Who UM coverage protects: passengers, pedestrians and cyclists

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage protects three groups of people: the person who bought the policy and relatives who live with them, wherever they are hurt; anyone riding in a car the policy covers; and, depending on the policy and the state, people who are neither. The first group is covered on foot, on a bicycle or in someone else's car. The second is covered because of the car. A passenger who fits neither group usually has to look to the policy on the car they were riding in, and a person with no policy anywhere may have to look to a state fund.

That sorting happens in a short definition inside the policy, the definition of "insured" in the UM part. Policy wording and state law differ, so treat the examples below as a map of the questions to ask, not a ruling on any one claim.

Why the question matters more than it used to

The Insurance Research Council estimated that 15.4 percent of U.S. motorists were uninsured in 2023, according to the Insurance Information Institute's summary of that 2025 study. The III also reports that twenty states and the District of Columbia make UM or underinsured motorist coverage mandatory, which means in the rest of the country coverage depends on what each household chose to buy. The share ranged from under 6 percent in the lowest state to more than 28 percent in the highest in the 2023 figures. When a crash involves an uninsured driver, the injured person's own insurance is often the only realistic source of payment, which makes the definition of who is "an insured" the most important sentence in the claim.

How a UM policy defines "insured"

UM coverage is a first-party coverage: the insurer promises to pay what its own insured is legally entitled to collect from an uninsured driver. Everything turns on who counts as that insured. Two standard-form endorsements published by Hagerty show how the wording is built, and they differ in a way that matters.

The California uninsured motorists endorsement (ISO form PP 04 87 06 10) defines "insured" as:

1. You or any family member.
2. Any other person occupying your covered auto.
3. Any person who is entitled to recover damages because of bodily injury to someone in the first two groups.

The third category is the one people overlook. It covers claims that belong to someone other than the injured person, such as a spouse's loss-of-companionship claim, and those claims usually sit under the injured person's per-person limit.

A New Mexico endorsement published by the same insurer splits the first group into pieces: you or a family member while occupying your covered auto, you or a family member while not occupying a motor vehicle, and any other person occupying your covered auto with your permission. Read closely, that wording does not list you or a relative while occupying a car that is not your covered auto. The California form, by contrast, covers "you or any family member" without attaching a location.

Two forms from one company can answer the same question differently, so read the UM part of your own policy.

Who is a "family member"

In the New Mexico form, a family member is a person related to you by blood, marriage or adoption who is a resident of your household, including a ward or foster child. For bodily injury only, that form also reaches a spouse who lived in the household at the start of the policy period, and an unemancipated, dependent minor child you are required to support, even if the child is living elsewhere at the time of the crash.

That last piece matters for children who split time between two homes; see insuring a teen who lives in two households. For a household member missing from the policy, see claims when the driver was not listed on the policy. A household member who lives with you but is not related, such as a roommate, may fall outside this definition entirely.

Coverage that travels with the person: pedestrians and cyclists

Because the "you or a family member" clause is attached to the person, not to the car, a named insured or resident relative is generally covered when walking or riding a bicycle and struck by an uninsured driver. A bicycle is not a motor vehicle, so a cyclist is "not occupying a motor vehicle" in the language of the forms above. The policy does not need a covered car to be anywhere near the crash.

Say a family buys UM limits of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident. Their 11-year-old daughter, Maya, is riding her bicycle when a driver clips her and stops, and he turns out to have no insurance. Her medical bills come to $38,000 and her claim is worth more than that. Because Maya is a resident relative, her parents' UM coverage applies even though no insured car was involved. The most the policy pays for her is the $50,000 per-person limit, which also absorbs claims her parents make for their own losses because of her injury, unless another policy adds to it.

Three details decide whether a claim like Maya's succeeds.

• Was the other driver actually uninsured? The insurer will check. Under the California form's definition, an "uninsured motor vehicle" includes a vehicle with no liability bond or policy, one whose insurer denies coverage or becomes insolvent, and a hit-and-run vehicle whose owner cannot be identified.
• Did the hit-and-run vehicle touch you? The California form requires physical contact for an unidentified driver, either with you, with a vehicle you were occupying, or with your covered auto. Many states have a version of this rule; see hit-and-run and phantom vehicle claims: the physical contact rule for how it works and how states relax it.
• Is there a notice duty? The New Mexico form asks you to contact the police within 24 hours, or as soon as practicable, and the insurer within 30 days, after a hit-and-run. Other forms use different clocks; see uninsured motorist claim deadlines: when the clock starts.

For the liability side of these crashes, see crashes with pedestrians and cyclists: coverage, fault and claims.

Passengers in someone else's car

A passenger who is not a named insured or a resident relative has no UM coverage of their own to point to. That does not mean they have none. The car's policy typically covers any other person occupying the covered auto, as the Hagerty forms above show. What changes is the order in which policies are asked to pay.

Two ideas drive the order:

1. Occupant coverage is attached to the car. The host car's UM covers its passengers, usually with permission required in the wording.
2. A policy's own coverage for cars you do not own is usually excess. The California form's "Other Insurance" clause says insurance it provides for a vehicle you do not own is excess over any collectible insurance providing the same coverage on a primary basis.

So if you are a passenger and also have your own UM policy, the host car's coverage usually pays first and your own policy may add what the host's limits cannot cover. Some states write the order into statute. Pennsylvania, for example, provides that where multiple policies apply, payment is made first from the policy covering the motor vehicle occupied by the injured person, and second from a policy covering a vehicle not involved in the accident under which the injured person is an insured (75 Pa.C.S. 1733). The first insurer asked to pay handles the claim and may then seek contribution from others.

A worked example, with numbers made up for illustration:

• Luis drives his sister Dana's SUV, with her permission, with his friend Priya in the back. An uninsured driver runs a red light and hits them.
• Dana's policy has UM limits of $25,000 per person.
• Priya owns a car and carries her own policy with $100,000 per person UM; she was not driving it that day.
• Priya's bills and losses are valued at $60,000.

The usual path: Dana's policy covers Priya as an occupant and pays up to its $25,000 limit. Priya's own policy, as a vehicle she does not own in a crash she was a passenger in, may then pay the balance up to its limit and its terms. Whether the two limits add together, or whether the claim is capped at the higher of the two limits, depends on the policy's other-insurance clause and on state law. Many policies say recovery under all policies may equal but not exceed the highest applicable limit for any one vehicle, which is the wording in the California form. In that case Priya's total would top out at $100,000, not $125,000. Ask each insurer in writing how it applies its other-insurance clause. For the stacking question itself, see stacked vs unstacked uninsured motorist coverage.

Rental cars

A rental car adds two layers: the rental company's coverage, and your own policy.

Rental companies' UM obligations are set state by state. Pennsylvania's statute is explicit on one point: UM protection may be rejected for the driver and passengers of rental or lease vehicles that are not otherwise common carriers, but only if the agreement is signed by the renter and contains the statutory rejection language, which covers "myself and all other passengers of this vehicle." The statute allows an enrollment agreement signed once to serve for later expedited rentals. That means a person who signs a counter agreement may be giving up UM protection for everyone in the car, not only for themselves.

Your own policy might still help. Standard policies generally treat a temporary substitute for your covered car, such as a rental while yours is in the shop, like the covered car itself, and the California form's "other insurance" clause refers to vehicles used as a temporary substitute. A rental you take on a vacation is a different case: whether you or your family are insureds while occupying it depends on the form. The New Mexico wording quoted above lists occupying "your covered auto" and being on foot, but not occupying other vehicles. See renting a car: do you need the counter's insurance? for the rental counter choices in more detail.

Rideshare and for-hire rides

Rideshare passengers are in an unusual position: they have no relationship to the car and often no policy of their own. State law often fills the gap. California's Public Utilities Code section 5433, as published on california.public.law (updated January 1, 2026), requires a transportation network company to provide UM and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident from the moment a passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits. The statute says that coverage is primary over any other UM or UIM coverage and is solely the company's obligation.

That is one state's rule; other states differ. The article passengers injured in a rideshare crash: how claims work covers the claims path for passengers, and state laws on rideshare insurance requirements compares state rules.

Personal policies treat commercial use differently. Both Hagerty forms contain a livery exclusion. The California form excludes injury to an insured occupying a vehicle rented or leased to that insured as a public or livery conveyance, and the New Mexico form excludes injury while your covered auto is used as a public or livery conveyance or to deliver people or property for a fee, with an exception for shared-expense car pools. A rideshare driver who assumes the personal policy will respond to a UM claim on a paid trip may find otherwise.

Employer and work vehicles

Two features of the forms matter for people hurt while working.

First, regular-use vehicles. The New Mexico form says an insured does not include a person occupying or using a vehicle owned by, or furnished or available for the regular use of, you or a relative living with you, if that vehicle is not your covered auto. A company car you drive every day can fall in that bucket. For that car, the employer's commercial policy is usually the place to look, not your personal policy.

Second, workers' compensation. Both forms bar UM from benefiting a workers' compensation insurer, and the California form says the insurer will not pay any element of loss that a person is entitled to receive under a workers' compensation law. A worker injured by an uninsured driver on the job therefore deals with workers' compensation alongside any UM claim. How the two fit together varies by state, so a licensed attorney or the state workers' compensation agency is the right source for a specific claim.

The household vehicle exclusion

The exclusion has several names: household vehicle, owned-but-not-insured, regular-use. It removes UM coverage when the injured person was in or struck as a pedestrian by a vehicle owned by the insured or a relative that is not insured for UM under the policy. Both Hagerty forms contain a version, and so did the Erie policies in a Pennsylvania case, which excluded "damages sustained by anyone we protect while occupying or being struck by a motor vehicle owned or leased by you or a relative, but not insured for Uninsured or Underinsured Motorists Coverage under this policy."

Insurers defend it as protection against one policy covering everyone. The Pennsylvania court quoted the concern that without it an entire family with many cars could obtain coverage for each member through a single policy on one of the cars.

How courts treat it is state-specific:

• Pennsylvania. In Erie Insurance Exchange v. Mione, decided February 15, 2023, the state Supreme Court held that household vehicle exclusions in two Erie policies were enforceable. A motorcyclist had rejected UM coverage on his motorcycle policy, and his family's household car policies denied coverage because the motorcycle was an owned vehicle not insured under them. The court reaffirmed its 1998 Eichelman decision and read its 2019 Gallagher decision narrowly: an exclusion cannot act as a hidden waiver of stacked coverage that the law lets an insured give up only with a signed form, but exclusions are not unenforceable in themselves.
• West Virginia. In Mitchell v. Broadnax (1999), the state Supreme Court of Appeals restated the rule that an owned-but-not-insured exclusion is valid above the mandatory minimum UM limits and void as to the statutory minimum. The insured there had bought $300,000 of UM coverage but could recover only the $20,000 minimum for an owned, uninsured car.

Other states have other answers, and decisions change. If a claim is denied on this ground, ask for the policy wording and the denial letter in writing, check the state's UM statute, and speak to a licensed attorney or the state insurance department.

If you have no policy of your own

Not everyone hurt by an uninsured driver can claim on a household policy. A visitor, a person who owns no car and lives alone, or a worker whose employer carries no UM may be in this group.

Work through these steps in order:

1. List every policy that could apply: the host vehicle, any relative you live with, an employer, a rideshare company, a rental agreement, and your health insurance.
2. Report the crash to the police promptly and get a report number, especially if the other driver left. Time limits for hit-and-run notice are short in some forms.
3. Notify each possible insurer in writing, even if you doubt it will pay. Late notice can end a claim.
4. Ask each insurer whether you are an insured under its UM part, and ask for the denial in writing if it says no.
5. Look at the state's safety nets if every policy says no. Some states run a fund or an assigned claims plan; see funds of last resort: assigned claims plans and judgment funds.
6. Get legal advice early, because a missed step can cost you a claim.

Common questions

Is a child covered by UM if they live part of the time with each parent?

Often yes, under either household, but wording varies. Some forms cover a dependent minor child even when the child is not living in the policyholder's home at the time of the crash. Others rely on residence. Check both parents' policies and tell both insurers.

Does my own UM coverage protect my passengers?

Typically yes. The standard definition adds any other person occupying your covered auto, and some versions require your permission. The per-accident limit is shared, so the more people hurt, the thinner it spreads.

If a cyclist is hit by a driver who flees, is UM available?

It can be. A cyclist who is a named insured or a resident relative has the "not occupying a motor vehicle" coverage, and a hit-and-run vehicle is generally a type of uninsured vehicle. Many forms require physical contact and prompt police notice. A near miss that caused a fall may not qualify.

Can I collect from more than one UM policy?

Sometimes. The other-insurance clause, any stacking election, and state law decide whether limits add together or whether recovery is capped at the highest single limit. See uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage explained for the basics.

Key takeaways

• UM covers named insureds and resident relatives anywhere, including on foot or on a bicycle, and usually adds anyone occupying the covered car.
• A passenger in someone else's car usually looks first to that car's UM and then to their own; some states, such as Pennsylvania, set the order by statute.
• Read the definition of "insured" in your own UM part. Two standard forms can differ on whether you are covered in a car you do not own.
• The household vehicle exclusion can deny coverage for an owned, uninsured vehicle, and courts in different states have reached different results.
• If no policy applies, report the crash, give written notice to every possible insurer, and ask about state funds before any deadline passes.