Does Missouri Allow UM/UIM Stacking? What RSMo 379.203 Says

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Missouri's statutes neither permit nor bar stacking. They require uninsured motorist coverage, treat low-limit underinsured coverage as excess, and leave stacking to court decisions and your policy.

Required UM

Section 379.203(1) requires coverage for persons legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles, in not less than the minimum bodily injury limits, for any auto liability policy delivered in Missouri for a vehicle registered or principally garaged there. The legal entitlement exists even if the owner or operator cannot be identified because the vehicle left the scene before identification, and whether or not there was physical contact.

Insolvency

An insured vehicle is also treated as uninsured when its liability insurer cannot pay because of insolvency, if the insurer becomes insolvent within two years after the accident (subsections 2 and 3).

Underinsured coverage

Section 379.204 says any underinsured motor vehicle coverage with limits of liability less than two times the bodily injury limits in the financial responsibility law shall be construed to provide coverage in excess of the at-fault vehicle's liability coverage. The statute does not require underinsured coverage to be sold, and does not say how higher-limit coverage pays.

Minimum limits

The financial responsibility minimums are $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage (RSMo 303.190).

What it leaves to the courts

Nothing in these sections bars or allows stacking. The Revisor's annotations summarize older decisions on UM stacking; we did not read them in full and we did not verify decisions on underinsured coverage. Ask an attorney how they apply to your policy.

How to use this

Compare the results in the Missouri UM/UIM stacking calculator, start with the plain-English stacked versus single-limit explainer, and read how Missouri UM and UIM differ.

This is general information, not legal advice, and the state comparisons above are illustrative, not an exhaustive survey. Confirm how Missouri's rules apply to your specific case with a licensed Missouri attorney.