What Can You Do When the At-Fault Driver's Insurance Denies Coverage?

There is a difference between an insurer saying "our driver wasn't at fault" and an insurer saying "our policy doesn't cover this". The first is a dispute about liability. The second is a coverage denial: the policy lapsed, the driver was excluded, the car was not listed, or the use was excluded. California law gives you a specific route when it happens.

Why a coverage denial changes your claim

Insurance Code section 11580.2 defines an uninsured motor vehicle to include one that has bodily injury insurance, but whose insurer denies coverage or refuses to admit it except conditionally or with a reservation. Section 11580.26 uses the same test for property damage. In plain terms, a denial moves the other driver into the uninsured column for your own policy's purposes.

Step by step

1. Get the denial in writing. Ask the other insurer for a letter stating that it denies coverage, or is reserving its rights, and why.
2. Send it to your own insurer and open an uninsured motorist claim for injuries, plus a property damage claim for the car under whichever option you carry.
3. Repair the car through collision if you carry it, so the repair does not wait on the coverage dispute.
4. Track the conditions. For the deductible waiver or uninsured motorist property damage, the statute requires actual physical contact, an identified driver or license plate, and a report to your insurer or agent within 10 business days of the accident.
5. Calendar the deadlines: two years from the accident for the bodily injury UM claim, and one year to start arbitration under the property damage section if you and your insurer disagree.

Documents to send your own insurer

• The other insurer's denial or reservation-of-rights letter.
• The information you exchanged at the scene, including the other driver's policy number.
• The police report number and your photos of both vehicles and the plate.
• Your repair estimate and, for injuries, your medical records and bills.

What happens next

Your insurer will want to verify the denial for itself. If the other insurer later reverses course and accepts coverage, the claim can move back to it, and your insurer may recover what it paid. If the denial stands, your insurer may pursue the at-fault driver directly. Either way, your own claim does not have to wait for the two insurers to finish arguing.

What can go wrong

• Treating a liability dispute as a coverage denial. "Our driver says you ran the light" is a fault argument; your route there is collision and your insurer's subrogation, not UM.
• No written denial. A phone call is hard to prove. Ask for the letter.
• A declined UM coverage. If you rejected uninsured motorist coverage in writing, this route is closed for injuries.
• Settling with the at-fault driver without your insurer's written consent, which can end the UM claim.

Uninsured motorist coverage only helps if you have it at a useful limit. To check yours, request a quote and we will show you the options.