Policy limits disclosure: finding out the at-fault driver's coverage

In a minority of states the other driver's insurer must tell you the policy limits within a set number of days after a written request, even before anyone files a lawsuit. In most other states there is no such duty before suit, the insurer may be barred from volunteering the information without its customer's consent, and the first guaranteed look comes through the court's discovery rules once a case is filed. If you were seriously hurt, the practical answer is the same everywhere: ask in writing, ask early, ask the at-fault driver directly as well as the insurer, and ask for a sworn statement that lists every policy that might apply.

The rules change, so treat the state examples below as a map to check against the current statute, not a substitute for it or for a licensed attorney.

Why the limit matters before you settle

A liability policy pays up to its limit for the damages its customer causes. If the at-fault driver carries $50,000 per person and your injuries are worth far more, the policy cannot pay more than $50,000 no matter how strong your case is. The rest is a claim against the driver personally, which is only as good as the driver's assets and income. (See Can they take your savings? How accident judgments are collected for how collection works.)

So the limit shapes almost every decision in the first months:

• Whether to demand the limit. If the damages clearly exceed the limit, a time-limited demand for the full limit can set up the insurer's exposure if it refuses. See refused settlements and excess judgments: the insurer's duty to settle.
• Whether your own coverage comes into play. If the at-fault driver's limit is lower than your losses, underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy may fill part of the difference.
• Whether others are competing for the same money. If several people were hurt, one limit may have to be shared. See multiple claimants, one policy limit: interpleader and pro rata splits.

Insurers' lawyers argue that claimants size their demands to the limit; claimants' lawyers argue that knowing it makes settlement possible without a lawsuit. State laws split on the question, which is why the answer depends on the state.

Three ways to learn the limits

There are three routes, and you can use them at the same time.

1. A statute or regulation that requires the insurer to tell you before suit. Available only in some states, and each has its own conditions.
2. Voluntary disclosure, with the policyholder's permission. The at-fault driver can usually authorize the insurer to tell you, or can tell you directly.
3. Discovery after a suit is filed. Court rules require parties to disclose insurance agreements once a case is underway.

States that require disclosure before a suit

A February 2026 chart by the law firm Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, which tracks pre-suit disclosure of liability policy limits state by state for insurance professionals, lists roughly twenty jurisdictions with a pre-suit duty and most others without one. The details below come from that chart unless I note that I read the statute itself. Check the current statute before you rely on a deadline.

Florida, in detail

Florida's statute is a useful model because it is old and specific. Section 627.4137 of the Florida Statutes, in the 2026 version, requires each insurer that does or may provide liability coverage for a claim to provide, within 30 days of the claimant's written request, a statement under oath by a corporate officer, claims manager or superintendent. For each known policy, including excess or umbrella insurance, the statement must give:

1. The name of the insurer.
2. The name of each insured.
3. The limits of the liability coverage.
4. Any policy or coverage defense the insurer reasonably believes it has at the time.
5. A copy of the policy.

Two more features matter. The statute also reaches the policyholder: the insured or the insured's agent, on written request of the claimant or the claimant's lawyer, must disclose the name and coverage of each known insurer and forward the request to all affected insurers, which then have 30 days from receipt. And the statement must be amended immediately if facts arise that call for it. A request to a self-insured corporation goes by certified mail to its registered agent.

Note what the statute does not say: it applies to a claimant's "written request," not to a verbal inquiry on the phone, and it is not limited to represented claimants.

Maryland, with a lawyer's letter

Maryland's rules, in Courts and Judicial Proceedings sections 10-1101 to 10-1105, are different in design. Under section 10-1102, after a claimant files a written tort claim and gives the documentation the subtitle requires, the claimant may obtain documentation of the applicable limits of coverage in any automobile, homeowner's or renter's policy under which the insurer may be liable. Section 10-1103 lists what a claimant must provide in writing: the date of the alleged tort, the name and last known address of the alleged wrongdoer, a copy of any accident or police report if available, the insurer's claim number if available, and a letter from a Maryland-admitted attorney certifying that the attorney has made reasonable efforts to investigate and reasonably believes the claim is not frivolous. Section 10-1103 says it does not apply to claims described in section 10-1104, which has its own requirements, so read both. Under section 10-1105, the insurer must respond in writing within 30 days of a proper request, "regardless of whether the insurer contests the applicability of coverage," and disclosure is not an admission that coverage exists, a waiver of any defense, or admissible at trial.

Other states with a pre-suit duty

According to the chart, the pattern elsewhere looks like this. The table lists a sample, not every state.

The chart's notes show how much the conditions vary. Some states require a lawyer's request, some set a minimum amount of damages, some require medical records, and some set penalties for noncompliance while others do not. In New Jersey, for example, the chart reports that the duty has applied since 2021 for requests from a New Jersey lawyer and, since 2022, to a broader set of policies. A state that is not on the list may still have a regulation or case law that bears on the issue, such as an unfair claims practices rule. The chart lists Utah's insurance department rule as requiring disclosure on a claimant's request.

To check your state, use the department of insurance site (see state department of insurance) or the statutes themselves, and use the state car insurance requirements lookup for the basics of your state's insurance rules.

When there is no pre-suit duty: privacy and consent

Where no statute requires disclosure, the insurer faces two pulls. It owes confidentiality to its own customer, and it also faces the risk, in some states, of a later bad faith claim if it refuses to share limits and the customer ends up with a judgment above the policy. The chart notes that in many states refusing to disclose can support a bad faith claim, while in others it cannot.

California is the standard example of the privacy side. According to the chart, the state's Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act treats policy limits as personal information that the insurer cannot release without the policyholder's written consent, a position California courts applied in a 1991 case, Griffith v. State Farm. The same chart reports that California insurers can still face bad faith exposure for ignoring a request in a serious case, and that the usual practice is for the insurer to write to its customer, ask for permission to disclose, and explain the risk of a judgment above the limit. In other words, the policyholder's permission is the key that unlocks the answer in a state without a statute, and a claimant's lawyer often asks the at-fault driver directly.

New Hampshire has a different design. Its statute, RSA 498:2-a, says that at any time after a negligence suit has been filed and an appearance entered for the defendant, the defendant or the defendant's insurer shall disclose only to the claimant or the claimant's counsel the policy limits of all applicable liability insurance. Disclosure comes only after a case is underway, and only to the claimant's side.

What this means in practice

• In a statute state, send the request exactly as the statute describes and calendar the deadline.
• In a state without one, still send a written request. Even a refusal puts the insurer on notice that you want to settle and starts a paper trail.
• Ask the at-fault driver or the driver's lawyer to authorize the insurer to disclose.

After a suit is filed

Once a lawsuit begins, disclosure of insurance is routine. In federal court, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1)(A)(iv) requires a party to provide, without waiting for a request, "any insurance agreement under which an insurance business may be liable to satisfy all or part of a possible judgment in the action or to indemnify or reimburse for payments made to satisfy the judgment," for inspection and copying. That is from the Cornell Legal Information Institute's copy of the rule. State courts have their own rules, and many follow a similar pattern, but you should check your state's civil procedure rules or ask a lawyer.

Discovery also lets a lawyer ask the defendant, under oath, about other coverage: a policy the defendant forgot, an employer's policy if the driver was working, a policy of the vehicle's owner, or an umbrella policy. Written questions (interrogatories) and document requests are the usual tools.

The weakness of waiting for suit is timing: you may have to file a case just to learn something the other side could have told you earlier. Time limits for filing differ by state; see statutes of limitations for car accident claims.

The sworn statement of no other insurance

Whatever the state, one document does more work than any single limit disclosure: a sworn statement, sometimes called an affidavit of no other insurance, from the at-fault driver or the insurer. The point is to close the loop on what else could pay. A careful statement covers:

• Every auto policy the driver has, including policies in the household.
• Any umbrella or excess policy (umbrella policy).
• Policies of the vehicle's owner, if the driver did not own the car.
• Coverage through an employer, if the driver was working at the time.
• Whether any policy has been cancelled, rescinded or disputed.

In Florida the statutory statement is sworn and must cover "each known policy of insurance, including excess or umbrella insurance." Where the law does not require one, a plaintiff's lawyer commonly asks for such a statement as a condition of settling, and a release is usually conditioned on the truth of it. If the statement turns out to be false, the settlement may be challenged, but proving that takes time and money. A signed statement is no substitute for asking early.

How the answer affects your own coverage

If the answer is a low limit, you may have a claim on your own policy.

Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage can pay when the at-fault driver's limit is less than your damages. States define the trigger in different ways: some compare the at-fault driver's limit to your UIM limit, and others compare it to your total damages. See underinsured motorist coverage: difference-in-limits vs add-on states.

Consent to settle. Most UIM and UM policies require you to get your own insurer's consent before accepting the at-fault driver's limit and signing a release, because the release can cut off the insurer's right to recover from the driver. Skipping the step can put your UIM claim at risk. See underinsured motorist claims: offset vs excess and consent to settle and uninsured motorist claims: consent to settle, arbitration and proof.

If the driver turns out to be uninsured. A "no coverage" answer is the trigger for uninsured motorist coverage, and deadlines for those claims can start on a different date from a negligence lawsuit. See uninsured motorist claim deadlines: when the clock starts.

The order matters. A common sequence is: learn the limit, tell your own insurer what you learned, ask for its written consent to settle for the limit, and only then sign the release.

A worked example

Say you were rear-ended and have medical bills and lost income that your lawyer values at $180,000. (The figures are hypothetical.) You carry underinsured motorist coverage with a $100,000 limit. Here is how disclosure changes the picture:

In scenario A, the way the UIM coverage counts the $25,000 depends on your state's rule. In scenario C, a claimant who had stopped at the primary limit would have left money on the table.

A request letter, step by step

This is the structure of a letter to the insurer, not legal advice. A lawyer will have a firm's form.

1. Heading. Date; the insurer's name and the address required by the statute (the registered agent or claims office); the words "Request for liability coverage information" and, if your state's statute has a number, the citation.
2. Identify the claim. The policyholder's name, the date and place of the accident, the claim number if you have one, and the police report number.
3. State who you are. Your name and address as claimant; if a lawyer is writing, the lawyer's name and bar information. Some states want the lawyer's certification.
4. Make the request. Ask for the information the statute lists (insurer, insureds, limits, any coverage defense, a certified copy of the policy, and all excess or umbrella coverage known to the insurer). If your state has no statute, ask anyway and ask the insurer to obtain its policyholder's consent.
5. Attach what the statute requires. For example, the accident report and, where required, medical and wage documentation or a lawyer's certification.
6. Set the deadline. State the statutory number of days and calendar it. Where no statute applies, ask for a reply in 30 days.
7. Ask for a sworn statement that no other insurance applies, or a list of all that does.
8. Send it so you can prove delivery. Certified mail with return receipt is common; some statutes require it.
9. Copy the policyholder. A copy to the at-fault driver, with a short note asking the driver to authorize the insurer to respond, can help in a state without a statute.

Keep a copy of everything, including the receipt.

Common questions

Can I just call the other driver's insurer and ask?

You can, but a statute that applies usually requires a written request, and the adjuster may say the policy cannot be discussed. A letter creates a record either way.

Does the insurer have to disclose if it plans to deny coverage?

Some statutes say yes. Maryland's, for example, says the insurer must respond within 30 days "regardless of whether the insurer contests the applicability of coverage," and Florida's statute requires the insurer to state any policy or coverage defense it believes is available.

Is the disclosed limit the most I can collect?

It is the most that policy will pay. You may also have a claim against the driver personally, against other insurers (an employer's policy, the vehicle owner's policy, an umbrella), or under your own UM or UIM coverage. The limit is per person and per accident, so ask which number applies to you and whether other claimants share the per-accident limit.

What if the insurer refuses or ignores my request?

Where a statute applies, a missed deadline can have consequences, such as penalties or sanctions, depending on the state; Colorado's reported penalty is $100 per day. Your state insurance department takes complaints about claim handling, and a licensed attorney can say what remedies exist.

Key takeaways

• Only some states make an insurer disclose the at-fault driver's limits before a lawsuit; Florida (30 days, sworn, with a copy of the policy) and Maryland (30 days, with a lawyer's letter) are two examples whose statutes I could read directly.
• Where no statute applies, privacy rules or practice may require the policyholder's consent, so ask the driver as well as the insurer.
• After a suit is filed, court rules such as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1)(A)(iv) require disclosure of insurance agreements.
• Ask for a sworn statement listing all policies, including umbrella, employer and owner coverage.
• A low limit may open your own underinsured motorist coverage, but get your insurer's consent before you sign a release.