Roughly one in eight drivers carries no insurance, and far more carry state minimums that a real injury exhausts instantly. Your uninsured/underinsured-motorist coverage exists exactly for this — same valuation math, different payer, and a few procedural traps worth knowing.
Reviewed August 24, 2026 · bands map to the disclosed methodologyBased on the multiplier method used by insurers and attorneys. This is an educational estimate, not legal advice — every claim is different.
| Situation | Typical multiplier | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Your claim's value | Multiplier math | Same formula as any injury claim — the calculator above. |
| Their liability limits | First layer | In UIM claims, the at-fault carrier pays its limits first; UIM covers the gap. |
| Your UM/UIM limits | The ceiling | You cannot recover more than the coverage you bought — and stacking rules can raise it. |
These bands are the same disclosed multiplier framework used across this site (methodology) — where a specific injury lands inside it is driven by documentation, permanence, and liability clarity, not by the label on the injury.
In an underinsured claim, accepting the at-fault carrier's limits without your own insurer's written consent can void your UIM coverage — insurers keep subrogation rights against the driver, and settling extinguishes them. The sequence matters: get the tender in writing, notify your UIM carrier, get consent, then settle. It's paperwork, and skipping it costs entire claims.
In many states, UM/UIM limits can 'stack' across vehicles on a policy or across policies — turning $50,000 of coverage on two cars into $100,000 of protection. Whether stacking applies is a state-law and policy-language question worth an attorney's fifteen minutes, because it changes the recoverable ceiling before negotiation even starts.
Value it exactly like a normal injury claim — the multiplier math above — then cap it at your UM limits. For underinsured claims, the recovery is your claim's value minus what the at-fault carrier paid, up to your UIM limits (offset rules vary by state).
Yes — a UM claim is adversarial, and carriers adjust them like any liability claim. The difference: your insurer owes you good-faith duties a stranger's carrier doesn't, which becomes leverage if they lowball a documented claim.
Not before written consent from your UIM carrier — accepting without it can void the underinsured layer of your claim. Get the offer in writing, notify your carrier, and follow the consent sequence.