AI-generated fictional illustration; not an actual client, consultation, or case result.
The other driver’s insurer offers its policy limit, but you are still treating a serious injury. Before assuming that check ends your options—or that your own insurer will automatically pay the rest—review your underinsured motorist coverage. A California UIM claim involves more than showing that medical bills exceed the other driver’s insurance.
This checklist focuses on decisions before a liability settlement. If the driver has no applicable insurance, start with our uninsured-driver claim checklist instead.
1. Find the coverage that applied on the crash date
Ask for your declarations page, complete policy, endorsements, and any UM/UIM selection or rejection forms. Confirm who qualifies as an insured and which vehicle and use were covered. A current insurance card alone does not answer those questions.
The California Department of Insurance’s auto guide explains that UIM provides limited bodily-injury protection when the responsible driver has insufficient coverage. It is different from collision coverage for your car or medical payments coverage. Our California auto insurance coverage guide explains those distinctions.
2. Compare limits—not just the size of your bills
California’s statutory UIM framework compares the responsible vehicle’s liability insurance with the injured person’s applicable coverage limits. Having injuries worth more than the other driver’s policy does not, by itself, establish UIM eligibility.
Under Insurance Code section 11580.2(p), payments from legally responsible parties generally reduce the UIM insurer’s maximum potential obligation. UIM is not automatically an additional full policy limit on top of the liability payment. Actual recovery also depends on covered damages, applicable terms, and other relevant credits. Ask for a written explanation of the limits and payment calculation.
3. Check exhaustion before accepting a reduced settlement
Section 11580.2(p)(3) generally requires applicable vehicle bodily-injury liability limits to be exhausted through payment of judgments or settlements, with proof supplied to the UIM insurer. An offer letter and an actual payment are not the same thing.
In Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Hurley (1999), the court held that a below-limit settlement did not satisfy exhaustion merely because the injured person offered to credit the UIM insurer with the full liability limit. That is a reason to obtain advice before discounting a policy-limit claim—not a prediction about any particular case.
4. Review the release and communicate with your insurer
Before signing, ask what claims and parties the release covers and whether anything could affect your UIM claim. Request written guidance about applicable notice, document, consent, and settlement requirements. Requirements can depend on the coverage and circumstances; do not assume every UM rule applies identically to UIM.
Keep the offer, release, payment evidence, and insurer correspondence together. Calendar deadlines with qualified counsel; continuing negotiations does not necessarily preserve every right. If a lawsuit has been filed, ask about the separate requirement to provide the UIM insurer a copy of the complaint.
5. Document the loss that remains
Create a simple file containing treatment records, bills, work restrictions, wage documentation, and truthful notes about daily limitations. Include clinician-supported future-care information when available. Separate repair expenses from bodily-injury damages rather than treating one settlement as payment for everything.
Do not delay appropriate care while waiting for insurance decisions. Our guide to medical bills during a pending accident claim discusses practical questions to raise. A policy limit is a ceiling, not a guaranteed payment, and documentation does not guarantee a particular result.
Need help understanding your options?
The L.A. Law Firm helps people injured because of someone else’s negligence evaluate potential claims. If an injury-producing crash has left you facing a settlement offer and unanswered coverage questions, call 866-383-1462. Phone intake is available 24/7; office visits are by appointment. We can review whether representation is appropriate and explain potential next steps.
General California educational information, not individualized legal or insurance advice. Coverage and outcomes depend on the facts, policy, and applicable law.
