New Hampshire is the only state in the country that does not require drivers to carry auto insurance at all. That single fact changes how every car accident claim in the state needs to be approached, because the driver who hits you might be carrying nothing, or carrying only enough to cover a fraction of what a serious injury actually costs. Coates Law Office, PLLC, based in Nashua and serving clients across New Hampshire, has attorney Bradford H. Coates review these claims with that reality built into the strategy from day one.
There is a wrinkle worth understanding early. Under RSA 264:15, any driver who purchases auto insurance in New Hampshire automatically gets uninsured and hit-and-run motorist coverage included in that policy, unless the named insured rejects it in writing. Underinsured coverage is governed separately and depends on your specific policy language.
Many drivers do not realize that either protection exists until an uninsured motorist accident lawyer NH families trust pulls the declarations page during a claim review.
A meaningful share of New Hampshire drivers carry no liability coverage at all, and that group does not account for the drivers carrying only bare minimum limits. Between the two, the odds of a crash with a driver who cannot cover your damages run higher here than in states with a mandatory coverage law.
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What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage in New Hampshire?
Uninsured motorist coverage, often called UM coverage, pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance at all or cannot be identified, such as in a hit-and-run. Underinsured motorist coverage, or UIM, applies when the at-fault driver has insurance, but their policy limits fall short of what your injuries actually cost.
Both coverages come from your own auto policy rather than the other driver’s, which is part of why so few drivers understand them until they need them. If a driver carries New Hampshire’s bare minimum coverage of $25,000 per person and your medical bills alone reach $60,000, UIM coverage can fill that $35,000 gap rather than leaving you to absorb it personally.
A third scenario falls under UM coverage as well: a driver whose insurance company denies the claim due to a coverage dispute or policy cancellation that took effect before the crash. From the injured driver’s perspective, the practical result looks identical to being hit by someone with no insurance at all, and New Hampshire law generally treats it the same way for UM purposes.
Can Stacking Multiple Vehicles Increase Your UM/UIM Payout?
Yes, New Hampshire allows policyholders to stack UM and UIM coverage across multiple vehicles insured on the same policy, which can meaningfully increase the total protection available after a serious crash. A household with three cars, each carrying $50,000 in UM coverage, may be able to combine those limits into $150,000 of total protection, depending on the specific policy language.
Excess or umbrella policies add another layer worth checking. Under RSA 264:15, umbrella or excess policies that provide coverage beyond standard auto limits must also include uninsured motorist coverage equal to the limits purchased, unless the named insured rejects it in writing, which means a driver with meaningful assets and an umbrella policy may have far more available protection than they realize. Reviewing every policy connected to a household, not just the vehicle involved in the crash, is a step worth taking before assuming a claim has hit its ceiling.
Stacking decisions get made at the time a policy is first purchased or renewed, often without much explanation from the agent selling it, which means many households simply do not know whether they opted in or out. Pulling the actual policy declarations page early in a claim, rather than relying on memory of what an agent said years earlier, is the only reliable way to confirm what protection actually exists.
When These Claims Come Up: Hit-and-Runs and Minimum-Coverage Crashes
Two main scenarios account for most of the UM/UIM claims we handle. The first involves a hit-and-run driver who cannot be identified or located after the crash, leaving the injured party with no liability policy to pursue at all. New Hampshire law still allows recovery in these cases through the injured driver’s own UM coverage, provided the crash is reported and documented properly.
The second scenario involves a driver who carries insurance, but only the state’s minimum required limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. Those limits cover a minor fender bender reasonably well, but they fall far short of what extended care and lost income from a serious injury actually cost. When medical bills and lost wages exceed the at-fault driver’s policy limits, UIM coverage becomes the difference between a fair recovery and a financial hole that follows you for years.
A less common but still real scenario involves a driver whose insurer becomes insolvent after the crash, unable to pay the claim despite the policy technically existing. New Hampshire law defines this situation as an uninsured motor vehicle for UM coverage purposes, which protects claimants from a problem entirely outside their control.
Multi-vehicle crashes complicate the analysis further when one of several at-fault drivers turns out to be uninsured while others carry adequate coverage. Under New Hampshire’s comparative fault rule in RSA 507:7-d, a claim might involve pursuing liability coverage from the insured drivers while simultaneously filing a UM claim against your own policy for the share of fault attributable to the uninsured party, a process that benefits from having an attorney track which coverage applies to which portion of the damages. Distracted driving, in particular, often complicates fault determination in these multi-vehicle scenarios, since proving which driver’s attention lapse actually caused the crash requires the same kind of evidence gathering our distracted driving claims rely on
What Should I Do If I’m Hit by an Uninsured Driver in NH?
Call the police immediately and make sure the crash gets documented in an official report, even if the other driver has no insurance to exchange. That report becomes central evidence for your own UM claim, since your insurance company will want to see it before processing anything.
Notify your own insurer promptly afterward, since most policies include a strict notice deadline for UM claims that runs separately from the general statute of limitations. Photograph the scene and your vehicle, gather contact information for any witnesses, and see a doctor within a day or two, even if your injuries seem minor at first, since your own insurer will scrutinize the claim just as closely as a third-party insurer would.
If the driver fled the scene, write down every detail you remember, including the vehicle’s color, make, direction of travel, and any partial plate number, since even fragmentary information can help police identify the driver later. Do not assume a hit-and-run means you have no path to compensation. It usually means your own policy becomes the path instead.
Keep a copy of everything you send your insurer, and be cautious about giving recorded statements, even with your own company. Insurers handling UM claims are required by law to treat you fairly, but the adjuster assigned to your file works for the company paying the claim, not for you. That structural fact is worth keeping in mind even when the relationship has been a good one.
How Our Firm Handles UM/UIM Claims
UM and UIM claims work differently from a standard Nashua, NH car accident case, because you are technically filing a claim against your own insurance company rather than someone else’s. That distinction matters because a UM claim is evaluated on the same terms as any other claim, regardless of how long you have held the policy.
Bradford Coates approaches every UM/UIM claim the way he would a claim against any other insurer, gathering medical documentation, wage records, and evidence of the at-fault driver’s limited or nonexistent coverage before the file reaches an adjuster for valuation. His background as a former prosecutor means he understands how to build a record that holds up when a claims adjuster pushes back.
Arbitration clauses appear in many New Hampshire UM/UIM policies, meaning a dispute over your claim’s value might get resolved outside a courtroom through private arbitration instead. Navigating that process effectively requires familiarity with how it differs from litigation, since the rules of evidence and procedure often work differently than they would in front of a judge and jury.
We handle these cases on contingency, so you owe nothing upfront and pay fees only if we recover compensation for you. Whether your crash involved a hit-and-run driver, a rear-end impact, or a driver whose limits stopped short of your damages, the review starts the same way: with the declarations page of every policy that might apply.
Call our office to talk through what happened and what coverage you actually have. There is no cost to find out.
Is There a Deadline to File a UM/UIM Claim in NH?
Yes, and the deadline is not always the same three years you may have heard applies to typical injury claims. General personal injury lawsuits in New Hampshire fall under RSA 508:4, which allows three years from the date of the crash, but UM/UIM claims are contractual rather than purely statutory, meaning your specific insurance policy may impose a shorter notice requirement.
Many policies require notifying your insurer of a potential UM claim within a matter of months, not years, even though the underlying lawsuit deadline runs longer. Missing that contractual notice window can jeopardize your claim regardless of how much time remains under the general statute of limitations, which is why an early call to an underinsured motorist attorney New Hampshire drivers rely on tends to matter more in these cases than in an ordinary crash, where the deadline is simpler and easier to track.
FAQs: Uninsured Motorist Accident Lawyer NH
These come up most often once drivers start reading their own policy after a crash.
Does NH require uninsured motorist coverage?
No, New Hampshire does not require any driver to carry insurance in the first place, including UM/UIM coverage. However, once a driver does purchase a policy, insurers must automatically include UM/UIM protection unless the driver rejects it in writing.
Can I sue an uninsured driver in New Hampshire?
Yes, nothing prevents you from filing a lawsuit against an uninsured driver personally, though collecting on a judgment depends on whether that driver actually has income or assets worth pursuing. Many injured drivers find their own UM coverage a faster and more reliable path to compensation than chasing a judgment against someone with nothing to collect.
Will filing a UM claim raise my insurance rates?
Generally, no, since you did not cause the accident, and most insurers do not penalize policyholders for claims that were not their fault. Rate changes vary by carrier, so it is worth asking your agent directly if this concern applies to your specific policy.
Does my UM/UIM coverage still apply if the crash happened outside New Hampshire?
Generally, yes, since UM/UIM coverage travels with your vehicle rather than staying tied to state lines, though the specific rules can shift depending on where the crash occurred. Reviewing your policy language with an attorney before assuming coverage applies protects you from a surprise later in the claim.
Can passengers in my car also file UM claims?
Yes, passengers injured in your vehicle may also be covered under your UM/UIM policy, depending on the specific terms and the structure of your household’s insurance policies. An attorney reviewing the full policy can identify every person entitled to make a claim and determine how much coverage applies to each.
Talk to an Uninsured Motorist Accident Lawyer Today
Bradford H.
Coates, Motorist Accident Attorney
If you were hurt by a driver with no insurance or not enough of it, Bradford H. Coates and the team at Coates Law Office, PLLC, are ready to review your policy and explain exactly what protection you have. The consultation costs nothing, and there is no obligation to hire us afterward.
A UM/UIM claim is a claim, not a formality, and treating it as paperwork can cost you real money. Whether you searched for an NH UUM lawyer or simply want a second opinion on what your policy actually covers, schedule your free case evaluation today before accepting any offer or signing anything your insurer sends you.
Nashua Office
400 Amherst Street, Suite 102
Nashua, NH 03063
(603) 262-5766