The Uninsured Division (UD) is a division of the State of Maryland administered by Maryland Auto Insurance. The UD handles claims in which a Maryland resident has been injured as a result of an accident caused by another person who has no insurance to cover those injuries.
A recent case involved a woman who was injured during a high-speed chase in Baltimore City. Unfortunately for this victim, the driver of the vehicle in which she was a passenger decided to flee from police and, in the process, sped through a red light and collided with another vehicle. The vehicle flipped and struck a parked car.
The passenger, an adult woman, was rushed to Shock Trauma with multiple fractures to her neck, lower back, and ribs. She underwent emergency surgery and had hardware implanted into her neck. Months later, a second surgery was required due to complications from the first surgery.
As a result of the surgeries, the passenger now has permanent scars on her neck and abdomen. To make things worse, the car that she was riding in was uninsured, leaving her with medical bills of more than $200,000.
The passenger did not own a vehicle or home, so she didn’t have insurance coverage to help with these medical bills. Thankfully, the Uninsured Division was able to step in and assist her.
Despite being in a fleeing vehicle, the passenger was not responsible for the actions of the driver and wasn’t responsible for the crash. Therefore, she was eligible to present a claim to the UD.
By statute, the UD provides coverage of up to $30,000 in bodily injury for one individual and a maximum of $60,000 per accident for bodily injury for more than one person in a covered loss. Since the passenger’s bills exceeded the $30,000 maximum that can be paid out through the UD, she was provided with the full coverage limit available.
This is an example of how the Uninsured Division fulfills its mission of providing coverage for injured Marylanders who have no other insurance coverage for injuries sustained in a crash.
