Uninsured Motorist Coverage South Carolina North Carolina

Uninsured motorist coverage South Carolina North Carolina households carry on a personal auto policy is first-party protection. It pays when an at-fault motorist has no liability insurance or leaves the scene. Underinsured motorist coverage steps in when that motorist has insurance, yet the limits are too small for the loss. South Carolina requires uninsured motorist coverage on every auto policy and requires insurers to offer underinsured motorist coverage, which a named insured may decline. [1] North Carolina requires both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on personal auto policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025. [5]

What uninsured motorist coverage pays

Uninsured motorist coverage sits on the policyholder's side of the contract. Liability pays people the insured driver injures. Uninsured motorist coverage pays the insured household when the at-fault motorist cannot. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners describes uninsured motorists coverage as protection that pays if a person is injured by a hit-and-run driver or a driver who does not have auto insurance. [9]

The Insurance Information Institute splits that protection into two common pieces. Uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage can pay medical bills and lost wages for the named insured and passengers after a crash caused by an uninsured motorist. That coverage can also apply if a pedestrian is struck by an uninsured driver, or after a hit-and-run. Uninsured motorist property damage coverage, where the state and the policy include it, is the part that can pay for damage to the insured vehicle. [8]

A 2023 Insurance Research Council study, summarized by the Insurance Information Institute, estimated that 14.0 percent of motorists in the United States were uninsured in 2022, about one in seven drivers. The same table listed South Carolina at 12.3 percent and North Carolina at 10.3 percent. [7]

How underinsured motorist coverage differs

Underinsured motorist coverage is the companion product, not a duplicate. The at-fault motorist has a liability policy. The problem is size. Hospital bills, lost income, and vehicle damage can outrun a modest liability limit. Underinsured motorist coverage is built to pick up that shortfall, up to the limit on the household's declarations page. [8]

South Carolina's Department of Insurance puts it plainly. Underinsured motorists coverage is similar to uninsured motorist coverage, but it pays for injuries or property damage if the at-fault driver does not have enough insurance to cover the damages or medical bills. Auto insurers in South Carolina must offer that coverage. Purchase is not required. [1]

The trigger is not identical in the two states. South Carolina statute describes underinsured motorist coverage as paying when damages are sustained in excess of the liability limits carried by an at-fault insured or underinsured motorist. [3] North Carolina, for policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, determines whether a motor vehicle is underinsured based on the total damages sustained by the person seeking payment, rather than by comparing the at-fault motorist's liability limits to the household's underinsured motorist limits. [4]

South Carolina: required uninsured motorist coverage, offered underinsured coverage

South Carolina law requires liability and uninsured motorist coverage to drive legally in the state. The Department of Insurance states that uninsured motorists coverage must equal the minimum amounts of liability coverage, written as 25/50/25: $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 bodily injury per accident, and $25,000 property damage per accident. There is typically a $200 deductible on the uninsured motorist property piece. [1]

Section 38-77-150 is the rule insurers write to. Every auto policy must include an uninsured motorist provision that pays sums the insured is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle, at limits no less than the liability minimums. The provision must also provide at least $25,000 for injury to or destruction of the property of the insured in any one accident, and it may exclude the first $200 of that property loss. [3] An uninsured motor vehicle includes a vehicle with no liability insurance at the required amounts, a vehicle whose insurer denies coverage or cannot respond to a judgment, and a vehicle whose owner or operator is unknown. [3]

Underinsured motorist coverage is the optional half of the pair. The Department of Insurance FAQ states that underinsured coverage is not mandatory in South Carolina, while uninsured motorist coverage is required, including when the at-fault party leaves the scene. [2] Section 38-77-160 requires carriers to offer additional uninsured motorist coverage up to the insured's liability limits, and to offer underinsured motorist coverage up to those same liability limits. [3]

That offer is not silent. The Department of Insurance says the company must have a signed form confirming whether the named insured does or does not want the optional coverage. If the form is not returned, the company will add underinsured motorist coverage and rate the policy for it. [2] Section 38-77-350(E) matches that warning: if the insured fails or refuses to return an executed offer form within thirty days, the insurer shall add uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverages at the same limits as the liability coverage. [3] Benefits paid under that extra coverage are not subject to subrogation and assignment, and no underinsured motorist policy may require the insurer's consent to settlement with the at-fault party. [3]

South Carolina is a tort liability state. The not-at-fault person can pursue a claim against the at-fault party. [2] Personal injury protection is not mandated under the automobile insurance laws of the state. [3] For households that want first-party medical help on the auto policy, Medical Payments (MedPay) is the product to discuss.

North Carolina: both coverages are required

North Carolina's picture changed for policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025. The Department of Insurance explains that state law requires motorists to maintain 50/100/50 liability coverage: $50,000 to any one person for an injury, $100,000 for all injured persons, and $50,000 for property damage. The same page states that state law also requires uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. [5]

G.S. 20-279.21 is the statute behind that consumer page. A bodily injury liability policy on a motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in North Carolina must include uninsured motorist coverage for persons insured who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles and hit-and-run motor vehicles. The statute also requires uninsured motorist property damage coverage. [6]

Default limits are not stuck at the state minimum. Uninsured motorist bodily injury limits shall equal the highest bodily injury liability limits for any one vehicle on the policy, with two caps. Those limits shall not exceed $1,000,000 per person and $1,000,000 per accident, and a named insured may buy greater or lesser limits, except that the limits shall not be less than the statutory liability minimum (now $50,000 / $100,000). Insurers are not required to sell uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage above that $1,000,000 ceiling. Uninsured motorist property damage limits follow the same pattern and are subject to an exclusion of the first $100 of damages for each insured. [6]

Underinsured motorist coverage is no longer reserved for policies written above the old minimum. Beginning July 1, 2025, it is included in all new or renewed policies. [4] The statute requires an owner's policy to provide underinsured motorist coverage. Those underinsured motorist bodily injury limits shall equal the highest bodily injury liability limits for any one vehicle on the policy, again with a $1,000,000 ceiling, the right to buy greater or lesser limits, and a requirement that the underinsured motorist limits equal the uninsured motorist bodily injury limits purchased on the same policy. [6]

The 2025 rewrite also changed how a claim is measured. A vehicle is underinsured when the sum of the liability limits applicable at the time of the accident is less than the total damages sustained by the person seeking payment. Underinsured motorist coverage applies to the first dollar of a claim beyond amounts paid under the exhausted liability policy, and it shall not be reduced by a setoff or credit against liability insurance, except for workers' compensation to the extent the statute provides. [4][6]

North Carolina consumer pages still point households toward Medical Payments coverage as a first-party medical option when the at-fault motorist's insurance is not enough. [10] That is the medical product to review on a North Carolina auto policy. The Department of Insurance FAQ list discusses Medical Payments, not personal injury protection. [10]

Combining limits across vehicles and policies

People often ask whether limits on more than one vehicle or more than one policy can be added together. The statutes answer that in plain language.

South Carolina Section 38-77-160 addresses extra uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage this way. If a named insured is protected by uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage in excess of the basic limits, the policy protects that person only to the extent of the coverage on the vehicle involved in the accident. If none of the household vehicles is involved, coverage is available only to the extent of coverage on any one of the vehicles with the excess or underinsured coverage. [3] Extra coverage is measured vehicle by vehicle, not by adding every listed vehicle together.

North Carolina draws a similar intra-policy line and a different inter-policy line. A person insured under a policy that covers more than one motor vehicle shall not combine the uninsured motorist limit on one vehicle with the uninsured motorist limit on an additional vehicle on that same policy. If that person is insured under more than one policy, that person may combine the highest uninsured motorist limit available under each policy. That multi-policy sentence applies only to insurance on nonfleet private passenger motor vehicles. [6]

Underinsured motorist coverage follows the same idea. Limits on any one motor vehicle under a policy shall not be combined with limits on an additional motor vehicle under that policy. If a claimant is insured under underinsured motorist coverage on separate or additional policies, the total is the sum of the highest limit available under each policy, and that total is not reduced by a setoff against liability insurance except for workers' compensation as the statute provides. That multi-policy sentence, again, applies only to nonfleet private passenger motor vehicles. [4][6]

Limits on two vehicles listed on one North Carolina policy do not add together for one uninsured or underinsured motorist claim. Limits on two separate personal auto policies can. South Carolina extra coverage is measured by the vehicle involved, or by one vehicle if none of the household vehicles was in the crash. An independent agent should walk through every vehicle and every policy number before a household assumes those limits will add.

How this coverage sits with liability and medical payments

Liability minimums are the floor an at-fault motorist may carry. They are not the thesis of this coverage. They do explain why uninsured and underinsured motorist limits deserve a hard look. South Carolina's required uninsured motorist coverage tracks the 25/50/25 liability minimum. [1] North Carolina's required uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage now sits next to 50/100/50 liability for policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025. [5] A serious injury claim can still exceed those figures. Raising uninsured and underinsured motorist limits, where the statute allows, is how the household buys more of the coverage that pays the household.

Medical Payments coverage is a separate first-party medical benefit. North Carolina's Department of Insurance tells consumers that underinsured motorist coverage can help when the at-fault motorist's liability is not enough, and that additional help may be available under Medical Payments. [10] South Carolina does not mandate personal injury protection. [3] Households that want the auto policy to contribute to medical bills without waiting on fault can ask about MedPay. That is a companion, not a substitute for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

Property damage has two common paths after an uninsured crash. Collision can repair or total the insured vehicle, minus the collision deductible. Uninsured motorist property damage, where it applies, is the first-party property path tied to an uninsured motorist. South Carolina's typical $200 uninsured motorist property deductible and North Carolina's $100 statutory exclusion are smaller numbers than many collision deductibles. [1][6]

Practical takeaways

• Uninsured motorist coverage pays the household when the at-fault motorist has no insurance or cannot be identified. Underinsured motorist coverage pays when that motorist has insurance that is too small for the loss. [8][9]
• South Carolina requires uninsured motorist coverage at least at 25/50/25, with a typical $200 property deductible. Underinsured motorist coverage must be offered. It is not required, unless the offer form is not returned within thirty days, in which case the insurer adds uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages at the liability limits. [1][2][3]
• North Carolina requires both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on personal auto policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025. Default uninsured motorist limits match the highest liability limits on the policy, with a $1,000,000 cap and the right to elect lesser limits no lower than the state minimum. [5][6]
• North Carolina now measures an underinsured vehicle by total damages, applies underinsured motorist coverage from the first dollar beyond exhausted liability, and does not reduce that coverage by a credit against liability except for workers' compensation as the statute provides. [4][6]
• Limits on two vehicles on one North Carolina policy do not combine for one uninsured or underinsured motorist claim. Highest limits on separate personal auto policies may. South Carolina extra coverage is tied to the vehicle involved, or to one vehicle if none of the household vehicles was in the accident. [3][6]
• MedPay is the first-party medical product to review on a Carolina auto policy. South Carolina does not mandate personal injury protection. [3][10]
• Review every vehicle, every policy number, and the signed South Carolina offer form (or the North Carolina declarations page) with an independent agent. Coastal Carolina, Charleston, Charlotte, and Grand Strand households often split time and vehicles across both states.

How we can help

Our team is an independent Trusted Choice agency. We shop personal auto coverage across many carriers for households in Horry County, Charleston, Charlotte, and along the Carolina coast, and we read uninsured and underinsured motorist limits as protection for the people in the car, not as a line to set at the legal floor and forget. Call (843) 626-9244, or start with the auto coverage page. Have more questions or want to get in touch? Contact the agency

Citations

1. South Carolina Department of Insurance, "Automobile Insurance" (2026)
2. South Carolina Department of Insurance, "Frequently Asked Questions" (Auto Insurance) (2026)
3. South Carolina General Assembly, "Code of Laws - Title 38 - Chapter 77 - Automobile Insurance" (2026)
4. North Carolina Department of Insurance, "Changes to the Rating of Automobile Insurance Policies, Effective July 1, 2025" (2026)
5. North Carolina Department of Insurance, "Automobile insurance: What's covered and what isn't" (2026-07-22)
6. North Carolina General Assembly, "G.S. 20-279.21. Motor vehicle liability policy defined" (2026)
7. Insurance Information Institute, "Facts + Statistics: Uninsured motorists" (2026)
8. Insurance Information Institute, "Protect yourself against uninsured motorists" (2026)
9. National Association of Insurance Commissioners, "Auto Insurance" (2026)
10. North Carolina Department of Insurance, "FAQs About Auto Insurance" (2026)