Uninsured Motorist Coverage — Mississippi
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Mississippi Does Not Require Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Mississippi law does not mandate uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. The state requires only liability insurance: $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. UM coverage is optional. Carriers must offer it when you buy a policy, but you can reject it in writing.
The rejection matters more than most households realize. When you decline UM coverage, the waiver applies to every vehicle on the policy. If you insure three cars under one policy and sign the rejection form, none of those vehicles carry UM protection. The decision is policy-level, not per-vehicle. Adding a fourth car later does not trigger a new UM offer—the original rejection stays in force until you affirmatively request coverage or start a new policy term.
“The UM rejection you sign for one vehicle applies to every car on the policy—adding vehicles later does not trigger a new offer.”
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Mississippi Uninsured Driver Rate
More than one in four drivers on Mississippi roads carry no insurance. When an uninsured driver hits your car, your liability coverage pays nothing for your own damage—only UM coverage or collision coverage can recover those costs.
Insurance Research Council, 2023
How the Rejection Waiver Works Across Multiple Vehicles
Carriers present the UM offer once per policy, not once per vehicle. When you buy your first car's policy, the carrier provides a rejection form. If you sign it, the waiver binds the entire policy. Add a second car six months later, and the carrier does not re-offer UM—the rejection you signed for the first vehicle already covers the second.
This structure creates a common failure mode: households assume each new vehicle triggers a fresh coverage decision. It does not. The policy is the coverage container, and the rejection waiver travels with the policy. If you want UM coverage on the newly-added vehicle, you must contact the carrier and affirmatively request it for the entire policy. The carrier will not prompt you.
The waiver resets only at renewal or when you start a new policy with a different carrier. At renewal, Mississippi law requires carriers to re-offer UM coverage. You can accept it then, even if you rejected it the prior term. If you switch carriers mid-term, the new carrier must offer UM as part of the application—your rejection with the old carrier does not transfer.
The UM rejection you sign for one vehicle applies to every car on the policy. Adding vehicles later does not trigger a new offer.
How UM Interacts With Collision on a Multi-Car Policy
Collision coverage and UMPD both pay for vehicle damage, but they trigger under different conditions. Collision pays regardless of fault and regardless of whether the other driver has insurance. UMPD pays only when an uninsured or hit-and-run driver is at fault. If you carry both, you choose which coverage to file under when an uninsured driver hits you.
Filing under UMPD instead of collision saves your collision deductible when UMPD's deductible is lower. The claim does not count against collision, so it may not affect your renewal premium the same way a collision claim would.
If you reject UMPD and carry only collision, every uninsured-driver accident goes through collision. You pay the full collision deductible, and the claim appears on your record as a collision claim. Carriers vary in how they treat not-at-fault collision claims at renewal—some surcharge them, some do not—but the claim is there. UMPD isolates uninsured-driver damage into a separate coverage bucket, which can matter when you have multiple vehicles and want to preserve collision for true at-fault or single-car accidents.
$25,000 / $50,000 / $25,000
Mississippi Minimum Liability Limits
These are the lowest liability limits you can carry and still register a vehicle in Mississippi. They do not cover your own damage—only damage you cause to others. UM coverage is the mirror: it covers damage others cause to you when they carry no insurance.
Mississippi Code Title 63, Chapter 15
Requesting UM Coverage After You've Rejected It
You can add UM coverage mid-term by contacting your carrier directly. The carrier will endorse the policy to add UMBI, UMPD, or both, effective the date you request it. The premium adjusts pro-rata for the remainder of the term. If you rejected UM when you bought the policy in January and request it in June, the carrier bills you for six months of UM premium and adds it to every vehicle on the policy.
The easier path is to wait until renewal. Mississippi law requires carriers to re-offer UM coverage at every renewal. The renewal documents include a fresh rejection form. If you do nothing, UM coverage is automatically added at the state minimum limits—typically matching your liability limits unless you specify otherwise. If you want to reject it again, you must sign and return the rejection form before the renewal date. Silence equals acceptance at renewal, which is the opposite of the initial purchase, where silence after a rejection means the rejection stands.
Compare Carriers That Write Multi-Car UM Coverage
Not every carrier prices UM coverage the same way across multiple vehicles. Some carriers apply a per-vehicle UM charge; others apply a per-policy charge that covers all vehicles under one premium. When you insure three or four cars, the pricing structure matters. A per-policy UM charge can cost less than three separate per-vehicle charges, but only a handful of carriers structure it that way.
Request quotes from carriers that write multi-car policies in Mississippi and ask specifically how UM premium is calculated. State Farm, Allstate, Progressive, and GEICO all write multi-vehicle policies here, and all offer UM coverage. Compare the total policy premium with and without UM across the full vehicle count. The difference is the actual cost of the protection. If the household budget can absorb that difference, the coverage eliminates the risk that an uninsured driver's mistake costs you thousands out of pocket—and in a state where 28.2% of drivers carry no insurance, that risk is not hypothetical.
What Uninsured Motorist Coverage Actually Pays
Uninsured motorist bodily injury (UMBI) covers medical bills, lost wages, and pain-and-suffering damages when an uninsured driver injures you or your passengers. UMBI also covers hit-and-run accidents where the at-fault driver flees and cannot be identified.
Uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) covers repair costs to your vehicle when an uninsured driver hits you. Mississippi allows UMPD as a standalone option or bundled with UMBI. If you carry collision coverage, UMPD becomes redundant for vehicle damage, but UMPD often has a lower deductible than collision, making it cheaper to file a claim when the at-fault driver is confirmed uninsured.
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Get My Mississippi Car Insurance QuoteFrequently Asked Questions
Does Mississippi require uninsured motorist coverage?
No. Mississippi does not mandate uninsured motorist coverage. Carriers must offer it when you buy a policy, but you can reject it in writing. The rejection applies to every vehicle on the policy until you request coverage or renew the policy.
What happens if I reject UM coverage and then add another car to my policy?
The rejection waiver you signed for the first vehicle applies to the newly-added car. Carriers do not re-offer UM coverage when you add vehicles mid-term. If you want UM coverage on the new car, you must contact the carrier and request it for the entire policy.
How much does uninsured motorist coverage cost in Mississippi?
UM premium varies by carrier, vehicle count, and the limits you select. Some carriers charge per vehicle; others charge per policy. Request quotes with and without UM coverage to see the actual cost difference for your household's vehicles.
Can I add UM coverage after I've already rejected it?
Yes. Contact your carrier mid-term to add UM coverage by policy endorsement, or wait until renewal when Mississippi law requires carriers to re-offer it. At renewal, UM coverage is automatically added unless you sign a new rejection form.
What is the difference between UMBI and UMPD?
UMBI (uninsured motorist bodily injury) covers medical bills and lost wages when an uninsured driver injures you. UMPD (uninsured motorist property damage) covers vehicle repair costs. You can buy them together or separately, depending on the carrier.
Does UM coverage apply to hit-and-run accidents?
Yes. UMBI covers injuries from hit-and-run drivers who cannot be identified. UMPD may cover vehicle damage in hit-and-run cases, but carrier rules vary—some require you to file a police report within a set window.