Do You Need Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Arkansas?
You almost certainly have it, because Arkansas puts it on the policy unless you sign it off. The question worth asking is whether somebody already did — and what that signature took with it.
Short Answer
Arkansas does not require it, but it is not optional in the ordinary sense either: your insurer must provide it unless you reject it in writing, and that rejection stays in force until you withdraw it in writing. So the real question is not whether to add it. It is whether somebody already signed it away, and whether you know.
Liability pays other people when you cause a crash. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is the mirror image: it pays you when the driver who caused it cannot. In an at-fault state that is the whole of your protection against somebody else’s decision not to insure their car.
What makes this coverage unusual is how it gets onto a policy. You do not choose it. It is there by default, and it leaves only by signature.
The Three Pieces
| Coverage | What it does |
|---|---|
| Uninsured motorist bodily injury | Pays your medical costs, lost income and related losses when the at-fault driver has no liability coverage at all, and in many cases when they left the scene. Provided unless rejected in writing under Ark. Code § 23-89-403. |
| Underinsured motorist | Applies where the at-fault driver has coverage but not enough. Governed by § 23-89-209, and it depends on the first one in a way covered below. |
| Uninsured motorist property damage | Covers your vehicle when an uninsured driver damages it. Governed by § 23-89-404, and it cannot be bought on its own. |
The Part Almost Nobody Knows
Rejecting uninsured motorist coverage takes underinsured with it
Ark. Code § 23-89-209 provides that underinsured motorist coverage is not available, and insurers are not required to offer it, unless the insured has elected uninsured motorist coverage under § 23-89-403 — and that underinsured coverage shall not be issued without uninsured coverage being issued alongside it. So a written rejection signed once, years ago, to shave a few dollars off a premium did not remove one coverage. It closed the door on two, and the second one is the one that matters after a serious crash, because the common case is not a driver with nothing. It is a driver with the state minimum.
The same structure applies on the property side. Under § 23-89-404 the opportunity to add uninsured motorist property damage is given to every insured purchasing uninsured motorist bodily injury, which means the bodily injury coverage has to be there first. Reject the bodily injury piece and the property piece is not available to you either.
What the Statute Entitles You To
Two entitlements worth knowing, because both are things you can ask for rather than things you have to be sold.
- Limits up to your liability limits. The insurer must make uninsured motorist bodily injury available, on written request, in limits up to the third-party liability limits you have elected. If you carry high liability limits and low uninsured motorist limits, that gap is yours to close by asking.
- A property damage option with a small deductible. Uninsured motorist property damage applies to losses above $200. And that deductible does not apply at all where two conditions are met: the vehicle is insured with the same company for both collision and uninsured motorist property damage, and the other driver has been positively identified and is solely at fault.
Once rejected, it does not come back on its own
Under § 23-89-404, once the property damage coverage has been made available once and rejected in writing, it need not be offered again on any renewal, reinstatement, replacement or transfer of vehicles — unless you make a written request for it. The same logic runs through the bodily injury side. Nobody is going to raise this with you at a renewal. It only comes back if you ask.
When It Is the Only Coverage That Answers
- A hit-and-run. There is no at-fault driver to claim against, so uninsured motorist coverage is the claim. Terms and any contact requirement depend on the policy, which is worth confirming rather than assuming.
- An uninsured at-fault driver. Nothing to collect from, and your own liability coverage is irrelevant because liability pays other people.
- An at-fault driver at the state minimum. This is the common one. Their limits are exhausted long before a serious injury is, and underinsured coverage is what covers the distance. What happens when a claim exceeds the limits covers the rest.
- You have dropped collision on an older car. Then uninsured motorist property damage may be the only route to repairing your own vehicle, which is why the drop-collision decision should be made with this coverage checked first.
There is one more provision worth knowing if it ever comes to it. Where a tentative agreement has been reached to settle at the other driver’s liability limits, § 23-89-209 sets out a written notice route to your own underinsured motorist insurer, by certified mail with documentation of the losses. That is a process detail rather than advice, and if you reach that point it is a question for an attorney rather than for an agency.
How to Check Yours
- Find the line on the declarations page. It will appear as uninsured motorist, UM, UMBI, UIM or some combination. If it is not there, it was rejected at some point, and probably not recently.
- Compare it against your liability limits. If liability is high and uninsured motorist is at the floor, that is the gap the statute lets you close on written request.
- Check whether property damage is on there, and what deductible applies. It is a separate line from the bodily injury piece and it has its own rules.
- If any of it is missing, ask in writing. Because the statute does not require the carrier to raise it again after a rejection, a written request from you is what reopens it.
Where this sits in what you already pay
Across our carrier market full coverage generally runs $79–$105 a month. Cribb cross-market averages for Northwest Arkansas. Planning ranges, not quotes and not any carrier’s filed rates. Whether adding or raising uninsured motorist limits changes your figure materially depends on the carrier and the limits, which is a question worth asking specifically rather than assuming in either direction — and it is the sort of thing that varies enough between companies to be worth comparing.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is uninsured motorist coverage required in Arkansas?
Not required, but not simply optional either. Under Ark. Code 23-89-403 your insurer must provide uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage unless you reject it in writing, and that rejection continues in force until you withdraw it in writing. In practice you already have it unless someone signed it away, which is worth confirming on the declarations page rather than assuming either way.
What happens to underinsured coverage if I reject uninsured motorist?
You lose access to it. Ark. Code 23-89-209 provides that underinsured motorist coverage is not available, and insurers are not required to offer it, unless the insured has elected uninsured motorist coverage, and that underinsured coverage shall not be issued without uninsured coverage issued alongside it. A single written rejection therefore removes both, and the underinsured half is the one that matters most often.
What is the difference between uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage?
Uninsured applies when the at-fault driver has no coverage at all, including many hit-and-run cases. Underinsured applies when they have coverage but not enough to cover what they did. The second is the more common situation, because plenty of drivers carry the state minimum and a serious injury exceeds it easily.
Does uninsured motorist coverage pay for a hit-and-run?
Frequently yes, since there is no at-fault driver to claim against and this is the coverage designed for that. Whether a particular policy requires physical contact or imposes other conditions depends on its wording, so it is worth reading rather than relying on the general rule.
What is uninsured motorist property damage, and what does it cost me?
It covers your vehicle when an uninsured driver damages it, and under Ark. Code 23-89-404 it applies to losses above $200. That $200 does not apply where the vehicle is insured with the same company for both collision and uninsured motorist property damage and the other driver has been positively identified and is solely at fault. You have to carry the bodily injury coverage in order to add it.
Can I get uninsured motorist limits as high as my liability limits?
Yes, on written request. The insurer must make uninsured motorist bodily injury available in limits up to the third-party liability limits you have elected. If your liability limits are high and your uninsured motorist limits are not, closing that gap is a request you make rather than an upgrade you have to be sold.
If I rejected it before, will my carrier offer it again?
Not necessarily, and that is the trap. Once the coverage has been made available and rejected in writing, the statute does not require the insurer to offer it again on renewal, reinstatement, replacement, or when vehicles are transferred on the policy. It comes back when you request it in writing, which means nobody will raise it unless you do.
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Disclaimer: This article is general information and is not insurance, legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not a substitute for the terms of your own agreements or policies. Statutory provisions are summarized in substance rather than reproduced in full and may be amended; how they apply depends on the facts and on the policy actually issued to you, which controls in every case. Policy wording on hit-and-run and contact requirements, stacking, and limits varies by carrier. Nothing here is legal advice, and questions arising from a specific accident or settlement are for an attorney rather than for an insurance agency. Coverage is set by the insurance company and is subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued to you, which controls in every case. Cribb Insurance Group Inc is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. Reviewed 2026-08-09; insurance law and carrier filings change, and this article may not describe the current position after that date. Cribb Insurance Group Inc, 1601 SW Regional Airport Blvd, Bentonville, AR 72713 · (479) 286-1066 · service@cribbinsurance.com.