If you were hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver in Beverly Hills, you may still recover compensation through your own uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage under California Insurance Code § 11580.2. These claims are filed against your own insurance company, and that insurer will contest liability, dispute your injuries, and push for the lowest payout possible. The at-fault driver either carries no auto insurance or holds only California’s $30,000 per-person minimum, which rarely covers a serious injury.
The Injury Partners represents UM/UIM accident victims across Beverly Hills and Los Angeles County on a contingency-fee basis. Call (310) 220-0066 for a free 24/7 consultation.
As car accident lawyers in Beverly Hills, The Injury Partners represents victims of uninsured and underinsured motorist accidents throughout Beverly Hills and Los Angeles County. When the at-fault driver carries no insurance or holds only California’s state minimum, Insurance Code § 11580.2 gives you a path to recovery through your own UM/UIM policy.
California has one of the highest uninsured driver rates in the country. Even insured drivers frequently carry only the $30,000 per-person state minimum for bodily injury, an amount that can be exhausted by a single day in the ICU at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
The Beverly Hills Police Department handles crash investigations within city limits, and early attorney involvement helps preserve evidence and properly structure your UM/UIM claim. Our office is at 499 N. Canon Dr., Suite B1, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, and we are available 24/7 at (310) 220-0066.
UM coverage applies when the at-fault driver has no liability insurance at all, while UIM coverage applies when the at-fault driver’s policy limits are too low to cover your full damages. The distinction matters because UIM is only triggered when your own UIM policy limit exceeds the at-fault driver’s liability limit. If both you and the at-fault driver carry the same limit, UIM does not apply, and your claim is limited to what the other driver’s policy will pay.
California insurers are required to offer both UM and UIM coverage under Insurance Code § 11580.2, and they typically package both as a single combined offering shown on your declarations page as “UM/UIM.” You can check your policy documents to confirm whether you carry this coverage and at what limits. Hit-and-run accidents also fall under UM coverage because a driver who flees the scene and cannot be identified is treated as uninsured under California law.
UM/UIM claims demand a specific kind of experience because they put you in an adversarial position against your own insurance company, not the at-fault driver’s carrier. The attorneys who handle your case need to understand UM/UIM arbitration procedures under Insurance Code § 11580.2(f), the technical rules that can eliminate your coverage, and the tactics insurers use to reduce what they owe you. The Injury Partners was built for exactly this type of fight.
Omeed Hakimianpour is a Super Lawyers® Rising Star for 2025 and 2026, a distinction awarded to only the top 2.5% of attorneys in California. He trained at Kirkland & Ellis, one of the world’s largest law firms, where he negotiated across the table from corporate counsel in multibillion-dollar transactions. He brings that same preparation and intensity to every UM/UIM arbitration proceeding.
Daniel Sabet completed the prestigious SCALE accelerated J.D. program at Southwestern Law School in just two years and has built his career on personal injury advocacy.
The firm maintains a 5.00 Google rating and has recovered over $1 million in settlements for clients. Every client works directly with an attorney from the first call through case resolution, and we are available around the clock. Meet our Beverly Hills personal injury attorneys.
Your insurer is the one paying on a UM/UIM claim, which means its financial interest is to pay you as little as possible. We understand how frustrating this feels. You have been paying premiums for years, and now the company you trusted to protect you is working against you. This is not unusual, and it is not something you did wrong. It is how the UM/UIM system works in California.
Insurance carriers routinely open UM/UIM negotiations with offers in the range of 30 to 40 percent of the claim’s actual value, counting on the fact that most claimants do not know about their right to demand arbitration.
Your insurer will hire defense attorneys, retain medical experts who dispute the severity of your injuries, request extensive medical records searching for pre-existing conditions, and push lowball settlement offers designed to close the claim quickly. The Injury Partners treats every UM/UIM claim with the same intensity we would bring to a third-party liability case.
California law creates five common coverage scenarios that determine whether UM or UIM applies to your accident. The table below maps each situation to the coverage type, the claims process, and the rules that control the outcome.
Scenario | Coverage | What Happens | Coverage Rules |
At-fault driver has no insurance | UM | You file a UM claim against your own insurer up to your UM policy limit | UM must be in effect at the time of the accident; only excluded by written waiver |
At-fault driver fled the scene (hit-and-run) | UM | Unidentified driver is treated as “uninsured”; you file a UM claim | Physical contact between vehicles is required; report to police within 24 hours |
At-fault driver’s limits are lower than your UIM limits | UIM | Exhaust the at-fault driver’s policy first, then file a UIM claim for the gap | You must obtain your insurer’s written consent before settling with the at-fault carrier (consent-to-settle rule) |
At-fault driver’s limits equal or exceed your UIM limits | UIM does not apply | Your claim is limited to the at-fault driver’s liability policy | No UIM coverage is triggered; this is a standard third-party liability claim |
At-fault driver carries California minimum ($30K per person) and your UIM is higher | UIM | Collect $30K from the at-fault insurer, then file a UIM claim up to your UIM limit | Must exhaust the at-fault policy first; written consent from your UIM insurer is required before accepting |
UM/UIM benefits cannot be stacked in California under Insurance Code § 11580.2(q). If the at-fault driver has $30,000 in coverage and your UIM limit is $100,000, the maximum recovery is $100,000, not $130,000. Your UIM insurer receives a credit equal to whatever the at-fault driver’s policy paid.
UM/UIM disputes are resolved through mandatory binding arbitration rather than a jury trial. The arbitration is governed by Insurance Code § 11580.2(f), Code of Civil Procedure § 1282, and California Rules of Court Rule 3.823. For UM claims, the statute of limitations requires a formal demand for arbitration within two years of the accident. Once arbitration is formally demanded, it must be concluded within five years under § 11580.2(i). Missing either deadline can permanently bar your claim.
Before you accept any settlement from the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier, you must obtain written consent from your own UIM insurer. This rule exists because your UIM insurer has a subrogation right, meaning the right to pursue the at-fault driver for reimbursement after it pays your UIM claim. If you settle with the at-fault driver without your insurer’s consent, you may destroy that subrogation right, and your insurer can deny your UIM claim entirely.
The California Supreme Court addressed this in Quintano v. Mercury Casualty Co. (1995), where the court confirmed that settling without consent gives the UIM carrier grounds to void coverage. This is the single most common reason UIM claims are denied in California, and no Beverly Hills competitor addresses it on their website. The Injury Partners obtains written consent from the UIM insurer before finalizing any settlement with the at-fault driver’s carrier, protecting your right to full recovery.
UM/UIM claims allow you to recover the same categories of compensatory damages that apply in a standard personal injury case. Your recoverable damages may include emergency medical care at facilities like Cedars-Sinai Medical Center or UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, ongoing treatment such as surgery, physical therapy, chiropractic care, orthopedic visits, and pain management, as well as lost wages, diminished earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium, and damages in wrongful death cases where the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured.
We know how quickly medical costs can accumulate after a serious accident, and the financial pressure of mounting bills while you are still recovering can feel overwhelming. Settlement amounts in UM/UIM cases depend on injury severity, available policy limits, medical documentation, and the strength of liability proof.
There are important limits specific to UM/UIM claims that you should understand. UM/UIM coverage applies to bodily injury damages only, not property damage, which is handled through your collision coverage. An exception exists for uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD), which may cover vehicle damage up to $3,500 if you do not carry collision coverage.
Punitive damages are not available in UM/UIM arbitration because these are contractual claims against your own insurer rather than tort claims against the at-fault driver. Your own comparative negligence under Civil Code § 1714 can reduce the arbitration award, and California Insurance Code § 1861.02 prohibits your insurer from raising your rates for filing a non-fault UM claim.
You can file a lawsuit directly against an uninsured driver in California, but the practical challenge is collection. Drivers who carry no auto insurance often lack the personal assets needed to satisfy a judgment, which means you may win in court and still recover nothing.
In most cases, the UM claim against your own insurer is the stronger path because recovery is guaranteed up to your policy limits. If the uninsured driver does have attachable assets such as real property or garnishable wages, a direct lawsuit may be worth pursuing alongside the UM claim. The Injury Partners evaluates both options for every client.
The Insurance Research Council’s 2025 report found that 20.4% of California drivers are uninsured, roughly one in five motorists on the road. California ranks eighth highest in the nation, and the problem is even more concentrated in urban areas like Los Angeles County, where insurance affordability pressures and population density push the rate higher. Auto insurance premiums in California surged more than 45% in 2023 and 2024 alone, forcing a growing number of lower-income drivers to drop coverage entirely.
Even drivers who maintain active policies frequently carry only the state minimum of $30,000 per person for bodily injury, which was raised from $15,000 under SB 1107 effective January 2025. While the increase was long overdue, $30,000 remains grossly inadequate for any accident involving surgery, hospitalization, or long-term rehabilitation. The gap between what the at-fault driver’s policy covers and what your injuries actually cost is the underinsured motorist problem.
Beverly Hills compounds these risks with high tourist volume, rideshare congestion along Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards, and nightlife-driven impaired driving on weekends. Los Angeles recorded over 7,500 injury-causing hit-and-run accidents annually from 2022 through 2024, and rideshare drivers in Period 1 carry only $50,000/$100,000/$30,000 in TNC coverage, which may fall below your own UIM limits. If a rideshare driver caused your accident, an Uber accident lawyer in Beverly Hills can determine whether a UIM claim supplements the TNC recovery.
When the at-fault driver flees the scene and cannot be identified, California law treats that driver as uninsured, allowing you to file a UM claim against your own insurer. There is one requirement you must meet: physical contact between the fleeing vehicle and your vehicle or person. If the other driver forced you to swerve and crash without making contact, the UM claim may be harder to establish.
You must also report the accident to police within 24 hours to preserve your right to recover property damage under your UM policy. Beverly Hills Golden Triangle surveillance cameras are often a valuable resource for identifying fleeing drivers, but when the driver cannot be found, your UM coverage becomes the primary recovery path. Our hit and run accident lawyers in Beverly Hills handle UM claims for hit-and-run victims throughout Los Angeles County.
When the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough insurance, your own insurer becomes your adversary, and you need attorneys who treat that reality with the seriousness it demands. The Injury Partners handles UM/UIM claims and arbitration proceedings with the same preparation and intensity we bring to every personal injury case we take on. You pay nothing upfront and owe no fees unless we recover compensation on your behalf.
You paid for UM/UIM coverage. Your insurer has a contractual obligation to honor it, and we will hold them to it, through negotiation or arbitration. Call The Injury Partners today at (310) 220-0066 or email info@theinjurypartners.com to schedule a free consultation. Our attorneys are available 24/7 and represent clients from our Beverly Hills office at 499 N. Canon Dr., Suite B1, CA 90210.
