Reviewed by Larry “Jimmy” Peters, attorney — licensed in Tennessee (BPR #37889), Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, Texas and Georgia. Last reviewed: July 2026.
Quick answer: When the driver who hurt you in Bartlett has no liability insurance — or has a 25/50/25 policy that runs out in the first week of treatment — the claim usually moves to your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Tennessee insurers are required by Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-1201 to offer UM/UIM equal to your liability limits, and you only have less if you signed a written rejection or a written selection of lower limits. Many Bartlett drivers who assume they have no UM coverage in fact do. The same one-year filing deadline applies, and settling with the at-fault driver first can quietly destroy the UIM claim.
Sources: Insurance Research Council, Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists 2017–2023 (released February 2025); Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 55-12-102(12)(D), 28-3-104(a)(1)(A).
UM and UIM are two different triggers on the same endorsement
People use “UM” as shorthand for both coverages, but they switch on for different reasons, and the difference changes how your claim is handled from the first phone call.
Uninsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver had no liability insurance at all — the policy lapsed for non-payment, the car was never insured, the driver borrowed a vehicle outside the owner’s coverage — or when the driver cannot be identified, as in a hit-and-run. There is no liability policy to collect from, so your own carrier stands in the shoes of the person who hit you.
Underinsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver did have insurance, but not enough. This is the more common situation in Shelby County. Tennessee’s minimum liability limit is $25,000 per injured person, $50,000 per crash, and $25,000 in property damage for policies issued or renewed after December 31, 2022 (Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-12-102(12)(D)), or a single limit of at least $65,000. A minimum-limits driver who causes a serious injury is not judgment-proof on paper — there is $25,000 available — but $25,000 is frequently gone before the first surgical consult.
In Tennessee both coverages are normally sold together on one endorsement, so a single limit on your declarations page covers both scenarios. What changes is the sequence. A UM claim can typically be presented directly, because there is no other carrier to exhaust. A UIM claim usually cannot be paid until the at-fault driver’s liability limits have been resolved and your own carrier has been given notice and an opportunity to protect its position. Getting that sequence wrong is the single most common way an otherwise good claim loses money.
The written-rejection rule — and why many people wrongly believe they have no UM
This is the most valuable paragraph on this page. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-1201, an insurer writing automobile liability coverage in Tennessee must offer uninsured motorist coverage, and the limits it offers “shall be equal to the bodily injury liability limits stated in the policy.” You do not get less than your liability limits by accident. You get less only if the named insured rejected the coverage in writing, or selected lower limits in writing — and even then not below the minimums referenced in § 55-12-107.
Three consequences follow, and each one matters in a real claim.
A signed rejection binds everyone under the policy. The statute makes a rejection or selection of lower limits “binding upon every insured to whom the policy applies.” A parent who signed a rejection form at the agency in 2016 bound the teenager who is driving on that policy today.
The paperwork does not have to be in your copy of the policy. A rejection or selection is “conclusively presumed to become a part of the policy… regardless of whether physically attached.” So the absence of a rejection form in the packet mailed to you proves nothing on its own. The form may exist in the agency’s file. It may also not exist at all — which is exactly the point worth checking.
The offer can be revived. Once UM has been validly rejected with an insurer, the statute does not require the carrier to keep including it on every renewal, reinstatement or replacement policy unless the insured later requests it in writing. But there is an important exception written into the statute: if a new application is submitted in connection with a renewal, the offer requirement applies again as though a new policy were being issued. Policies get rewritten — a new vehicle, a move, a switch of underwriting company inside the same insurance group, a lapse and reinstatement. If a new application was taken at any of those moments and no fresh written rejection was obtained, the coverage question is genuinely open.
In practice, the answer to “do I have UM coverage?” is not the answer the adjuster gives on the phone. It is the answer a certified copy of the policy, the declarations pages for the relevant term, and any signed rejection or selection form give. Ask for all three in writing.
In short: Tennessee law starts you at UM/UIM limits equal to your liability limits. Anything less requires a written rejection or a written selection of lower limits by the named insured. Do not accept a verbal “you don’t have that coverage” — ask for the signed form.
How to read your declarations page
The declarations page — the “dec page” — is the two-page summary at the front of your policy. It is the first document we ask for, because it determines whether there is money behind your claim. Here is what to look for.
- Bodily injury liability. Usually shown as two numbers, per person and per accident. This is what you carry for other people, and under § 56-7-1201 it is the benchmark your UM/UIM offer had to match.
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury. A separate line, often abbreviated UM, UMBI, UM/UIM or SUM. If it is blank or shows “rejected,” that is the line to investigate, not the line to accept.
- Uninsured motorist property damage. A different, usually small coverage with its own deductible. It pays for vehicle damage caused by an uninsured driver.
- Medical payments. Often abbreviated MedPay. A no-fault layer that pays medical bills regardless of who caused the crash.
- Named insureds and listed vehicles. Who is covered and on what. Resident relatives are frequently covered even when they are not named.
- Endorsement form numbers. The small codes at the bottom. They identify which version of the UM endorsement applies, which is what actually controls the consent-to-settle and notice requirements discussed below.
If you cannot find the dec page, your insurer or agent can produce it, and you are entitled to a copy of the full policy. If more than one household policy might apply, get all of them. It is common for a household to have coverage on a second vehicle, or on a policy in a parent’s or spouse’s name, that nobody thought to look at.
Why a claim against your own insurer is still adversarial
Clients are often surprised by this, and it is worth stating plainly: a UM claim is a claim against your insurance company. You pay premiums to that company, and the adjuster may be pleasant, but the money comes out of the carrier’s pocket rather than a stranger’s, and the file is evaluated accordingly.
To collect UM or UIM benefits, you generally have to prove the same things you would have to prove in a lawsuit against the driver who hit you: that the other driver was negligent, that the negligence caused the collision, that you were injured, and what the injury is worth. Your carrier can dispute any of it. It can argue you were more than 50% at fault and therefore barred under McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992) and Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-39-102(b). It can argue your herniated disc predates the wreck. It can argue the Bartlett Police Department report supports its version, not yours. In litigation, the carrier is typically represented by defense counsel who will take your deposition.
None of that makes the coverage worthless. It just means the claim should be built like any other injury claim: complete medical records, a documented mechanism of injury, wage documentation, and a preserved scene. The cooperation clause in your own policy also means you generally are required to give your carrier a recorded statement and to sign authorizations — a duty you do not owe the at-fault driver’s insurer. Knowing which company you are talking to matters.
How UIM offsets against what the at-fault driver already paid
Underinsured motorist coverage is not a bonus layer stacked on top of the at-fault driver’s policy. In the ordinary case it fills the gap between what the at-fault driver’s liability coverage makes available and your own UIM limit.
Take a Bartlett collision on Stage Road (State Route 15 / U.S. 64) with $150,000 in provable damages. The at-fault driver carries the state minimum, so $25,000 in bodily injury coverage is available. You carry $100,000 in UIM. Your UIM carrier does not owe you $100,000 on top of the $25,000. It owes the difference — $75,000 — bringing your total recovery to $100,000, your UIM limit, and leaving $50,000 of the loss uncompensated.
Three practical lessons come out of that arithmetic.
Your UIM limit is the real ceiling. The at-fault driver’s policy determines who writes the first check, not how much you end up with. If you carry 25/50/25, your UIM ceiling is $25,000 — the same as the driver who hit you. Raising UM/UIM limits is generally one of the least expensive changes on an auto policy, and it is the one that matters most in a state where one driver in five is uninsured.
Exhaustion is usually required first. Most UIM claims cannot be paid until the liability limits have been tendered or exhausted. That means the underlying claim has to be worked properly — and it means the clock on the one-year deadline is running through all of it.
Every layer matters when the injury is catastrophic. With a spinal cord injury or an amputation, the difference between a $50,000 and a $250,000 UIM limit is the difference between a partial recovery and something closer to whole.
Do not settle with the at-fault driver without your UIM carrier’s written consent
This is the mistake that costs Tennessee claimants the most money, and it usually happens with good intentions. The at-fault driver’s insurer calls, admits its driver was at fault, offers the full $25,000 policy limit, and sends a release. Taking it seems obvious. It can also end the UIM claim.
Here is why. When your UIM carrier pays you, it generally acquires the right to recover from the at-fault driver — subrogation. If you have already signed a general release, that right is gone, because there is no longer anyone for the carrier to pursue. UM endorsements typically address this directly, requiring notice of any proposed settlement and the carrier’s written consent before you release the tortfeasor, and excluding coverage where the insured prejudices the carrier’s subrogation rights.
The workable path is procedural rather than dramatic:
- Notify your UM/UIM carrier in writing as soon as you know the at-fault coverage may be inadequate. Do not wait for an offer.
- Send the liability carrier’s written settlement offer to your UIM carrier and ask for written consent to accept it, with a stated deadline.
- Give the carrier the opportunity to protect its subrogation interest — in many claims a UIM carrier will choose to advance the amount of the liability offer rather than lose its right to pursue the at-fault driver.
- Do not sign any release until you have consent in hand or the carrier has declined to protect its interest, in writing.
Read your own endorsement rather than assuming the general rule fits it. The forms vary by carrier and by version, and the form number on your dec page tells you which one you have.
Stacking, household policies and other places coverage hides
“Stacking” means combining more than one UM/UIM limit for a single loss — two vehicles on one policy, or two policies in one household. Whether it is available in a given claim depends on the policy language and on Tennessee law applied to that language, and anti-stacking provisions are common. It is not something to assume in either direction. It is something to check, because when it works it can double or triple the money available.
Even where stacking is unavailable, coverage often exists in more than one place. The sources worth checking in a Bartlett claim include:
- Your own auto policy, including UM/UIM on every vehicle listed.
- A resident relative’s policy. Household members who live with you are frequently insureds under each other’s policies even when they are not named on the dec page.
- The policy on the vehicle you were riding in. Passengers commonly have access to UM coverage on the host vehicle’s policy.
- An employer’s commercial auto policy if you were working at the time — a delivery route on Summer Avenue (U.S. 70), a service call off Appling Road. Commercial policies often carry far higher UM limits than personal lines.
- An umbrella or excess policy, which sometimes, but not always, includes UM/UIM.
- A second at-fault party. Before treating a claim as an uninsured-driver claim, it is worth asking whether anyone else contributed — a vehicle owner who entrusted the car, an employer whose driver was on the clock, a bar or an obstruction at an intersection.
Finding coverage is investigative work, and it has to happen early. Insurers are not obligated to volunteer the existence of policies you have not asked about.
Hit-and-run and phantom-vehicle claims
A hit-and-run is a UM claim, because the driver who caused it is unidentified. So, in many policies, is a “phantom vehicle” claim — where another car forces you off the road or into a stopped vehicle without ever touching you. A driver who swerves to avoid a car turning across Yale Road at Old Brownsville Road and strikes a tree has a claim only if the phantom vehicle can be established.
Two features make these claims harder than ordinary UM claims, and both reward acting quickly.
Corroboration. Policies and Tennessee law commonly require something beyond the insured’s own account — physical contact between the vehicles, an independent witness, or other corroborating evidence. That is precisely the material that evaporates: the driver behind you who stopped and left, the gas station camera on Sycamore View Road that overwrites in a week, the paint transfer on your quarter panel that the body shop is about to sand off.
Prompt reporting. Policies typically require notice to law enforcement within a short window. In Bartlett that means calling the Bartlett Police Department rather than waiting until you have thought it over. The report number becomes the anchor for the entire claim, and BPD Records can be reached at (901) 385-5500, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Tennessee crash reports are also sold through purchasetncrash.gov. A law firm requesting a report for a client needs BPD’s third-party request form and a copy of the client’s photo ID.
If your crash happened just outside the city limits, the report may sit with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office instead, and on Interstate 40 near the Sycamore View Road (Exit 12) and Whitten Road (Exit 14) interchanges it may be the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Three agencies, three records processes, a few miles apart.
Med-pay, health coverage and the order in which bills get paid
UM/UIM is one layer. In most Bartlett claims there are others, and using them in the right order keeps you in treatment while the liability fight plays out.
Medical payments coverage is first-party, no-fault coverage on your own auto policy. It pays medical bills arising from the crash regardless of who was at fault, and it pays quickly. It is usually modest, and it is a separate limit from UM/UIM — using med-pay does not reduce what your UM carrier owes, although your carrier may assert a right of reimbursement out of a later recovery. Med-pay is often the difference between a claimant who keeps her follow-up appointments and one who stops treating for eight weeks and hands the adjuster a gap in the records.
Health insurance is the workhorse. Some providers prefer to bill an injury claim rather than your health plan because the eventual settlement pays more than the negotiated insurance rate. That is not usually in your interest. Health insurers, ERISA plans, TennCare and Medicare frequently assert reimbursement rights out of a settlement, and those have to be identified and resolved before the file closes — but the negotiated rate is generally far lower than a hospital’s billed charges, which means more of the recovery reaches you.
Hospital and provider liens can attach to a recovery. If you were treated at Saint Francis Hospital–Bartlett, 2986 Kate Bond Road, or transferred to the Elvis Presley Trauma Center at Regional One Health, 877 Jefferson Avenue in Memphis, expect lien correspondence. Those claims are negotiable and should be addressed as part of the settlement, not after it.
The practical rule: use every no-fault layer available to you while the claim is pending, keep every explanation of benefits, and let the reimbursement questions be sorted out at the end by someone who deals with them regularly.
Why uninsured motorist coverage matters more in Tennessee
Tennessee is not an average state on this issue. The Insurance Research Council’s study Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists 2017–2023, released in February 2025, put Tennessee’s uninsured driver rate at 21.3% — fifth highest in the country, against a national average of 15.4%. Roughly one Tennessee driver in five is carrying nothing.
The underinsured half of the problem is larger still and gets far less attention. The same study found 18.0% of U.S. drivers are underinsured, and that 33.4% — one in three — are uninsured or underinsured. Those drivers are on Stage Road (State Route 15 / U.S. 64) and Germantown Parkway (State Route 177) every afternoon.
Put those figures next to the volume of driving in this county and the exposure becomes obvious. Shelby County recorded 30,491 crashes in 2024, including 7,648 injury crashes and 196 fatal crashes, with 219 people killed on county roads that year. Over 2021–2025 the county averaged 32,769 crashes a year. Bartlett residents drive those roads daily.
The conclusion is uncomfortable but simple: in Tennessee, the coverage most likely to pay for a serious injury is the coverage you bought. Liability limits protect other people. UM/UIM limits protect your household. They are typically inexpensive to raise, and the decision has to be made before the crash, not after.
What to do when the other driver has no coverage — or not enough
- Report the crash to your own insurer promptly. Your policy requires it, and it is what opens the UM/UIM claim. Reporting is not the same as settling.
- Ask in writing for the declarations page, the full policy and any signed UM rejection or selection form for the policy term in effect on the date of the crash.
- Identify every household policy, plus any policy on a vehicle you occupied and any employer policy if you were working.
- Get the crash report from the Bartlett Police Department, and read the narrative for errors before it hardens into the accepted version of events.
- Preserve corroboration immediately in a hit-and-run or phantom-vehicle claim — witness names, nearby business camera locations, photographs of paint transfer and damage before repairs.
- Keep treating, and use med-pay and health insurance rather than letting bills go unpaid or care go unreceived.
- Do not sign a release from the at-fault carrier without written consent from your UM/UIM carrier.
- Decline a recorded statement to the at-fault driver’s insurer. You owe cooperation to your carrier, not to theirs.
- Calendar the one-year deadline from the date of the crash and treat month nine as the real cutoff. A UM claim that is still “being evaluated” at month eleven is a problem.
- Get advice early. Coverage questions are the part of an injury claim where an early hour of work changes the ceiling on the entire case.
In short: In a Tennessee uninsured-motorist claim the two decisive questions are how much coverage exists and whether the sequence was handled correctly. Confirm the UM limits from the policy and any signed rejection form, and never release the at-fault driver without your own carrier’s written consent.
| Deadline to file suit | One year from the date of injury — Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A). The narrow two-year criminal-charge extension in § 28-3-104(a)(2) is “strictly construed.” |
|---|---|
| UM/UIM offer requirement | Insurers must offer UM/UIM with limits equal to the policy’s bodily injury liability limits — Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-1201. |
| How you end up with less | Only by the named insured’s written rejection or written selection of lower limits, and not below the § 55-12-107 minimums. |
| Who a rejection binds | Every insured to whom the policy applies; it is conclusively presumed part of the policy whether or not physically attached. |
| Renewals | After a valid rejection the coverage need not be included on renewal, reinstatement or replacement unless requested in writing — but a new application submitted in connection with a renewal revives the offer requirement. |
| Minimum auto liability limits | 25/50/25 for policies issued or renewed after Dec. 31, 2022 — Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-12-102(12)(D). Single-limit alternative: $65,000. |
| Uninsured driver rate | Tennessee 21.3% (fifth highest in the country); United States 15.4%. One in three U.S. drivers is uninsured or underinsured — Insurance Research Council, 2017–2023. |
| Fault rule | Modified comparative fault with a 50% bar — McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992); Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-39-102(b). Your own carrier can raise it. |
| Crash report agency | Bartlett Police Department inside the city limits; Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in unincorporated areas; Tennessee Highway Patrol on the interstate. BPD Records (901) 385-5500. |
| State court venue | Shelby County Circuit Court, 140 Adams Avenue, Memphis. |
| Federal court venue | the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Western Division, which sits at Memphis and covers Shelby County — 28 U.S.C. § 123(c)(2). |
| Our fee | Contingency — no attorney fee unless we recover for you. Free consultation. |
Frequently asked questions about Tennessee uninsured motorist claims
The other driver had no insurance. Does that mean I have no claim?
No. It means the claim usually moves to your own uninsured motorist coverage. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-1201 your insurer had to offer UM/UIM equal to your liability limits, and you have less only if a named insured rejected the coverage or selected lower limits in writing. Before assuming there is nothing, get the declarations page and ask the carrier to produce the signed rejection form.
Will my rates go up if I make an uninsured motorist claim?
That is a question for your carrier and your policy, and the answer varies. What we can say is that UM/UIM is coverage you paid for, it exists precisely for this situation, and the fear of a rate increase should not be the reason a seriously injured person leaves the only available coverage untouched. Ask your agent directly and get the answer in writing.
What is the difference between uninsured and underinsured coverage?
Uninsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver had no liability insurance or cannot be identified, as in a hit-and-run. Underinsured motorist coverage applies when the driver had insurance but not enough to cover the loss. In Tennessee the two are normally written on the same endorsement, but they are triggered differently and a UIM claim usually requires that the at-fault driver’s limits be resolved first.
Can I accept the at-fault driver’s policy limits and still pursue my UIM claim?
Sometimes — but only with your UIM carrier’s written consent, obtained before you sign anything. Signing a general release can extinguish the UIM carrier’s right to pursue the at-fault driver, and UM endorsements commonly exclude coverage where the insured prejudices that right. The correct step is to send the offer to your carrier, request consent in writing, and give it the chance to protect its position.
How much does UIM actually pay if I already got $25,000 from the other driver?
Generally the difference between what was available from the at-fault driver and your own UIM limit, not a full second payment. With $150,000 in damages, a $25,000 liability limit and a $100,000 UIM limit, the UIM carrier would typically owe about $75,000, for a total of $100,000. Your own limit is the ceiling, which is why UM/UIM limits matter more than most drivers realize.
I was hit by a driver who left the scene in Bartlett. Is that a UM claim?
Usually yes, because the at-fault driver is unidentified. Hit-and-run claims turn on prompt reporting and corroboration, so call the Bartlett Police Department right away, get the report number, identify witnesses before they leave, and photograph paint transfer and damage before any repair work begins. Nearby business surveillance video is often overwritten within days.
A car ran me off the road but never touched me. Is there coverage?
That is a phantom-vehicle claim, and it depends on your policy language and on what corroborating evidence exists. Many policies and rules require something more than the insured’s own account — an independent witness, physical evidence, or contact between the vehicles. These claims are winnable, but only when the corroboration is captured immediately rather than reconstructed months later.
Can I combine the UM limits on two vehicles or two household policies?
That is the stacking question, and the answer depends on the specific policy language and how Tennessee law applies to it. Anti-stacking provisions are common, so it is not safe to assume stacking is available — but it is also not safe to assume it is unavailable. It is worth having every applicable policy reviewed, because when stacking does apply it can substantially change the money available.
Do I have to give my own insurance company a recorded statement?
Your policy almost certainly contains a cooperation clause, so the answer is usually yes for your own carrier. That is different from the at-fault driver’s insurer, which you are not required to give a recorded statement to at all. Because your carrier is also the party that will be paying the UM claim, it is worth having counsel involved before that statement is taken.
How long do I have to bring a UM claim in Tennessee?
Treat it as one year from the date of the crash, the same as any other Tennessee injury claim under Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A). Some policies also contain their own notice and suit provisions, which can be shorter or add requirements. Waiting for the liability carrier to finish evaluating your claim is not a reason the deadline stops running.
My declarations page shows no UM coverage. Is that the end of it?
Not necessarily. The statute makes the coverage the default and requires a written rejection or written selection of lower limits by the named insured to reduce or remove it. Ask the insurer to produce the signed form. Pay particular attention to any point at which a new application was submitted in connection with a renewal — a new vehicle, a rewrite, a reinstatement — because the offer requirement applies again in that situation.
What does it cost to have you look at my coverage?
Nothing to ask. We handle injury cases on a contingency fee, so there is no attorney fee unless we recover money for you, and the consultation is free. Coverage review is usually the first thing we do, because it determines whether the rest of the work has anything behind it.
This page is general information about Tennessee law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every claim turns on its own facts. Past results do not guarantee a future outcome. Statutes and insurance requirements change — confirm current law before you act.
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About the author: Larry “Jimmy” Peters
Founder & Personal Injury Attorney, Southern Injury Attorneys
Licensed in Tennessee (BPR #37889), Mississippi, Arkansas (#2020103), Texas (#24113438), Kentucky, and Georgia (#936535).
Jimmy Peters founded Southern Injury Attorneys with one mission: maximizing compensation for people injured in car, truck, and premises-liability accidents across Tennessee and the Mid-South, including Bartlett and Shelby County. He and his team handle auto and 18-wheeler crashes, slip-and-fall and other injury claims on a contingency fee — no fee unless the firm wins — and he personally reviews the firm’s legal content for accuracy. ★ 4.8/5 from 96 verified Google reviews. If you were hurt in Bartlett or anywhere in Shelby County, the consultation is free.
