Plaintiff Attorney Legal Information CenterBelow is Maryland Insurance Code §19-509. This is the main uninsured motorist statute in Maryland.
Our also lawyers provide a webpage and a video that explains this statue.
This uninsured motorist law was changed in 2017. Specifically, Md. Insurance Code Code § 19-509.1(c) was added to provide for optional stacking of the liability and uninsured motorist policies.
This information is current as of January 2020 which means it covers the 2019 Maryland legislative session.
Maryland Insurance Code §19-509 (2020)
(a) In this section, “uninsured motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle:
(1) the ownership, maintenance, or use of which has resulted in the bodily injury or death of an insured; and
(2) for which the sum of the limits of liability under all valid and collectible liability insurance policies, bonds, and securities applicable to bodily injury or death:
(i) is less than the amount of coverage provided under this section; or
(ii) has been reduced by payment to other persons of claims arising from the same occurrence to an amount less than the amount of coverage provided under this section.
Motor vehicles exempt from coverage requirements
(b) The uninsured motorist coverage required by this section does not apply to a motor vehicle liability insurance policy:
(1) that insures a motor vehicle that:
(i) is not subject to registration under § 13-402 of the Transportation Article because it is not driven on a highway; or
(ii) is exempt from registration under § 13-402(c)(10) of the Transportation Article; or
(2) if the first named insured under a policy or binder of private passenger motor vehicle liability insurance has elected to obtain enhanced underinsured motorist coverage under § 19-509.1 of this subtitle instead of the uninsured motorist coverage required under this section.
Coverage for damages due to bodily injuries or death as result of accident
(c) In addition to any other coverage required by this subtitle, each motor vehicle liability insurance policy issued, sold, or delivered in the State after July 1, 1975, shall contain coverage for damages, subject to the policy limits, that:
(1) the insured is entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of bodily injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of the uninsured motor vehicle; and
(2) a surviving relative of the insured, who is described in § 3-904 of the Courts Article, is entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because the insured died as the result of a motor vehicle accident arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of the uninsured motor vehicle.
Form and conditions of coverage
(d) The uninsured motorist coverage required by this section shall be in the form and subject to the conditions that the Commissioner approves.
Minimum amount of uninsured motorist coverage
(e)(1) The uninsured motorist coverage contained in a motor vehicle liability insurance policy:
(i) shall at least equal:
1. the amounts required by Title 17 of the Transportation Article; and
2. the coverage provided to a qualified person under Title 20, Subtitle 6 of this article; and
(ii) may not exceed the amount of liability coverage provided under the policy.
(2) Unless waived in accordance with § 19-510 of this subtitle, the amount of uninsured motorist coverage provided under a private passenger motor vehicle liability insurance policy shall equal the amount of liability coverage provided under the policy.
Exclusions from coverage
(f) An insurer may exclude from the uninsured motorist coverage required by this section benefits for:
(1) the named insured or a family member of the named insured who resides in the named insured’s household for an injury that occurs when the named insured or family member is occupying or is struck as a pedestrian by an uninsured motor vehicle that is owned by the named insured or an immediate family member of the named insured who resides in the named insured’s household; and
(2) the named insured, a family member of the named insured who resides in the named insured’s household, and any other individual who has other applicable motor vehicle insurance for an injury that occurs when the named insured, family member, or other individual is occupying or is struck as a pedestrian by the insured motor vehicle while the motor vehicle is operated or used by an individual who is excluded from coverage under § 27-609 of this article.
- Get the most recent uninsured motorist caselaw in Maryland
- Answers to the most common uninsured motorist questions
Limit of liability for insurer
(g) The limit of liability for an insurer that provides uninsured motorist coverage under this section is the amount of that coverage less the amount paid to the insured, that exhausts any applicable liability insurance policies, bonds, and securities, on behalf of any person that may be held liable for the bodily injuries or death of the insured.
Coverage in excess of other valid and collectible insurance or self-insurance
(h)(1) A policy that, as its primary purpose, provides coverage in excess of other valid and collectible insurance or qualified self-insurance may include the uninsured motorist coverage provided for in this section.
(2) The uninsured motorist coverage required by this section is primary to any right to recovery from the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund under Title 20, Subtitle 6 of this article.
Liability insurers that are insolvent or otherwise unable to pay claims
(i) An endorsement or provision that protects the insured against damages caused by an uninsured motor vehicle that is contained in a policy issued and delivered in the State is deemed to cover damages caused by a motor vehicle insured by a liability insurer that is insolvent or otherwise unable to pay claims to the same extent and in the same manner as if the damages were caused by an uninsured motor vehicle.
Provisions requiring dispute be submitted to binding arbitration prohibited
(j) A provision in a motor vehicle liability insurance policy issued after July 1, 1975, about coverage for damages sustained by the insured as a result of the operation of an uninsured motor vehicle that requires a dispute between the insured and the insurer to be submitted to binding arbitration is prohibited and is of no legal effect.
More Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Information
- Uninsured Interrogatories: questions we ask the insurance company in litigation
- Uninsured Motorist Circuit Court Complaint: a sample lawsuit we have filed in these cases that properly lay out the clam
- Contact us or call 1-800-553-8082