Uninsured vs. Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Vermont

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Vermont requires uninsured, underinsured and hit-and-run coverage. A vehicle is underinsured to the extent its liability limits are less than your UM limits. You can recover with up to 50 percent fault, and you generally have three years to sue.

Uninsured

23 V.S.A. 941(d) counts as uninsured an insured vehicle whose liability insurer cannot pay because of insolvency within the policy limits, if the insolvency existed at the time of or within one year after the occurrence and your coverage was in effect.

Underinsured

Subsection (f) makes a vehicle underinsured to the extent that the liability limits applicable at the crash are less than your UM limits. We read that as a difference-of-limits rule: with $100,000 of UM and $25,000 of liability limits, UM covers up to $75,000, capped at your damages not yet paid. We did not read the decisions that decide how the payment is calculated.

Fault

Your negligence does not bar recovery if it is not greater than the causal total negligence of the defendants, and damages are diminished in proportion (12 V.S.A. 1036), so 50 percent is allowed and more is not. Vermont has no no-fault threshold for pain and suffering.

Deadlines

Injuries to the person must be sued on within three years after the cause of action accrues, and the cause accrues when the injury is discovered (12 V.S.A. 512(4)).

Next steps

Stacking is a separate question; see our statute post and the explainer, then use the Vermont UM/UIM stacking calculator.

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