gentle-stoat-1505/12/2026

At-fault driver's insurer denied liability — does that unlock my UM/UIM or not?

I'm so frustrated I don't even know where to start. Got rear-ended at a red light about two months ago by someone who then tried to claim I reversed into them (I didn't — I have a dashcam). Their insurance company investigated and came back saying they're denying liability on their end. Fine, whatever, I figured that's what my own uninsured/underinsured coverage was literally invented for.

So I call my own insurer and explain the situation. The rep I spoke to basically said that a "liability denial" by the other carrier isn't the same as a "coverage denial," so my UM/UIM property damage benefit supposedly can't be triggered yet. I asked her to explain the difference and honestly her answer made zero sense to me — something about how the other driver technically still has a policy, they're just not paying out under it.

Meanwhile my car has been sitting at a shop for six weeks. I'm paying out of pocket for a rental. My collision deductible is steep and I really don't want to go that route if UM/UIM is supposed to cover this scenario.

Has anyone actually dealt with this exact situation? Like — other driver's insurance says "not our problem" but YOUR insurance also won't step up? What finally broke the logjam for you? Did you have to get a lawyer involved just to get your own carrier to act?

Any insight helps. I feel like I'm getting the runaround from every direction and nobody will give me a straight answer.

9 replies

Most helpful first

swift-sparrow-6425/12/2026
Went through almost this exact thing last year. The other driver's insurer denied liability and my own company tried to use this same weird logic about it not counting as a 'coverage denial.' What finally moved things was I sent a formal written dispute letter to my insurer specifically citing my state's UM/UIM statute by name. Suddenly they were a lot more responsive. Don't just call — put everything in writing from here on out.
silent-dove-7165/12/2026
What you're experiencing is a classic delay tactic. Both sides are hoping you'll either give up or make a mistake that lets them off the hook. The moment you start accepting partial payments or sign anything, you could be waiving rights. Don't sign a single document without understanding exactly what it releases.
- sharp-fox-8935/12/2026
  The interplay between a third-party liability denial and your own UM/UIM trigger is genuinely fact-specific and varies a lot by state — so not legal advice here. That said, this is exactly the kind of dispute where a free consult with a PI attorney is worth your time. Many of them have seen this precise scenario and can tell you quickly whether your carrier is acting in bad faith. Bad faith claims against your own insurer are a separate legal lever that sometimes changes the conversation fast.
bold-sparrow-5485/12/2026
I used to work on the carrier side and I'll be honest with you — the distinction your insurer is drawing between 'liability denial' and 'coverage denial' is real in the technical sense, but adjusters also know it's a murky area and sometimes they use that murkiness to buy time. A liability denial absolutely can trigger UM/UIM depending on how your policy is worded and what your state law says. Pull out your actual policy declarations page and look for the exact language around what 'uninsured' means — some policies define it to include situations where the at-fault carrier refuses to pay, not just where no policy exists at all.
- plain-wren-7965/12/2026
  I just want to flag — are you keeping records of any physical symptoms from the impact, even minor ones? Rear-end collisions can cause soft tissue stuff that doesn't fully show up for weeks. If you're feeling any neck stiffness, headaches, anything like that, please see a doctor and document it now rather than later. I've seen people focus so hard on the property damage fight that they forget to protect themselves medically.
warm-stoat-5095/12/2026
A few practical things worth doing right now: (1) Request the full claim file from your own insurer in writing — you're usually entitled to it. (2) Get the denial from the at-fault driver's carrier in writing if you haven't already, because 'they told me on the phone' won't cut it later. (3) File a complaint with your state's Department of Insurance if your carrier keeps stonewalling — it costs nothing and adjusters hate it. Not telling you what the legal outcome will be, just that these steps tend to get people taken more seriously.
wise-kestrel-6345/12/2026
Stop calling and start writing. Email your insurer, email the other carrier, and BCC yourself on everything. Create a paper trail that shows exactly who said what and when. If this ends up in arbitration or litigation, documentation is everything. Also — six weeks without your car is already serious damages. Don't let this drag to three months.
- hearty-otter-4915/12/2026
  Does your dashcam footage actually show the full sequence clearly, or is it an angle that could be argued either way? I'm not doubting you, I just want to know if you've had anyone review it objectively. Sometimes what seems obvious to us looks murkier on a low-res wide-angle lens, and knowing how solid that evidence really is affects how aggressively you should push.
steady-swift-8535/12/2026
The fact that you have dashcam footage at all puts you in a way better position than most people in this situation. A lot of folks are fighting with zero evidence. Hang in there — the logjam usually does break eventually, especially once attorneys or regulators get involved.