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Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage Worth It? The 1-in-7 Math

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The pitch for uninsured motorist coverage is usually a scare statistic with no context. Here is the statistic with context, which is more useful and also more honest.

The number

From the Insurance Information Institute, citing a 2025 Insurance Research Council study:

"In 2023, 15.4 percent of motorists, or more than one in seven drivers, were uninsured."

That is the source of the "one in seven" line you have seen everywhere. It is real, it is recent enough to matter, and it comes from a specific study of a specific year. At 15.4 percent the true ratio is closer to one in six and a half, which is why the Triple-I now says "more than."

The trend behind it, same source:

YearEstimated uninsured motorists
201712.4%
201812.1%
201911.6%
202014.3%
202114.6%
202215.2%
202315.4%

The 2025 study restated the earlier years, so these figures run higher than the ones published with the previous edition (which put 2022 at 14.0 percent). The Triple-I describes the shape of the curve: "From 2017 to 2023, most states saw increasing trends in UM (Uninsured Motorist) rates. The largest increases were in District of Columbia, New Jersey, and Missouri."

The caveat nobody quotes

The 15.4 percent figure is not a headcount of uninsured cars. The methodology matters, and the Triple-I publishes it:

"The IRC measures the number of uninsured motorists based on insurance claims, using a ratio of insurance claims made by people who were injured by uninsured drivers relative to the claims made by people who were injured by insured drivers."

So it is a claims-based estimate of your exposure, not a registry count. For deciding whether to buy UM, that is arguably the better measure, because it is built from the exact event you are insuring against. But if you see the number described as "15 percent of cars on the road have no insurance," that is a step further than the source supports.

Where you live changes the math a lot

The countrywide average hides a nearly five-fold spread. In 2023, per the Triple-I:

Highest: Mississippi 28.2%, New Mexico 24.1%, D.C. 23.1%, Michigan 22.3%, Tennessee 21.3%, Missouri 20.7%, Florida 20.6%, California 20.4%, Colorado 19.7%, Washington 19.1%.

Lowest: Maine 5.7%, Utah 6.2%, Idaho 6.4%, Wyoming 6.7%, Montana 7.2%, West Virginia 7.8%, Massachusetts 7.9%, New York 8.6%, South Dakota 9.4%, Nebraska 9.5%.

The Triple-I notes that "in 2023, 15 states and the District of Columbia had uninsured motorist rates greater than the countrywide rate while 36 states had rates below the countrywide rate."

If you drive in Mississippi, the national figure understates your exposure by nearly half. If you drive in Wyoming, it overstates it by more than double. Use your state's number, not the headline.

In 20 states plus D.C., the decision is already made for you

The Triple-I: "Twenty states and the District of Columbia have mandatory requirements for uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage."

Its state table shows which those are, listing UM and UIM alongside the required liability coverages. If your state is one of them, the only real question is how much, not whether.

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The three coverages people confuse

The NAIC's consumer shopping tool draws the lines cleanly.

Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury (UM or UMBI): "This coverage pays for your bodily injuries and those of your passengers if you are hit by a hit-and-run driver or an uninsured driver who is at fault."

Uninsured Motorist Property Damage: "This coverage pays for damage to your car if you are hit by a hit and-run-driver or an uninsured driver who is at fault."

Underinsured Motorist Coverage: "This coverage pays for your bodily injuries and those of your passengers if you are hit by an underinsured driver who is at fault." The NAIC adds an important qualifier: "'Underinsured' will be defined by your state law or by your insurance policy. That means this coverage can vary by state or by insurance policy."

Note that hit-and-run sits inside UM in both bodily injury and property damage definitions. That is the use case people forget, and it is not rare.

The underinsured half is the bigger exposure

Focusing on the 15 percent who carry nothing misses the larger group: drivers who are legally insured at limits that cannot pay for a serious injury.

Look at the Triple-I's table of state minimum liability limits. Two states still set the bodily injury floor at 15/30, meaning $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident: Pennsylvania at 15/30/5 and Louisiana at 15/30/25. California used to be on that list. Its DMV now publishes minimums of $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident and $15,000 for property damage, although the Triple-I table still showed the old 15/30/5 when we checked it on October 1, 2026. Several other states raised their floors in 2025 and 2026, so check the current figure for yours in our state minimums table. Florida's compulsory requirement is stranger still, and the Triple-I flags it in a footnote: "In Florida, compulsory auto laws apply to personal injury protection (PIP) and physical damage, but not to third party bodily injury coverage." Florida's listed minimum is 10/20/10 for PD liability and PIP.

Translate that. In Florida, a driver can be fully compliant with state law and still carry no bodily injury liability at all. In Pennsylvania, a fully compliant driver carries $15,000 per person. One ambulance ride and one night in a hospital can exceed that.

Underinsured motorist coverage is what covers the difference between what the at-fault driver carries and what your injuries actually cost. In high-minimum-limit states the gap is narrower. In 15/30 states it is enormous.

How to decide

There is no universally correct answer, but there is a correct order of questions.

1. Is it mandatory in your state? If yes, you are choosing limits, not choosing whether.

2. What is your state's uninsured rate? Use the table above, not the national average. Above 17 percent, treat UM as close to essential. Below 9 percent, the case rests more on underinsured drivers than uninsured ones.

3. What are your state's minimum liability limits? The lower your state's floor, the more your realistic worst case is an underinsured driver rather than an uninsured one, and the more UIM matters relative to UM.

4. What does your health insurance leave you holding? UM bodily injury pays medical costs and, depending on your policy, lost income. If you carry a high-deductible health plan, an uninsured at-fault driver leaves you paying that deductible for someone else's mistake.

5. Do you carry collision? If yes, your own collision coverage will repair your car after a hit-and-run, subject to your deductible, which reduces the value of uninsured motorist property damage specifically. It does nothing for your injuries. If you dropped collision on an older car, UMPD becomes more relevant, where your state offers it.

6. What does it cost on your policy? Pull your declarations page and find the UM and UIM line items. They are priced separately from liability. Compare that number, on your policy, to the exposure the questions above described. Do not accept a general claim about what UM costs, including from us. Only your declarations page is authoritative for your premium.

A note on limits

Many insurers will not sell UM limits higher than your liability limits. That is a practical constraint worth knowing before you shop: if you want meaningful UM protection, you may need to raise your liability limits first.

The NAIC's general guidance on limits applies here too: "You should purchase the most coverage you can reasonably afford to protect your financial security."

The short version

More than one in seven is a real, sourced, 2023 figure, and it is a claims-based estimate rather than a car count. Your state's number is the one that should drive your decision, and it ranges from 5.7 percent to 28.2 percent. In roughly 20 states the decision is already made by law. And in states with low minimum liability limits, the driver who is legally insured but carrying $15,000 is a larger threat to your finances than the driver carrying nothing.

Sources

All uninsured motorist statistics are from the Insurance Information Institute's Facts + Statistics: Uninsured motorists page, accessed October 1, 2026, drawing on a 2025 Insurance Research Council study of 2023 data. State minimum limits are from the same page's Automobile Financial Responsibility Limits By State table, which III sources to the American Property Casualty Insurers Association and state departments of insurance, except California's, which is from the California DMV. Coverage requirements change; confirm current limits with your state insurance department.