance that payment inside the 30 days, it gives up any right of subrogation.⁸ The matching rule is the consent requirement in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6413: settling with or releasing the at-fault driver without your insurer's written consent, in a way that harms its rights, can wipe out your coverage.⁹ The § 44-6412 notice is how you stay protected.

The two deadlines that can sink your claim

Nebraska UM/UIM claims run on two clocks at once, and missing either one is fatal.

The claim against your own insurer is a contract claim. In Dworak v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the Nebraska Supreme Court held that UM/UIM coverage is a written contract, so the five-year limitation period in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-205 governs a suit against your insurer.¹⁰¹¹

The catch sits in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6413(1)(e): there is no coverage if the statute of limitations on your claim against the uninsured or underinsured driver has already run.⁹ That claim is an ordinary injury claim with a four-year deadline under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207.¹² So under Dworak, you have to sue the at-fault driver, or otherwise preserve that claim, within four years, or the UM/UIM coverage disappears even though the five-year contract clock is still running.¹⁰ The safe reading is to treat four years from the crash as your hard deadline.

How fault fits into the payout

Nebraska is an at-fault (tort) state with no no-fault or mandatory PIP system, so the responsible driver's insurance, or your UM/UIM coverage standing in for it, pays the claim.¹³ Because § 44-6409 pays only what you are "legally entitled to recover" from the other driver, your own share of the blame counts. Under Nebraska's modified comparative negligence rule in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09, your recovery drops by your percentage of fault and vanishes once your fault reaches the combined fault of everyone you're claiming against.¹⁴ That reduction hits a UM/UIM claim the same way it would a suit against the driver.

One more thing worth knowing: UM/UIM is bodily injury coverage. It doesn't pay for the dent in your car or the resale value it lost after a wreck, which is a separate property-damage question covered under diminished value. The deadlines and the notice steps are where a lot of otherwise solid claims come apart, so if the injuries are serious it's worth talking with a Nebraska attorney early.

This is general information about Nebraska law, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6408, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=44-6408

2. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-509, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=60-509

3. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6405 (uninsured motor vehicle), Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=44-6405

4. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6406 (underinsured motor vehicle), Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=44-6406

5. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6409, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=44-6409

6. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6410, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=44-6410

7. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6411, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=44-6411

8. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6412, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=44-6412

9. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6413, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=44-6413

10. Dworak v. Farmers Ins. Exch., 269 Neb. 386, 693 N.W.2d 522 (2005), CourtListener. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1292583/dworak-v-farmers-ins-exch/

11. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-205, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-205

12. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-207

13. Nebraska Department of Insurance, Auto Insurance and Types of Coverage. https://doi.nebraska.gov/important-auto-insurance-and-types-coverage

14. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09, Nebraska Legislature. https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-21,185.09