In Nevada, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage are contract tools that protect you when the at fault driver has no insurance, too little insurance, or flees as a qualifying hit and run. UM and UIM claims are grounded in Nevada statutes, but they still move through your own policy’s rules and deadlines. Understanding how these coverages work, when they apply, and how long you have to act can make a significant difference after a serious crash in Las Vegas or anywhere in Nevada.
What Uninsured And Underinsured Motorist Coverage Means Under Nevada Law
Nevada treats UM and UIM coverage as important, but optional, protections that sit on top of the basic liability system. The statutes require insurers to offer these coverages and define when a vehicle is considered uninsured, including certain hit and run situations. At the same time, Nevada leaves room for contract language that can expand or narrow how these benefits operate. Knowing the core legal framework helps you understand what you bought and how to use it.
What Is the Difference Between UM and UIM Coverage in Nevada?
Uninsured motorist coverage in Nevada is governed by NRS 690B.020. That statute requires insurers to offer UM coverage and explains when a vehicle is considered uninsured, including when the owner or driver cannot be identified in a qualifying hit and run. Nevada law generally requires physical contact with the unidentified vehicle and a timely police report before a hit and run can be treated as an uninsured motorist situation for UM purposes.
Under NRS 690B.020, UM coverage applies when the at fault driver has no liability insurance at all or when a hit and run driver meets the statutory conditions. Underinsured motorist coverage is addressed through NRS 687B.145, which requires insurers to offer UIM coverage and addresses how it interacts with other coverages. UIM applies when the at fault driver’s bodily injury limits are lower than your total damages and your UIM limits are higher than the liability limits that were available from the negligent driver. In practical terms, UM protects you when there is nothing or almost nothing to collect from the other side. UIM protects you when there is something to collect, but it is not enough.
How Much UM/UIM Can We Buy Under Nevada Law?
Nevada allows you to purchase UM and UIM limits that are equal to or greater than your liability limits, subject to what your insurer offers in its product line. Because Nevada law requires minimum liability limits of 25,000 per person, 50,000 per crash, and 20,000 for property damage under NRS 485.185, those same numbers often become the starting point for UM and UIM offers. Many Las Vegas drivers choose higher limits, such as 100,000 per person or more, to account for the realities of serious injury crashes.
In the Las Vegas corridor, heavy traffic on I 15, US 95, the 215 Beltway, and resort area streets means that serious collisions are unfortunately common. Medical bills for a hospital stay, imaging, and follow up care can easily exceed 25,000 per person, especially for pedestrians or motorcyclists. Higher UM and UIM limits are often the only realistic way to protect your family against drivers who carry only the Nevada minimum or who have no coverage at all.
Is UM/UIM Coverage Required In Nevada Or Just Offered?
Nevada is not a mandatory UM/UIM state in the same way that it is a mandatory liability state. Drivers must carry liability insurance, but UM and UIM coverage are optional. Even so, the law gives you significant protection by requiring insurers to make specific offers and by creating consequences if those offers and rejections are not properly documented.
Is UM/UIM Automatically Included Unless We Sign a Written Rejection in Nevada?
NRS 687B.145 requires insurers that transact motor vehicle insurance in Nevada to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in at least the same amount as the bodily injury limits on the policy. If the insurer cannot produce a valid written rejection on an approved form, Nevada law generally presumes that UM and UIM coverage were purchased at those limits. This protects policyholders by placing the burden on the insurer to prove that UM and UIM were properly rejected.
The same statute requires insurers to offer at least 1,000 dollars in medical payments coverage, often called MedPay, which pays medical expenses regardless of fault. If there is no signed rejection, MedPay is also presumed to apply. For many drivers in Las Vegas and Clark County, this means that important protections may exist even when they do not remember selecting them, as long as the insurer did not obtain a compliant rejection.
Minimum Limits And Why They Matter In Las Vegas Crashes
Nevada’s liability minimums are both a legal requirement and a practical warning label. They set the floor for what drivers must carry, but they do not guarantee that this amount will be enough in a serious crash. In the context of UM and UIM, the same numbers become the minimum levels that insurers must offer to you.
What Are Nevada’s Minimum Auto Insurance Limits Today?
Under NRS 485.185, Nevada requires drivers to carry liability insurance of at least 25,000 for bodily injury or death to one person, 50,000 for bodily injury or death to two or more persons in a single crash, and 20,000 for damage to the property of others. These numbers are sometimes written as 25/50/20. They reflect the smallest liability policy a Nevada driver can lawfully carry.
Because NRS 687B.145 and NRS 690B.020 tie UM and UIM offers to liability limits, these minimums also set the floor for the size of UM and UIM offers that insurers must make to you. Nevada remains an at fault state, which means injured people can pursue the negligent driver’s liability coverage first, but in many real cases that coverage runs out early. UM and UIM sit behind that initial protection to provide a potential second layer of recovery.
Why Are Minimum Limits Often Not Enough in Real Las Vegas Crashes?
In real Las Vegas crashes, minimum limits are often not enough to cover serious injuries. Pedestrian and cyclist collisions near the Strip, Chinatown, Downtown, and resort corridors frequently involve high impact forces and complex injuries. Multi vehicle crashes on freeways like I 15, I 215, and US 95 can injure several people in one event, quickly exhausting a 50,000 per crash limit. If several occupants need hospital care, each person’s available share of a minimum liability policy can be relatively small.
Medical bills in Nevada for ambulance transport, emergency department care, imaging, surgery, and rehabilitation can easily exceed 25,000 for a single injured person. In those situations, UIM coverage becomes essential. When the at fault driver carries only the minimum, your own UIM limits may be the only path to a recovery that reflects the true cost of your injuries.
Hit And Run Claims: Physical Contact And Police Report Rules
Hit and run scenarios present unique challenges because the at fault driver may never be identified and may never provide insurance information. Nevada’s UM statute addresses this by specifying when a hit and run vehicle can be treated as uninsured for UM purposes. The rules are technical, but they are important for preserving coverage.
Does UM Apply to a Hit And Run If There Was No Contact With Our Car?
Under NRS 690B.020, Nevada generally requires physical contact between the unknown vehicle and your vehicle for a hit and run to qualify as an uninsured motorist event under statutory UM. For example, if a vehicle rear ends you at a Las Vegas intersection and then flees, that contact usually satisfies the physical contact requirement. If a vehicle sideswipes you and then disappears, the same is true. However, if a vehicle cuts you off and causes you to crash without ever touching your car, UM coverage may be denied under the statute unless your specific policy provides broader coverage than the statute requires.
The purpose of the physical contact rule is to reduce the risk of fraudulent claims by requiring some tangible evidence that another vehicle was involved. Some policies or court decisions may recognize narrow exceptions or allow coverage where there is clear independent corroborating evidence, but the default rule is that no contact often means no statutory UM hit and run claim. Reviewing your policy language with counsel is important when your crash did not involve direct impact.
How Quickly Do We Need To Report a Hit And Run in Las Vegas?
NRS 690B.020 also requires timely reporting of the hit and run to law enforcement as a condition of treating the unknown vehicle as uninsured. Many policies incorporate specific timeframes, such as requiring a police report within 24 to 72 hours, and failure to comply can lead to denials. In Las Vegas, that often means filing a report with LVMPD through an officer response or through the online reporting system when appropriate.
Prompt reporting protects your UM eligibility by creating an official record and confirming that you notified authorities within the time required by statute and by the policy. Reporting also allows law enforcement to look for patterns, surveillance video, or other evidence that may identify the fleeing driver.
Can You Stack UM/UIM Policies In Nevada?
In a serious crash, one layer of UM or UIM coverage may not be enough. Stacking refers to combining multiple UM or UIM coverages to increase the total available limit. Nevada allows insurers to limit stacking through properly written and disclosed anti stacking clauses, but also recognizes that policyholders may reasonably expect stacked benefits if they paid multiple full premiums without a valid limitation.
Can We Stack UM From Multiple Vehicles or Policies in Nevada?
Stacking often arises when a household insures several vehicles, each with its own UM or UIM coverage. Vertical stacking refers to combining UM or UIM limits from different policies or vehicles belonging to the same injured person. Horizontal stacking can involve multiple injured people each seeking to stack coverage. In simple terms, stacking asks whether you can add the UM or UIM limits for more than one vehicle or policy together for the same accident.
Nevada courts have long recognized that insureds reasonably expect to receive additional UM or UIM benefits when they pay separate premiums for multiple vehicles. Cases such as Torres v. Farmers Insurance Exchange explain that expectation and set the stage for later anti stacking analysis. However, NRS 687B.145(1) permits insurers to limit stacking if they follow specific statutory requirements.
When Is an Anti Stacking Clause Enforceable?
NRS 687B.145(1) authorizes anti stacking provisions in Nevada auto policies but imposes conditions. Courts interpreting this statute, including the Nevada Supreme Court and federal courts applying Nevada law, have summarized the rule as a three part test. An anti stacking clause must be written in clear language, must be prominently displayed in the policy, and the insured must not have purchased separate coverage on the same risk or paid a premium calculated for full reimbursement under that coverage.
If an insurer cannot prove that its anti stacking clause meets these requirements, the clause may be void and stacking may be allowed. When the clause is clear, conspicuous, and backed by premium structures that reflect non stacked coverage, courts are more likely to enforce it. Because this analysis is policy specific and fact dependent, stacking disputes are often heavily litigated and require close review of the declarations page, premium charges, and policy text.
Deadlines For UM/UIM Claims And When The Clock Starts
UM and UIM claims are based on your insurance contract, not directly on the underlying crash. That has important consequences for how long you have to sue your insurer. Nevada applies a longer statute of limitations to written contract actions than it does to ordinary injury claims, but contract provisions can complicate the picture.
How Long Do We Have to File a UM/UIM Claim in Nevada, and When Does the Six Year Period Begin?
Under NRS 11.190(1)(b), actions upon a contract founded upon an instrument in writing generally must be filed within six years. Nevada Supreme Court decisions, including Grayson v. State Farm and later cases such as State Farm v. Fitts, have applied this six year contract period to UM and UIM claims. Importantly, the six year period usually begins when the insurer breaches the contract, often by denying the claim or refusing to pay, rather than on the date of the crash itself.
This start date surprises many people, and some insurers have historically misstated the rule. It does not mean you should wait to act, but it does mean that the civil contract clock is not always tied directly to the accident date. Determining the exact trigger for limitation purposes can require careful review of claim correspondence and policy language.
Do Policy Deadlines or Suit Limitation Clauses Change This?
Many auto policies contain contractual suit limitation clauses that set shorter deadlines for bringing UM or UIM lawsuits, sometimes three years or even less from certain events. Nevada courts may enforce such clauses if they are clear, prominently displayed, and not unreasonably short in the circumstances. When a contractual limitation conflicts with general statutes of limitation, courts analyze whether the clause is fair and whether it gives insureds a realistic opportunity to protect their rights.
Because of these complexities, you should not assume that the statutory six year period will always protect you. Policy deadlines, notice requirements, and arbitration provisions can all affect your practical timeline. Early legal advice can help you interpret those deadlines and avoid losing UM or UIM rights through delay.
How To Start A UM/UIM Claim And What Evidence Helps
From a practical standpoint, UM and UIM claims are built on the same evidence that supports your liability claim, plus documentation that shows what coverage existed on both sides. The more organized your records are, the easier it is to present a complete claim to your own insurer and to challenge unreasonable denials.
What Documents and Proof Help Our UM/UIM Claim Get Paid?
A strong UM or UIM claim typically includes a police crash report, especially for hit and run or disputed liability situations. Medical records and bills support your injury and damages. Photos, videos, and dashcam files help document how the crash happened and the severity of the impact. Witness names and contact information allow your insurer or attorney to follow up on key observations.
Repair estimates and final invoices show the property damage component of the claim. Your policy declarations page confirms your UM and UIM limits and any MedPay coverage. For UIM claims, you will also need proof of the at fault driver’s bodily injury limits, such as a declarations page or insurer letter, so that your carrier can verify that the liability policy has been exhausted and that your UIM coverage is now implicated.
What Are Our Basic Duties Under the Policy When We Make a UM/UIM Claim?
Most Nevada auto policies impose certain duties on you when you present a UM or UIM claim. These often include giving prompt notice of the crash, cooperating reasonably with the insurer’s investigation, providing medical releases so that relevant records can be obtained, and attending independent medical examinations when required under the policy. Your duty is to cooperate reasonably, not to accept every request without question.
You are not required to give a recorded statement without understanding the implications, especially when fault is disputed or when you suspect that coverage issues may arise. Coordinating with counsel before detailed recorded interviews can help you protect your rights while still fulfilling your contractual duties.
Negotiating With Your Own Insurer And When Bad Faith May Arise
UM and UIM claims put you and your insurer in an adversarial posture even though you are technically on the same team. Nevada law imposes a duty of good faith and fair dealing on insurers, and failure to honor that duty in the UM or UIM context can lead to bad faith claims. Recognizing when negotiation has crossed the line from tough bargaining into unreasonable conduct is important.
What Is Insurance Bad Faith and How Does It Relate to UM/UIM?
Insurance bad faith occurs when a carrier unreasonably denies, delays, or underpays a valid claim in violation of its duty of good faith and fair dealing. In the UM and UIM context, potential bad faith examples include ignoring clear evidence of liability or damages, refusing to evaluate medical records, making low offers without explanation, or misrepresenting policy terms or legal standards. Repeated requests for unnecessary information or tests can also raise concerns.
The fact that you disagree with an offer does not automatically mean there is bad faith. However, when an insurer refuses to make a fair evaluation of a Nevada UM or UIM claim and engages in tactics that appear designed only to reduce payment rather than to find the right number, bad faith analysis may be warranted. Building a clear record of communications and evidence helps evaluate these issues.
How Do UIM and UM Subrogation Rules Affect Negotiation?
NRS 687B.145(5) provides that an insurer is not entitled to subrogation when it pays benefits because of underinsured vehicle coverage. In simple terms, when your UIM carrier pays you, it usually cannot turn around and sue the at fault driver to get its money back. That can encourage more straightforward negotiation, because the UIM carrier understands that its payment is the end of the line for that exposure.
In the UM context, subrogation rights are often handled differently. Your UM insurer may have the right to step into your shoes and pursue the uninsured driver after paying your claim. That possibility can affect how the carrier evaluates liability and how aggressively it pursues evidence. Understanding these different subrogation paths helps explain why UIM and UM negotiations sometimes feel different even when the injuries are similar.
Frequently Overlooked Coverages And How They Interact
UM and UIM do not exist in a vacuum. MedPay, collision, and any uninsured motorist property damage coverage can all interact with your bodily injury claim. These coverages may address different slices of loss and can be especially important while UM and UIM negotiations are still underway.
Does MedPay Affect Our UM/UIM Claim in Nevada?
Under NRS 687B.145(3), Nevada auto insurers must offer at least 1,000 dollars in medical payments coverage. MedPay is a no fault benefit that pays reasonable and necessary medical expenses up to the policy limit regardless of who caused the crash. There is typically no deductible. Using MedPay can help with co pays, deductibles, and early bills while liability and UM or UIM issues are still being sorted out.
MedPay payments may reduce the net UM or UIM exposure in some situations, but they do not bar recovery under those coverages. The goal is to use each coverage in a coordinated way so that you are not leaving available benefits untapped. Reviewing how MedPay interacts with UM, UIM, and health insurance is an important part of a comprehensive recovery plan.
How Do Collision and Any UMPD Coverage Fit Into the Picture?
Collision coverage pays for repair or replacement of your vehicle after a crash, subject to your deductible, regardless of fault. Uninsured motorist property damage coverage, when offered in your policy, can sometimes provide an additional avenue for property recovery when an uninsured or hit and run driver causes damage. Not every Nevada policy includes UMPD, but where it exists, it may help bridge gaps between liability recovery and collision benefits.
In Las Vegas, where many drivers carry only minimum limits or no insurance, collision and any available UMPD coverage can be especially important. They can help repair or replace your vehicle while UM and UIM bodily injury claims proceed at their own pace.
Free Review Of UM/UIM Coverage And Hit And Run Options
If an uninsured or underinsured driver caused your injuries in Nevada, UM and UIM coverage may be the safety net that protects your recovery. Drummond Law Firm can review your policy, explain how Nevada’s UM/UIM statutes apply, and pursue available benefits through your own insurer, including in hit-and-run cases where the at-fault driver is never found. We offer free consultations and charge no fees unless we win, and through our Reduced Fee Guarantee®, our fee will never exceed your net recovery. We will help you understand your coverage, your deadlines, and the next steps to move your claim forward.
Call the Captain today at 702-CAPTAIN or contact us online to schedule your consultation.