Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Claims
Hit by an Uninsured Driver in New Hampshire?
New Hampshire does not require most drivers to carry liability insurance. If the driver who hit you had none, the coverage on your own policy may be the only recovery available — and your own insurer becomes the one arguing about what your claim is worth.
Why this happens here
New Hampshire is the exception, and most people don't know it.
Almost every other state requires liability insurance to register a car. This one doesn't.
New Hampshire is one of the only states in the country that does not require most drivers to carry auto liability insurance. Drivers have to be able to demonstrate financial responsibility if they cause a crash, and some — after certain violations — are required to carry coverage. But a meaningful number of vehicles on the road here are simply uninsured.
The practical consequence lands entirely on the person who gets hit. In Massachusetts, someone injured by a negligent driver can usually assume there is a policy to claim against. In New Hampshire that assumption is unsafe, and people discover it at the worst possible moment — after the ambulance, when the medical bills start arriving and the other driver turns out to have nothing.
This is why the uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy matters more in New Hampshire than almost anywhere else. It is frequently the difference between a recovery and none at all.
Know the difference
Two coverages, two situations
Uninsured Motorist (UM)
Applies when the at-fault driver carried no liability insurance at all — and generally also when the driver fled the scene and was never identified. Your own policy stands in for the coverage the other driver should have had.
Underinsured Motorist (UIM)
Applies when the at-fault driver did have a policy, but its limits fall short of what you actually lost. A minimum-limits policy disappears quickly against a serious injury; UIM covers the gap between their limit and your damages.
Where the coverage lives
Both sit on your auto policy, not the other driver's. That means the amount available depends on choices you made when you bought the policy — often years ago, possibly without much thought about the limits.
What to do
After a crash with an uninsured driver
These claims turn on early steps more than most.
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Report it to the police, without exception
An uninsured or hit-and-run claim without a police report is a much harder claim. New Hampshire also requires a written report to the DMV within 15 days when a crash causes injury, death, or more than $1,000 in property damage.
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Notify your own insurer promptly
Policies contain notice requirements, and some are short. Telling your insurer a crash occurred is not the same as accepting their valuation of it — report it early, then be careful about what comes next.
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Find your declarations page
This one document shows whether you carry UM and UIM coverage and at what limits. It determines the ceiling on your claim. Most people have no idea what theirs says until they need it.
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Get medical attention and keep every record
The same rules apply as any injury claim. Gaps in treatment are the first thing an adjuster reaches for, and in a UM claim that adjuster works for your own company.
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Be careful with the recorded statement
You generally must cooperate with your own insurer, and that duty is real. It does not require giving a recorded statement about the extent of your injuries before you know what they are.
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Have the policy reviewed before you settle
UM and UIM policies contain offsets, consent-to-settle clauses, and subrogation terms that can quietly reduce or void a recovery. Signing a release with the at-fault driver's insurer without your own carrier's consent can forfeit the UIM claim entirely.
The awkward part
Your insurer is now on the other side.
This surprises nearly everyone, and it changes how the claim should be handled.
In an ordinary injury claim, you negotiate with the at-fault driver's insurance company while your own carrier is broadly on your side. In an uninsured motorist claim there is no other carrier. Yours pays, so yours has a direct financial interest in concluding that your injuries are modest, your treatment excessive, or your share of the fault larger than you think.
People find this genuinely disorienting. They have paid the same company for fifteen years, and now that company's adjuster is questioning their MRI. It is not personal — it is structural. But it does mean the claim should be prepared with the same rigour you would bring to a claim against a stranger's insurer.
Attorney Gilman has represented injured New Hampshire clients since 1997. Bring your declarations page and the police report to the first meeting, and you will get a straight answer about what coverage is actually available and what the claim realistically looks like.
Frequently asked
Uninsured motorist questions
Is car insurance required in New Hampshire?
Not for most drivers. New Hampshire is one of the only states that does not require every driver to carry liability insurance. Drivers must be able to demonstrate financial responsibility if they cause a crash, and certain drivers — for example after specific violations — are required to carry coverage. But a substantial number of people on New Hampshire roads have no liability policy at all, which is why uninsured motorist claims come up here far more than in neighboring states.
What is the difference between uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage?
Uninsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver had no liability insurance, and generally also when the driver fled and was never identified. Underinsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver had a policy, but its limits are too low to cover what you actually lost. Both are part of your own auto policy rather than the other driver's, and in New Hampshire they are frequently the only meaningful source of recovery.
Will making an uninsured motorist claim raise my insurance rates?
You are claiming under coverage you already paid for, in a crash that was not your fault. That is what the coverage exists to do. Concerns about rates are understandable, but they should be weighed against the reality that if the at-fault driver has no assets and no policy, this claim may be your only route to covering medical bills and lost income.
Why is my own insurance company arguing with me?
Because in an uninsured motorist claim, your insurer occupies the position the at-fault driver's insurer normally would. They pay the claim, so they have a financial interest in valuing it as low as possible. People are often blindsided by this — they expect their own company to be on their side, and instead find themselves negotiating against it. Your duty to cooperate with your insurer does not mean accepting its assessment of what your claim is worth.
What if the driver who hit me left the scene?
Hit-and-run crashes are typically handled as uninsured motorist claims, since there is no identified driver or policy to pursue. Prompt reporting to the police and to your own insurer matters a great deal in these cases, as policies commonly contain notice requirements and insurers scrutinize unwitnessed hit-and-run claims closely.
How long do I have to bring a claim?
Personal injury lawsuits in New Hampshire generally must be filed within three years of the injury under RSA 508:4. Uninsured motorist claims carry an additional layer: your own policy may impose its own notice and filing deadlines, some considerably shorter. Read the policy or have it reviewed early rather than assuming you have the full three years.
Bring your declarations page.
The first consultation is free, and that one document tells us most of what we need to know.