Quick answer: What decides most Maryland uninsured motorist claims is procedural, not medical. Before you accept the at-fault driver’s offer or sign a release, you must send a copy of that written offer to your own UM insurer by certified mail. It then has 60 days to consent or refuse in writing, and 30 days after a refusal to pay you the offer amount itself. Sign first, and you hand your own insurer a defense.
I’m David Waranch, and I handle Maryland car accident and injury claims. More good UM claims die on a signed release than on the merits.
What UM Coverage Is, Briefly
Every Maryland policy must carry UM coverage, equal to your liability limits unless the first named insured waived it in writing. Maryland does not sell “underinsured” separately: Md. Code, Ins. § 19-509(a) defines an uninsured motor vehicle to include one whose limits are less than your own UM coverage — so a driver with Maryland’s $30,000 minimum is an uninsured motorist as to you if you carry $100,000. For what a policy must contain, read what you should know about Maryland auto insurance. This page is about collecting.
The Consent-to-Settle Procedure Under § 19-511
When the at-fault driver’s insurer makes a written offer that would exhaust its bodily injury limits — usually the full policy, presented as good news — a statutory clock starts. Ins. § 19-511(b):
“…the injured person shall send by certified mail, to any insurer that provides uninsured motorist coverage for the bodily injury or death, a copy of the liability insurer’s written settlement offer.”
Certified mail — not a call to your agent, not an email to the adjuster handling your collision repair. The statute names the method, and proof of mailing starts the 60 days.
| Step | Who acts | Deadline | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written offer arrives that would exhaust the liability policy’s bodily injury limits | At-fault driver’s insurer | — | § 19-511(b) |
| Mail a copy of the offer to your UM insurer, certified mail | You | Before you accept or sign anything | § 19-511(b) |
| Written consent to the settlement and to signing releases, or written refusal | Your UM insurer | 60 days from receipt | § 19-511(c) |
| If it refused: pay you the full amount of the settlement offer | Your UM insurer | 30 days from the refusal | § 19-511(d) |
| Accept the offer and sign releases without prejudicing your UM claim | You | On written consent, or if your insurer missed either deadline | § 19-511(f) |
Read step four again. A UM insurer that refuses to let you take the liability money cannot just say no and walk away — it must write you a check for that same amount within 30 days, and it then owns the subrogation claim under § 19-511(e). Refusing costs it money. That is the design.
Consent is not a concession — § 19-511(g) says it admits nothing and leaves your insurer free to fight liability and damages later. If you carry enhanced underinsured motorist coverage, § 19-511 does not apply, but Ins. § 19-511.1 imposes the identical procedure. There is no Maryland UM claim where you can skip this.
“They offered me the whole policy, so I signed the release. My own insurance is next.” That order destroys UM claims. The at-fault carrier’s release is not a formality and the adjuster who sends it has no duty to warn you about § 19-511. Sign it before you have run the certified-mail procedure and your UM insurer will argue you released the tortfeasor it was entitled to subrogate against and prejudiced its rights — an argument it does not get to make if you did this in the right order. The release costs nothing to hold for a few weeks. It can cost everything to sign early.
The Offset: Why $100,000 of UM Plus $30,000 of Liability Is Still $100,000
Standard UM does not stack. Under § 19-509(g), your insurer’s limit is your UM coverage less what the liability carrier paid you. Enhanced underinsured motorist coverage under Ins. § 19-509.1 works the other way: § 19-509.1(h)(2) sets the limit at the full coverage amount without any reduction.
| $130,000 in damages · you carry $100,000 · at-fault driver carries $30,000 | Standard UM (§ 19-509) | Enhanced UIM (§ 19-509.1) |
|---|---|---|
| At-fault carrier pays | $30,000 | $30,000 |
| Most your own insurer can pay | $70,000 (coverage less the liability payment) | $100,000 (no reduction) |
| Total available to you | $100,000 | $130,000 |
| Left uncompensated | $30,000 | $0 |
Which one you have turns on when the policy was written. For a new policy or binder issued on or after July 1, 2024, § 19-509.1(c) requires the insurer to provide enhanced UIM unless the first named insured signed an affirmative waiver on the Commissioner’s form. On an older renewal policy predating that date, you have standard UM unless you elected the enhanced version. Check your declarations page — that $30,000 gap is real money.
Your Insurer Cannot Force You Into Binding Arbitration
If your UM insurer refuses to pay what the claim is worth, you sue it. A clause routing a UM dispute to binding arbitration is “prohibited and is of no legal effect” — § 19-509(j) for standard UM, § 19-509.1(k) for enhanced UIM. Adjusters still cite arbitration provisions from older policy booklets; they are void. But your insurer stands in the at-fault driver’s shoes and can raise every defense that driver could, contributory negligence included. That is why the recorded statement your own company asks for is no formality.
When Your Own UM Will Not Pay: the Household Vehicle Exclusion
Section 19-509(f) lets an insurer exclude UM benefits when the named insured or a resident family member is hurt while occupying, or struck as a pedestrian by, an uninsured vehicle owned by the insured or a household family member. Section 19-509.1(g)(1) carries it into enhanced UIM. If the uninsured car is yours, your spouse’s, or your live-in adult child’s, “I’ll just claim on my own UM” often fails — a quiet cost of a lapse, on top of the charge and the MVA penalties. PIP is separate and pays regardless of fault.
When Nobody Has Coverage: MAIF’s Uninsured Division
If no policy covers you at all, the last resort is the Uninsured Division of the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund, Title 20, Subtitle 6. It is genuinely last: § 19-509(h)(2) and § 19-509.1(i)(2) make your own coverage primary over the Fund, and § 20-603(b)(1) requires your claim notice to prove you are not eligible for UM benefits under your own or a household member’s policy. It exists for when there is no UM claim to make.
The numbers sit far below what a real injury case is worth. Ins. § 20-602(a) caps payment at $30,000 for one person, $60,000 for more than one, $15,000 for property; § 20-602(b) then deducts $250 from any property award plus everything you receive from any other source, workers’ compensation included. Eligibility under § 20-601 is narrower than people expect.
| Rule | Effect | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Property damage of $250 or less | No claim at all | § 20-601(b)(1)(i) |
| You were driving or riding in an uninsured vehicle owned by you or a household family member | Barred | § 20-601(b)(2) |
| Your registration or license was suspended, canceled or revoked at the time | Barred | § 20-601(b)(3) |
| Hit-and-run or phantom vehicle | Allowed, but only after all reasonable efforts to identify the vehicle, driver and owner have failed | § 20-601(c) |
| Driver or owner known but uninsured and cannot be located | Allowed, subject to the bars above | § 20-601(d) |
| Notice of claim to the Fund | 180 days after the accident, with narrow exceptions | § 20-603(a) |
That 180-day deadline ends cases quietly. It runs from the accident, not from the day you discover nobody was insured, and § 20-603(b) requires the notice to arrive with wage certification, medical bills, treatment records and the police report attached. If the driver was never identified, start now — see what to do after a Maryland hit-and-run.
Deadlines: Three Different Clocks
A UM case runs on several calendars and they do not match. The tort claim against the driver who hit you is generally three years from accrual under Cts & Jud. Proc. § 5-101 — filing deadlines are set out here. The MAIF notice is 180 days. The claim against your own insurer differs from both: it rests on an insurance contract, not the tort, and policies impose their own shorter notice, cooperation and suit-limitation conditions. Treat that deadline as policy-driven and short, and read your policy.
What to Do Now
- Report the crash to your own insurer in writing, even if the other driver seemed insured.
- Pull your declarations page. Find the UM limit, and whether it reads uninsured motorist or enhanced underinsured motorist. That answers the $70,000-versus-$100,000 question above.
- Do not sign any release until the § 19-511 letter has gone out certified and either the 60 days have run or written consent is in hand. Settling property damage separately is fine — just never on a release that also disposes of the injury claim.
- Keep every certified mail receipt. The green card is your proof the clock started.
Call 301-563-9575 or toll-free 1-877-566-2408 before you sign anything. If a release is on your kitchen table, call today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not safely. Under Insurance section 19-511, if the liability insurer’s written offer would exhaust its bodily injury limits, you must first send a copy of that offer to your uninsured motorist insurer by certified mail. Your insurer then has 60 days to consent in writing or refuse in writing, and 30 days after a refusal to pay you the amount of the offer itself. You may accept the offer and sign releases without prejudicing your UM claim once you have written consent, or if your insurer missed either deadline. Section 19-511.1 imposes the same procedure on enhanced underinsured motorist policies.
Only if you have enhanced underinsured motorist coverage. With standard uninsured motorist coverage, Insurance section 19-509(g) makes your insurer’s limit the amount of your coverage less what the liability carrier paid, so 100,000 dollars of UM against a 30,000 dollar liability policy leaves 70,000 dollars and a 100,000 dollar total. Enhanced underinsured motorist coverage under section 19-509.1(h)(2) applies no reduction, which makes the same facts worth 130,000 dollars. Your declarations page will tell you which coverage you bought.
The Uninsured Division of the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund is the last resort, and it is capped at 30,000 dollars for one person, 60,000 dollars for more than one, and 15,000 dollars for property damage, less a 250 dollar property deductible and less everything you receive from any other source. You must file notice of the claim with the Fund within 180 days of the accident. You are barred entirely if you were driving or riding in an uninsured vehicle owned by you or a household family member, or if your license or registration was suspended, canceled or revoked at the time.
Law Offices of David R. Waranch — 301-563-9575 · toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español.
Last updated: August 2026. Statutory references: Md. Code, Ins. §§ 19-509, 19-509.1, 19-510, 19-511, 19-511.1, 20-601, 20-602, 20-603; Cts & Jud. Proc. § 5-101. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Coverage, limits and deadlines depend on the wording of your own policy.