The driver who hit you carried the state minimum, and your hospital bill passed it in the first week. That is the ordinary case in South Carolina, not the unusual one. The coverage that fills the gap is probably sitting on your own policy, and understanding underinsured motorist coverage in South Carolina is what turns a dead end into a recovery.

Uninsured and underinsured are two different problems

The words look alike and get used interchangeably. They solve opposite problems.

An uninsured motor vehicle, under S.C. Code § 38-77-30(14), is one with no bodily injury and property damage liability insurance in the amounts required by § 38-77-140 — or where the insurer successfully denies coverage, or has become insolvent. The statute also treats a vehicle as uninsured when the owner or operator is unknown, which is how a hit-and-run is handled.

An underinsured motor vehicle, under § 38-77-30(15), is one that does carry at least the required liability limits, but where “the amount of the insurance or bond is less than the amount of the insureds’ damages.” The other driver had insurance. It was not enough.

What the state requires, and how small it is

Section 38-77-140(A) sets the floor for every policy issued in South Carolina: twenty-five thousand dollars for bodily injury to one person, fifty thousand for bodily injury to two or more people in one accident, and twenty-five thousand for property damage.

Those figures explain why underinsured coverage matters so much here. A single ambulance ride, an emergency department workup, and one orthopaedic surgery will pass $25,000 without reaching lost wages or anything else. A driver carrying the minimum is fully legal and nowhere near able to cover a serious injury.

If you are unsure what your own policy includes, our explainer on what full coverage car insurance means in South Carolina goes through the coverages one by one.

UM is mandatory. UIM must be offered.

This is the distinction that decides whether you have anything to claim.

Under S.C. Code § 38-77-150(A), no automobile policy may be issued or delivered in South Carolina unless it contains an uninsured motorist provision paying what the insured is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured vehicle, within limits no less than the § 38-77-140 requirements. Every policy has it. There is no opting out.

Underinsured coverage works differently. Section 38-77-160 requires carriers to offer, at the insured’s option, both additional uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage up to the limits of the insured’s liability coverage. The obligation is to offer. Whether you bought it is a question you answer by reading your declarations page.

There is a helpful backstop. Under § 38-77-350(E), if the insured fails or refuses to return the executed offer form within thirty days, the insurer must add uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage at the same limits as the insured’s liability limits. Whether that happened in your case is worth checking rather than assuming.

Where your coverage sits when more than one policy exists

Section 38-77-160 also controls how much you can reach. Where an insured is protected by uninsured or underinsured coverage above the basic limits, the policy must provide that the insured is protected “only to the extent of the coverage he has on the vehicle involved in the accident.” If none of the insured’s vehicles was involved, coverage is available to the extent of the coverage on any one of the vehicles carrying the excess or underinsured coverage.

That single sentence is where a great deal of UIM litigation lives. Which vehicle you were in, and which policies covered which vehicles, can change the available money substantially.

One more provision that favours claimants: § 38-77-160 states that benefits paid under it are not subject to subrogation and assignment, and that no underinsured policy may contain a clause requiring the insurer’s consent to settlement with the at-fault party.

Making the claim against your own insurer

A UIM claim is made against your own carrier, under a contract you paid for. It is still a claim that gets investigated, valued, and sometimes disputed, and the adjuster’s posture is not the one you get when you renew a policy.

There is a procedural trap worth knowing. Both § 38-77-150(B) and § 38-77-160 require that copies of the pleadings in the action establishing liability be served on the insurer writing the coverage, which then has thirty days to appear and the right to defend in the name of the uninsured or underinsured motorist. Failing to serve the carrier properly can undo an otherwise good claim.

Our post on the role insurance companies play in auto accidents describes how these investigations run, and

what to do after rejecting an insurance settlement covers the next step when the number is too low.

Hit-and-run: the conditions you must meet

Because an unknown driver makes the vehicle uninsured, a hit-and-run is a UM claim — but § 38-77-170 imposes conditions. The accident must be reported to an appropriate police authority within a reasonable time, and one of three things must be true: physical contact with the unknown vehicle, a witness other than the owner or operator of the insured vehicle who signs an affidavit, or a recording of the accident showing the unknown vehicle caused the damage. The insured must also not have been negligent in failing to identify the other vehicle and driver.

The recording option is the newest and the most practical. Dashcam and doorbell footage now decides cases that would once have failed for want of contact.

What to check on your own policy

• —Find your declarations page and look for UM and UIM as separate lines with separate limits.
• —Compare those limits to your liability limits — UIM can be bought up to the liability limit, and often is not.
• —If you cannot find UIM at all, ask the carrier for the signed offer form; § 38-77-350(E) may have added it by default.
• —Keep the police report and any video. A UM hit-and-run claim can turn entirely on § 38-77-170’s conditions.

Frequently asked questions

Will my rates go up if I make a UIM claim on my own policy?

A UIM claim is a claim under your own contract for someone else’s fault. Rating practices vary by carrier and this is a question for your agent, but it is not a reason to leave a claim unmade when the at-fault driver’s limits will not cover your injuries.

Can I recover UIM if I was a passenger in someone else’s car?

Possibly, and this is exactly where § 38-77-160’s vehicle-involved language matters. Which policy responds depends on which vehicle was involved and what coverage sat on it, which is why both declarations pages need reading.

Does UIM pay on top of the at-fault driver’s insurance?

UIM is designed for damages sustained in excess of the liability limits carried by the at-fault driver. It fills the gap between what that driver’s policy pays and what you actually lost, up to your UIM limits.

What if the other driver fled and was never identified?

That is a UM claim, because § 38-77-30(14) treats a vehicle with an unknown owner or operator as uninsured. You must meet the reporting and corroboration conditions in § 38-77-170.

Talk to a South Carolina car accident attorney

Whether there is money available after a serious crash usually turns on coverage nobody has read yet — yours as much as the other driver’s. Klok Law Firm handles injury claims in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties, and reading the declarations pages is where we start. Call Klok Law at (843) 701-1695 to discuss your options.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Coverage questions turn on the wording of the specific policies involved. For advice about your specific situation, contact Klok Law at (843) 701-1695.