Uninsured Motorist Accident Lawyer in Los Angeles
If a driver with no insurance or too little insurance hurt you, an uninsured motorist lawyer in Los Angeles can pursue the uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. handles the whole claim against your insurer, and you pay nothing unless we win.
If an uninsured or underinsured driver hurt you, an uninsured motorist lawyer in Los Angeles can pursue the coverage sitting on your own auto policy to make you whole. Pursuing your own UM and UIM coverage is what Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. does for you. It happens more often than most people expect. The frustrating part is that your own insurer often acts like the adversary once you file, digging for reasons to pay less. We handle the whole claim for you, gather the proof, push back on the lowball tactics, and stand between you and that pressure. No recovery from the insurer means no fee to us.
Freeway and Valley crashes that outrun a $30,000 policy
In California, a driver can legally carry just $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident in injury coverage on policies issued or renewed since January 1, 2025 (Vehicle Code section 16056). That sounds like a lot until you see where serious LA crashes happen. In federal crash data (NHTSA FARS, our tally for the City of Los Angeles, 2019 to 2024), freeways and expressways made up 435 of 1,822 fatal crashes, about 24 percent. Counting ramps, US-101 was named in about 83 of them, I-5 in about 82, I-110 in about 80, I-10 in about 64 and I-405 in about 36. Speed played a part in 38 percent of the city's fatal crashes. High-speed crashes like these can leave injuries that blow past a $30,000 limit fast. The San Fernando Valley has its own problem spots. Sherman Way, Vanowen Street and Victory Boulevard are among the longest stretches for drivers on LADOT's 2024 High Injury Network. LADOT's Adams Boulevard Safety Project says 69 people were killed or severely injured on Adams between 2009 and 2019. When the driver who hit you carries the minimum, or nothing at all, the UM/UIM coverage on your own policy is often the real source of money. Your insurer subtracts what the at-fault driver's insurer paid from your UIM limit (Insurance Code section 11580.2(p)). That is why Moe reads your declarations page on day one. Some people carry more coverage than they remember, and a waiver only counts if a named insured signed the form the statute requires.
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The LAPD or CHP report your UM insurer will ask for
Your own insurer will usually ask for the police report before it pays a UM or UIM claim. It uses the report to check fault, the other driver's identity and whether that driver had coverage. In Los Angeles, crash volume is high. LAPD's open-data file lists 56,628 reported traffic collisions in 2019, about 155 a day. The busiest LAPD areas that year were 77th Street with 3,993, Southwest with 3,333, Wilshire with 3,154 and Newton with 3,150. About 20 percent happened between 4:00 and 6:59 p.m. Here is how to get your copy. If the crash was on a city street, LAPD's Traffic Group wrote it. South Traffic Division, 4125 S. Crenshaw Blvd., takes the 77th Street, Harbor, Southeast and Southwest areas. For Wilshire, Hollywood, Olympic, Pacific and West Los Angeles, it's West Traffic Division, 4849 Venice Blvd. Central Traffic Division at 251 E. 6th St. covers Newton and downtown. Valley Traffic Division, in Panorama City, covers the Valley Bureau areas from Devonshire to North Hollywood. Request the report online through LAPD's portal and wait at least 45 days. Reports with an arrest, a death or a juvenile, and reports from before Feb. 1, 2016, go by mail with a $19.00 check or money order to P.O. Box 30158, Los Angeles, CA 90030. If the crash was on a freeway, CHP wrote it, and only CHP can release it. Get it at any CHP office for a nominal fee, by mailing a CHP 190 form or a letter with a copy of your driver license to the office that wrote it, or through CHP's online Crash Report Search. We order it for you so paperwork doesn't slow your claim.
Proving UM damages with records from LA trauma centers
Your UM insurer pays for injuries it can see on paper. That paper starts where the ambulance took you. The LA County EMS Agency lists these Level I trauma centers serving the city: Los Angeles General Medical Center at 1200 North State Street, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center at 757 Westwood Plaza, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at 8700 Beverly Boulevard, and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center at 1000 West Carson Street in Torrance. Level II trauma centers include Dignity Health-California Hospital Medical Center at 1401 South Grand Avenue, Dignity Health-Northridge Hospital Medical Center at 18300 Roscoe Boulevard, and Providence Holy Cross Medical Center at 15031 Rinaldi Street in Mission Hills. If a child was in the car, Children's Hospital Los Angeles on Sunset Boulevard is the pediatric Level I center. If you went to a hospital without a trauma level, such as Valley Presbyterian, Sherman Oaks Hospital or MLK Community Hospital, that care counts too. Every visit creates its own chart. We gather all of it: the paramedic run sheet, ER imaging, surgery notes, physical therapy and your doctors' work notes. Your insurer will often ask for a broad medical authorization so it can dig through years of history for a pre-existing condition. We push to limit what it gets to records that matter for this crash. One more LA reality. Your UIM coverage doesn't pay until the at-fault driver's liability limits are paid out (Insurance Code section 11580.2(p)), and that driver's insurer will review the same records first. A tight medical file speeds up both steps, so the money reaches you sooner.
Hit by a city, county or Metro vehicle? Your UM coverage won't apply
Here is a rule that surprises a lot of people. Under Insurance Code section 11580.2(b), a vehicle owned by a government agency is not an uninsured vehicle for UM purposes. So if a city truck, an LADOT DASH bus, a Metro bus or a county car hit you, your claim runs against the agency, not your own UM coverage. And the deadline is far shorter than two years. First you present a written claim to the agency, and you have six months from the injury to do it (Government Code section 911.2). A written rejection then generally gives you six months from that notice to sue (section 945.6). Each LA agency has its own process. For the City of Los Angeles, only the Office of the City Clerk can accept a claim, by its online portal, by mail, or in person at City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, phone (213) 978-1133. It won't take email or fax. After filing, the City Attorney Claims Division investigates. For Metro, mail its Claim for Damages form to One Gateway Plaza, 99-PL-4, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952. Metro's form says an adjuster will reach out in about ten days, and only the registered owner may claim vehicle repairs. For the County of Los Angeles, the claim form goes to the Board of Supervisors, Attention: Claims, 500 West Temple Street, Room 383, (213) 974-1440. That form is from 2016, so we confirm the address before mailing. If a private uninsured driver and a public vehicle were both involved, we work both claims at once.
Arbitration or Stanley Mosk: where your LA UM claim gets decided
A UM or UIM claim can end in one of a few places, and the two-year rule decides which doors stay open. Within two years of the crash, you must sue the uninsured driver, reach an agreement with your insurer on the amount owed, or formally start arbitration by written notice sent by certified mail, return receipt requested (Insurance Code section 11580.2(i)). Once arbitration starts, it generally has to be finished within five years. If you and your insurer can't agree, the fight usually goes to arbitration, not a courtroom. A suit against the driver lands in LA Superior Court. Local Rule 2.3 lists Uninsured Motorist cases among the unlimited civil injury cases that must be filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street, or the Michael D. Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster. The court reports that several Stanley Mosk courtrooms take personal injury cases and nothing else. The court also announced a Pathway Pilot in November 2024 for some motor vehicle injury cases filed in Van Nuys, Pomona and West Covina, and we check whether it still runs before we file. A suit against the driver for $35,000 or less is limited civil and belongs at the Spring Street Courthouse, 312 North Spring Street. Small claims caps a person at $12,500, and no lawyer can appear for you in court there. For a UIM claim, two more rules matter. Promptly serve your UIM insurer with a copy of any complaint you file against the underinsured driver. And don't settle with that driver without your insurer's written consent, or you can void your coverage.
How uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage actually works
Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on your own policy pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance at all. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage steps in when the other driver does have insurance, but for less than the UM limits on your own policy. Say the driver who hit you carries the $30,000 California minimum, you carry $100,000 in UIM coverage, and your damages run to $100,000. Once the at-fault policy pays its $30,000 limit, your UIM coverage can pay up to the remaining $70,000, because your insurer subtracts what the at-fault driver's insurer paid from your UIM limit (Insurance Code section 11580.2(p)). UM can also cover a hit-and-run where the driver is never found, but only if the other vehicle made physical contact with you or your car, the crash was reported to the police, sheriff or CHP within 24 hours, and you filed a sworn statement with your insurer within 30 days (section 11580.2(b)). Every California auto liability policy must include UM coverage, and UIM comes with it, unless a named insured signed the written form the statute requires to delete or lower it (section 11580.2(a)). If no one on your policy signed that form, you likely have this coverage even if you forgot you bought it. We pull your policy, read the limits, and figure out exactly what protection you have.
Why you still need a lawyer to fight your own insurer
People assume a UM claim is easy because it is their own company. It is not. Once you file, your insurer switches sides and starts acting like the opposing party. It questions how hurt you are, argues your injuries came from something else, disputes who was at fault, and offers far less than the claim is worth. If you and your insurer can't agree on fault or the amount owed, California law sends the dispute to arbitration before a single neutral arbitrator instead of a jury trial (Insurance Code section 11580.2(f)), and that process has its own rules and deadlines. We know how these clauses work, and we build the medical and liability evidence the same way we would against any at-fault carrier. When your insurer sees you are represented and ready for arbitration, it takes the claim seriously.
What to do after an uninsured driver hits you in Los Angeles
Get medical care right away
Call 911 and get checked out even if you feel "okay." Adrenaline hides injuries, and a gap in treatment is the first thing your insurer uses to shrink a UM claim.
Report it and document everything
Report the crash to police. For a hit-and-run, California law requires a report to the city police, or the sheriff or CHP outside city limits, within 24 hours, or your UM claim can fail (Insurance Code § 11580.2(b)). Photograph the vehicles, the scene, and your injuries, and get any witness names and numbers.
Notify your insurer, then call us before you say much
You must tell your own company about the crash, but do not give a recorded statement or accept an offer first. Don't settle with the at-fault driver's insurer without your own insurer's written consent either, because that can void your UM coverage. Call us and we handle the conversation. The consultation is free.
How your insurance company fights a UM claim, and how we fight back
The moment you file an uninsured motorist claim, your insurer stops being your friend and starts protecting its own money. It calls sounding helpful, asks for a recorded statement, and requests a broad medical authorization so it can comb your history for a pre-existing condition. It floats a fast, low offer while you are still hurting, claims you were partly at fault, or argues your injuries are not as bad as you say. On hit-and-run claims it may demand proof the phantom driver existed. We shut those tactics down. We handle every call so you never have to, we build the medical and liability evidence into a demand your insurer cannot lowball, and we prepare each case for arbitration or trial. That readiness is exactly why insurers pay represented clients more.
What your uninsured motorist claim can recover
- ✓Medical expenses. Medical bills past and future: the ER, hospital stays, surgery, imaging, medication and physical therapy, which your UM or UIM claim can seek up to your policy limits.
- ✓Lost income. Pay you lost while hurt, and the earning power you lose if the injuries limit the work you can do from here on.
- ✓Pain & suffering. The pain you live with, the emotional toll, and the everyday activities you can no longer enjoy.
- ✓Property damage. UM bodily-injury coverage doesn't pay for your car, but uninsured motorist property damage coverage, your collision coverage, or a claim against the driver may (Insurance Code §§ 11580.2(c)(1), 11580.26).
- ✓Future care. Rehab, ongoing treatment and long-term care your doctors expect you to need.
- ✓The coverage gap. When your losses exceed the at-fault driver's limits, your UIM limit minus what their insurer already paid.
California injury law, the deadlines that matter
A personal-injury lawsuit against a private party generally must be filed within two years of the injury (California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1). UM and UIM claims have their own two-year rule. Within two years of the accident, you must sue the uninsured driver, reach an agreement with your insurer on the amount owed, or formally start arbitration by written notice sent to your insurer by certified mail, return receipt requested (Insurance Code § 11580.2(i)(1)). Once arbitration starts, it generally must be finished within five years (§ 11580.2(i)(2)). Every California auto bodily-injury liability policy must include UM coverage, and UIM comes with it, unless a named insured agreed in writing, on the form the statute requires, to delete or lower it. The limits can never drop below the state minimums of $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025 (Insurance Code § 11580.2(a); Vehicle Code § 16056). For a UIM claim, the at-fault driver's liability limits usually must be paid out first, and that payment is subtracted from your UIM limit (§ 11580.2(p)(3)-(4)). If you owned an uninsured vehicle involved in the crash, or were convicted of DUI for it, you generally can't recover pain and suffering (Civil Code § 3333.4). Fault still matters in a UM claim. Under pure comparative negligence, you can still recover from your own insurer if you were partly to blame, but your award shrinks by your percentage of fault (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804). Insurers can use these deadlines and fault rules against you by running out the clock or arguing you were more to blame, which is why it pays to talk to a lawyer early.
Why Angelenos hurt by uninsured drivers choose Moe Abdallah Law
Moe takes on your insurer himself
Attorney Moe Abdallah handles your UM or UIM claim himself, stands up to your own insurance company, and keeps you posted by phone and text as it moves.
No fee unless we win
Nothing upfront, and no fee unless we recover from your insurer or the at-fault driver. The consultation is always free.
We prepare to win
We build every case for arbitration or trial: a thorough investigation, the right experts, and hard negotiation that gets results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nothing upfront. Our fee is a contingency fee, taken only from what we recover on your UM or UIM claim. If we recover nothing for you, you owe us nothing. The consultation is always free.
Two years from the accident, but filing a lawsuit is not the only step. Within two years you must sue the uninsured driver, reach an agreement with your insurer on the amount owed, or formally start arbitration with written notice sent by certified mail, return receipt requested (Insurance Code § 11580.2(i)). A phone call or ordinary email doesn't count. Once arbitration starts, it generally must be finished within five years. Call as soon as you can so we can protect your rights.
You likely are. Every California auto liability policy must include uninsured motorist coverage unless a named insured signed the statutory written form to delete or lower it, and a waiver signed by one named insured applies to everyone on the policy. Your UM coverage pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver has none. Send us your policy and we'll confirm what you have.
That's what underinsured motorist coverage is for. If the at-fault driver's limits are lower than your own UM/UIM limits, your UIM coverage can pay up to your limit minus what their insurer paid. Their policy has to be paid out first, so we pursue it first, then your UIM for the rest. Get your own insurer's written consent before settling with their insurer, because settling without it can void your coverage.
You can try, but remember your own insurer becomes the opposing party the moment you file, and it protects its money the same way any carrier does. A lawyer usually puts more money in your pocket even after fees, because we know what the claim is worth and how to prove it. Not sure? Call and we'll give you a straight, free read on your UM claim.
Be careful. Your policy requires you to cooperate, but a recorded statement is still used to twist your words and shrink your claim. You don't have to sit for one alone. Call us first, and we'll handle that conversation with your insurer.
In most cases, no, not while you are still in treatment. Once you accept, you cannot reopen the claim, and a fast offer on a UM claim is almost always less than your injuries are worth. Send us your insurer's offer and we'll review it free before you sign.
Your uninsured motorist coverage can treat an unknown driver as uninsured, but only if three conditions are met. The other vehicle must have made physical contact with you or your car, the crash must be reported to the city police, or the sheriff or CHP outside city limits, within 24 hours, and you must file a sworn statement with your insurer within 30 days (Insurance Code § 11580.2(b)). Call us quickly and we'll help you meet those deadlines.
It depends on your insurer and your record, and being hit by someone else is a different situation from causing a crash. If you're worried about it, ask us and we'll walk through how it may apply to you before you file.
If you and your insurer can't agree on whether you're entitled to recover or how much, California law sends the dispute to arbitration before a single neutral arbitrator, not a jury (Insurance Code § 11580.2(f)). It's a private hearing with its own rules and deadlines. We handle the arbitration process for you and prepare your case just as thoroughly as we would for court.
Yes. Adrenaline can hide pain after a collision, and whiplash or a concussion may not surface for days. Your own insurer will look for any gap between the crash and treatment as a reason to deny or cut a UM claim, so get checked out and hold on to every record. Then call us.
You can still recover. California's pure comparative negligence rule lowers your UM or UIM award by your percentage of fault instead of barring it. Your insurer will overstate your share to pay less, and we push back with evidence.
If the crash was on a city street, request the LAPD report online and wait at least 45 days. Reports with an arrest, a death or a juvenile go by mail with a $19.00 check or money order to LAPD Records and Identification Division, P.O. Box 30158, Los Angeles, CA 90030. LAPD's status line is (213) 486-8130. If the crash was on a freeway, CHP wrote it. Get it at a CHP office for a nominal fee, by CHP 190 form, or through CHP's online Crash Report Search. Your insurer will ask for it, so we order it early.
Usually not. California's UM law excludes government-owned vehicles from its definition of an uninsured vehicle (Insurance Code section 11580.2(b)). Your claim goes against the agency instead, and you must present it in writing within six months of the injury (Government Code section 911.2). City of Los Angeles claims go only to the City Clerk, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, or its online portal. Metro claims go on Metro's Claim for Damages form. Call us fast so the six months doesn't run out.
A dispute with your own insurer over a UM or UIM claim usually goes to arbitration, which you formally start by certified mail within two years of the crash. A lawsuit against the uninsured driver worth over $35,000 is filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street, or the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster, under LA Superior Court Local Rule 2.3. A suit worth $35,000 or less is filed at the Spring Street Courthouse instead. We tell you which path fits your case.
Other ways we help
Uninsured Motorist lawyer by area
We represent uninsured motorist victims across Los Angeles County:
Authoritative resources: California Courts, self-help for injury claims · Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1, 2-year deadline · California DMV · California Office of Traffic Safety, crash data
Sources & local resources
- Request a Traffic Report · Los Angeles Police Department
- FARS raw data files, 2019-2024 national CSV (2024 file shown; same path pattern for each year) · NHTSA, U.S. Department of Transportation
- Adams Boulevard Safety Project · LADOT Livable Streets
- Traffic Collision Data from 2010 to Present · City of Los Angeles Open Data (LAPD)
- Frequently Asked Questions · California Highway Patrol
- 9-1-1 Receiving Hospital Directory, Reference No. 501 (rev. 10-01-26) · LA County EMS Agency, Department of Health Services
- Claim for Damage · Office of the Los Angeles City Clerk
- Claim for Damages form · LA Metro
- Local Rules, Chapter 2 (Rules 2.2 and 2.3, filing locations) · Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
- Civil lawsuits (limited vs. unlimited) · California Courts Self-Help Guide
- Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2 · California Legislative Information
Talk to Moe Abdallah directly
When you call Moe Abdallah Law, you work directly with your attorney and get straight answers, not a call center. Moe takes on the insurance companies and fights for the maximum, and he keeps you updated at every step. The consultation is free and you pay nothing unless he wins.
Real recoveries for real Angelenos
Real recoveries from an attorney who takes your case personally and fights for the maximum.
Rear-ended by a driver who fled, and other firms turned her down. Moe opened an uninsured-motorist claim, proved she could not have been at fault, and secured the full policy limit.
Broke his sternum and had no insurance of his own, and his prior attorney ignored him. Moe took his calls day and night and recovered a settlement that covered his hospital bills and future treatment.
The at-fault insurer offered just $900 for a back injury on top of pre-existing problems. Moe guided his treatment, tendered the at-fault limit, then opened an underinsured-motorist claim to reach $75,000 total.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and depends on its own facts.
Talk to a lawyer today, free
Tell us what happened. We respond fast, usually within the hour, and there's no fee unless we win. Available 24/7 · Se Habla Español.
Call (323) 716-1992