What is uninsured motorist coverage in Georgia and how does it work?

Uninsured motorist coverage is the part of your own Georgia auto policy that pays when the driver who hit you has no insurance, too little, or fled. O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11 requires every insurer to offer it, sets the minimum at $25,000 per person, and makes the generous add-on version the default unless you rejected it in writing.

What does O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11 say?

The published heading is “Uninsured motorist coverage under motor vehicle liability policies.” Subsection (a)(1)(A) sets the minimum limits an insurer must offer:

Not less than $25,000.00 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, and, subject to such limit for one person, $50,000.00 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident, and $25,000.00 because of injury to or destruction of property.

Subsection (a)(1)(B) lets you take UM limits equal to your liability limits. Subsection (a)(3) says the coverage does not apply only if a named insured rejected it in writing. Subsection (b)(1)(D)(ii) sets the two versions: coverage that adds on top of the at-fault driver’s policy, which is the default, or coverage that only fills the gap, which you have to choose in writing. Last amended in 2022 (Ga. L. 2022, p. 352, HB 1428).

What does it mean for you?

Here is the problem this law solves. The driver who ran the light carries the state minimum, $25,000. Your surgery alone costs more. Where does the rest come from? From your own policy, through uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which Georgia shortens to UM. “Underinsured” just means the other driver has some insurance, but not enough.

The detail that decides cases is “add-on” versus “reduced by.” With add-on coverage, your $100,000 of UM sits on top of the other driver’s $25,000, for $125,000 available. With reduced-by coverage, your $100,000 is reduced by their $25,000, leaving $75,000. Georgia makes add-on the default. An insurer has to get your signature to sell you the weaker version, and many people signed that form years ago without knowing what it meant. We pull the policy and the signed election on every case.

Two more things. A hit and run driver counts as uninsured, which is why we ask about UM in every hit and run case. And a UM claim is a claim against your own insurer, which does not make the insurer your friend. It will defend the claim the way the other driver’s insurer would.

Related Georgia laws

• O.C.G.A. § 40-6-270: the hit and run statute, and why UM coverage matters when the driver fled
• O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33: how your share of fault reduces any recovery
• O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33: the two year deadline to file an injury lawsuit

Sources

• Official Code of Georgia Annotated on legis.ga.gov (official text)
• O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11 on Justia (2025 Georgia Code)
• Text verified against the published code on 2026-10-16. Statute text is public record. Nothing on this page is legal advice about your specific case.

What should you do next?

If the driver who hit you had no insurance or not enough, do not assume the case is over. Send us your declarations page and we will tell you what your own policy can do.

Call Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C. at 770-820-0711, any hour, any day. The call is free, the case review is free, and there is zero fee unless we win. Nine offices across Georgia, and we come to you if you cannot come to us.

One more thing. Don’t sign anything from an insurance company before you talk to a lawyer. A signature on the wrong form can give away rights you did not know you had.