Getting hit by a driver who speeds away is bad enough. Then your own insurance company tells you there’s no uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on your policy. If you’re dealing with a hit-and-run without UM coverage, here’s the honest answer: with no driver to sue and no UM to claim against, there is usually no insurer paying for your pain and suffering or your lost wages.
That’s the worst case, though, not the final answer. Many Las Vegas drivers who believe they have no UM are wrong about it. Others have UM available through someone else’s policy and don’t know it. Before you accept a denial, check three things: whether you really rejected UM, whether another policy covers you, and what other sources can pay your bills while you heal. A Las Vegas hit-and-run lawyer can check all three quickly, and it costs nothing to find out.
What You Lose Without UM Coverage in a Nevada Hit-and-Run
Nevada is an at-fault state. Normally the driver who caused the crash, or their insurer, pays for your damages. When that driver disappears, UM coverage on your own policy steps into their shoes. Without it, some losses still have a source of payment and some don’t.
What may still get paid:
- Medical bills: through MedPay (if you carry it) or your health insurance, after deductibles and co-pays
- Car repairs: through collision coverage (if you carry it), minus your deductible
- Some crime-related losses: in narrow situations, through Nevada’s Victims of Crime Program (explained below)
What usually has no payer:
- Pain and suffering
- Lost wages and lost earning capacity
- Medical costs beyond what MedPay and health insurance cover
- Future care, if your injuries are long-term
That gap is why the next step matters so much.
First, Make Sure You Actually Don’t Have UM Coverage
“I think I declined it when I bought the policy” is not the same as having no coverage. Nevada law sets a specific bar for rejecting UM.
Nevada Includes UM Unless You Rejected It in Writing
Under Nevada law, every auto liability policy issued in the state must include uninsured motorist coverage. The exception is when the named insured rejects it in writing, on a form the insurer provides that describes the coverage being rejected. Insurers must also offer UM at limits equal to your bodily injury coverage, and they must include that offer again with each renewal.
In practice, whether you “don’t have UM” can depend on paperwork: what form was used, who signed it, and whether the offer was made the way the law requires. Every policy is different, so have an attorney review the actual documents before you accept that answer.
What to Look for on Your Policy
Pull your declarations page (the summary page listing your coverages and limits) and any renewal packets. Look for:
- A line for “Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist” or “UM/UIM”
- A signed rejection form and its date
- Whether you switched carriers or policies, which can affect which offer and rejection apply
If you can’t find the rejection form, ask the insurer for a copy in writing.
UM Coverage That May Still Protect You (Even If You Declined Yours)
UM coverage often follows people, not just cars. Even if your own policy has none, another policy might cover you.
The Car You Were Riding In
If you were a passenger in someone else’s car, that owner’s policy may include UM that covers occupants of the vehicle. This comes up often after nights out on the Strip, when friends are sharing rides.
A Household Member’s Policy
Many policies define “insured” to include relatives who live in the same household. If a spouse, parent, or other relative you live with carries UM, you may qualify under their policy. That can apply even if you were driving your own car or were hit as a pedestrian on a street like Koval Lane or Flamingo Road.
Our guide to how UM/UIM coverage pays after a hit-and-run explains how these claims move once coverage is found.
Work Vehicles, Rideshare Trips, and Out-of-State Visitors
- On the job: A company vehicle’s commercial policy may carry UM that protects you.
- Rideshare passengers: The commercial policy that applies depends on what the driver was doing at the moment of impact, and it may include coverage that applies to you.
- Visitors to Las Vegas: Your home-state auto policy travels with you. If you’re visiting from California, Arizona, or elsewhere, your UM rights come from that policy, which may have been sold under different rules.
Other Ways to Pay the Bills With No UM
If no UM exists anywhere, these sources can still reduce what you pay out of pocket.
MedPay
Nevada insurers must offer medical payments coverage of at least $1,000. It’s optional, but if you bought it, MedPay pays crash-related medical bills regardless of fault. That includes a hit-and-run where no one is ever identified.
Health Insurance
Your health plan can cover ER visits, imaging, and follow-up care, subject to your deductible, co-pays, and network rules. Keep in mind that some plans claim a right to be repaid if you later recover money from another source. If you have no health insurance either, you still have options, including medical liens. Our guide on getting injury care without health insurance in Nevada walks through them.
Collision Coverage for Your Car
Nevada’s UM law is written around bodily injury, so your car’s damage generally runs through collision coverage instead. Collision pays for repairs after your deductible, regardless of who caused the crash. Without collision, the repair bill is yours unless the driver is found.
Nevada’s Victims of Crime Program
Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a crime, so many victims ask about Nevada’s Victims of Crime Program. Be careful with expectations here. Nevada law generally excludes injuries from motor vehicle crashes. The narrow exceptions include a vehicle used as a weapon, certain pedestrian injuries, and impaired-driving (DUI) crashes. The program also:
- Requires the crime to be reported to police within 5 days (or as soon as reasonably possible)
- Pays only after other sources, such as insurance, are used first
Whether you qualify depends heavily on the facts. It’s worth asking about, but don’t count on it.
If Police Find the Driver Later
Some hit-and-run drivers are identified days, weeks, or even months later through surveillance footage, witnesses, or body-shop tips. If that happens, you may be able to bring a claim against their insurance, or against them personally if they had none.
Nevada generally gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. That clock runs whether or not the driver has been found. A prompt police report matters here too. Our page on hit-and-run reporting in Las Vegas covers how to report and follow up.
One reality check: finding the driver doesn’t guarantee payment. Many drivers who flee have no insurance and few assets. Here’s what suing an uninsured driver in Nevada actually looks like.
How a Las Vegas Hit-and-Run Lawyer Looks for Coverage You Missed
Glen Howard spent years as an insurance defense attorney before he started representing injured people. He knows how carriers read policy language, where coverage questions come up, and which paperwork gaps matter. That experience shapes how we review hit-and-run accident claims in Nevada:
- Policy audit: We review your declarations pages, renewal offers, and any UM rejection form.
- Household and vehicle check: We identify every policy that could treat you as an “insured.”
- Coverage stacking: We line up MedPay, health insurance, collision, and any other available benefits in the right order.
- Driver search: We push for surveillance footage and witness information while the evidence still exists.
If there’s a path to recovery, we’ll tell you. If there isn’t, we’ll tell you that too, honestly and at no cost. When we take a case, you pay no fee unless we win. For crashes involving other vehicle types, our motor vehicle accident attorney team handles the full range of Las Vegas collisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it good to reject uninsured motorist coverage?
For most Nevada drivers, rejecting UM saves a modest amount on premiums in exchange for a big risk. UM is often the only coverage that pays for pain and suffering and lost wages when a driver flees or has no insurance. Las Vegas traffic is heavy with tourists, rental cars, and late-night drivers, which raises that risk. Rejecting UM can make sense only if you have other strong protection and accept paying serious losses yourself. If you rejected it before, you can generally add it going forward. It won’t apply to a crash that already happened, though. Our UM/UIM coverage guide explains how the coverage and its limits work.
What does uninsured motorist coverage not cover?
UM covers bodily injury, meaning medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering, up to your policy limits. It generally does not cover damage to your car; that falls under collision coverage. It also doesn’t pay beyond the limits you bought. For a hit-and-run with an unknown driver, Nevada law adds two conditions: the fleeing vehicle must have physically struck you or the vehicle you were in, and the crash must be reported to police in time. A driver who forced you off the road without touching you may not trigger unknown-driver UM coverage.
What is the disadvantage of uninsured motorist coverage?
The main downsides are cost and conflict. UM adds to your premium, and when you file a UM claim, your own insurer becomes the party paying you, so it may push back on your injuries or your claim value. The physical-contact and police-report rules can also block some hit-and-run claims. And if your UM limits are low, serious injuries can go past them. Even so, for most drivers these drawbacks are small compared with having no coverage when an uninsured or fleeing driver causes a serious crash.
Why would I want uninsured motorist coverage?
Because you can’t control who hits you. Nevada only requires liability coverage of 25/50/20, and some drivers carry nothing at all. When someone flees the scene, UM is often the only coverage that pays for pain and suffering and lost wages. UM also protects you as a pedestrian, a cyclist, or a passenger, not only while you’re driving. For most Las Vegas households, it’s one of the most valuable protections on the policy for its cost.
Declined UM? Let Us Check Before You Give Up
If an adjuster told you there’s no UM on your policy, don’t treat that as the final word. Gather your declarations page, any renewal packets, and your police report number, and request a free case review. A former insurance defense attorney will look for coverage the insurer didn’t mention, tell you plainly whether you have a path forward, and charge nothing unless we recover for you.
