Updated June 2026
What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage Insurance?
Uninsured motorist coverage compensates you when the at-fault driver carries no liability insurance or cannot be identified after a hit-and-run. The coverage mirrors what their liability policy should have paid — your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and in some states vehicle damage. New York law requires carriers to offer this coverage, but purchasing it remains optional. Most retirees assume their own collision and PIP coverage handles any accident, but uninsured motorist fills a specific gap: it recovers damages another driver legally owes you but cannot pay.
- A driver merges into your lane near Albany, forces you off the road, and continues without stopping. You sustain $18,000 in medical bills and $7,500 in vehicle damage. Your PIP covers the first $50,000 in medical expenses regardless of fault, but uninsured motorist coverage reimburses your PIP deductible, covers pain and suffering the PIP excludes, and pays the vehicle damage if you purchased the property damage variant. Without this coverage, you absorb the $7,500 repair bill and any medical costs PIP doesn't cover.
- You're stopped at a red light in Rochester when another driver rear-ends you at 35 mph. They admit fault but carry no insurance. You suffer $22,000 in medical bills, miss six weeks of work worth $9,000, and your vehicle sustains $11,000 in damage. Your PIP handles medical costs up to its limit, but uninsured motorist coverage pays your lost wages, compensates pain and suffering, and covers the vehicle damage. The at-fault driver owes these amounts under New York law, but without assets or insurance, uninsured motorist coverage becomes your only realistic recovery path.
- A driver carrying only New York's $25,000 bodily injury minimum causes an accident resulting in $65,000 in your medical bills and lost income. Their liability policy pays its $25,000 limit and stops. If you carry underinsured motorist coverage at $100,000, it pays the remaining $40,000. This scenario reveals a coverage gap many retirees overlook: even insured drivers may carry limits too low to cover serious injuries, and underinsured motorist coverage closes that shortfall.
Who Needs Uninsured Motorist Coverage Insurance?
Retirees who drive a paid-off vehicle and dropped collision coverage should still carry uninsured motorist property damage — it covers vehicle repair when the at-fault driver has no insurance, a scenario collision would have handled. Drivers with substantial assets to protect benefit from high uninsured motorist limits, as New York allows recovery for pain and suffering that PIP excludes. If you frequently drive in areas with higher uninsured driver rates or if your health insurance carries high deductibles Medicare doesn't cover, uninsured motorist bodily injury offsets out-of-pocket costs another driver's liability policy should pay.
Compare your uninsured motorist limits to your liability limits and your health insurance out-of-pocket maximum. If the at-fault driver carried no insurance and caused $50,000 in medical bills and vehicle damage, calculate what your PIP, health plan, and collision coverage would pay, then identify the remaining gap. That gap is what uninsured motorist coverage exists to close. For most retirees in New York, carrying uninsured motorist bodily injury at least equal to liability limits and adding property damage coverage costs under $200 annually and prevents a financially catastrophic shortfall.
How Much Does Uninsured Motorist Coverage Insurance Cost?
Uninsured motorist coverage typically adds $8 to $18 per month to a New York auto policy, or approximately $95 to $215 annually, for bodily injury limits matching your liability coverage.
- Coverage limits selected — higher uninsured motorist limits cost more but mirror the protection gap if you're hit by an uninsured driver with serious injuries.
- Whether you add property damage coverage separately — New York carriers often sell uninsured motorist bodily injury and property damage as distinct line items.
- Stacking election — some New York policies allow you to stack uninsured motorist limits across multiple vehicles on the same policy, increasing available coverage but raising premium.
- Your liability limits — carriers typically cap uninsured motorist limits at your own liability limits, so higher liability coverage enables higher uninsured motorist protection.
- Claims history — a prior uninsured motorist claim may increase renewal premium, though less than an at-fault collision claim.