Liability covers the other guy. UM and UIM cover you — and on a bike, you are the one most likely to get hurt.
Motorcycle · Updated September 2026
Liability insurance pays for the harm you cause other people. It does nothing for you. If a driver pulls left across your lane, puts you in a hospital bed, and turns out to be carrying the state minimum — or nothing at all — your liability coverage sits there unused while the bills arrive.
Uninsured motorist coverage (UM) steps in when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) steps in when they have some, but nowhere near enough. On a motorcycle, these two are not optional extras. They are the coverages most likely to be the only thing standing between you and financial ruin.
The exposure is not comparable. According to NHTSA, motorcyclists in 2024 were roughly 27 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a crash per mile traveled, and about five times more likely to be injured. A car wraps its occupants in steel, crumple zones, belts and airbags. A motorcycle offers a helmet and whatever you are wearing.
The result is that the same collision — the same careless left turn by the same underinsured driver — produces a fender repair for a car and a multi-week hospital stay for a rider. The other driver's minimum limits might comfortably cover the car. They will not cover the rider.
Compounding it: NHTSA has found that in a large share of fatal two-vehicle crashes involving a motorcycle, the other vehicle was turning left in front of the rider. Most serious motorcycle claims are caused by someone else. That is precisely the situation UM and UIM exist for.
State minimum liability limits are set low, and they have not kept pace with medical costs. A driver carrying the minimum has enough to cover a modest injury claim and nothing beyond it. If your hospital bill, surgery, rehabilitation and lost wages run past their limit, the shortfall is yours unless you carry UIM.
You can sue, of course. But a driver who buys the least insurance the law allows generally does not have assets waiting behind it. A judgment against someone with nothing collects nothing. UIM is the practical answer.
Missouri requires uninsured motorist coverage on auto policies at the state minimum limits. Underinsured motorist coverage is optional, which means many riders do not have it unless they asked.
Kansas requires both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and as a no-fault state also requires personal injury protection, which changes how early medical bills get paid.
Oklahoma requires insurers to offer uninsured motorist coverage; a rider can decline it, but the rejection has to be in writing. Riders who have declined it at some point often do not remember doing so.
Requirements and minimum limits change. Confirm what is actually on your policy rather than assuming — and if you ride in more than one of these states, the differences matter.
Pull your declarations page and look for four things. Do you have UM? Do you have UIM, which is often listed separately? Are those limits equal to your liability limits, or did they default to the state minimum? And do the limits stack across vehicles if you own more than one?
The common pattern we see is a rider with respectable liability limits and minimum-level UM, which protects other people well and the rider barely at all. Matching UM and UIM to your liability limits usually costs far less than people expect, because the premium for these coverages is small relative to what they do.
Medical payments coverage pays your medical bills regardless of fault, up to its limit, and it pays early — before liability is sorted out, which can take months. On a motorcycle policy it is inexpensive and it bridges the gap while a UM or UIM claim is being worked out. If you have a high-deductible health plan, it matters more still.
Uninsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver has no insurance at all, including hit-and-run in many cases. Underinsured motorist coverage applies when they have insurance but their limits are too low to cover your injuries. Many riders carry the first and not the second.
Partly. Health insurance may pay medical bills subject to your deductible and out-of-pocket maximum, and your health plan will often seek reimbursement out of any settlement you receive. It pays nothing for lost wages, and nothing for the permanent effects of a serious injury. UM and UIM cover those.
As a starting point, match it to your liability limits. Carrying high liability and minimum UM protects everyone except you, which is backwards for a rider who is far more likely to be the one injured.
In many cases yes, which is one of the practical reasons to carry it. Rules on what has to be reported and how quickly vary, so report a hit-and-run to police promptly and call us the same day.
It is usually one of the least expensive lines on a motorcycle policy relative to what it protects. Call us with your current declarations page and we will price matching UM and UIM against what you carry now.
Questions about your own situation? Call 417.623.8300 or send us your current policy. We are licensed in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.
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