About uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage
Uninsured motorist coverage, commonly abbreviated UM, pays an insured for bodily injury caused by a driver who has no liability insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage, abbreviated UIM, applies when the at-fault driver has insurance but not enough of it. Both are first-party coverages. The statute treats UIM as included with UM rather than setting out a separate coverage.
Oregon requires it. Under ORS 742.502, every motor vehicle liability policy issued for delivery in this state, or issued by an insurer doing business here on a vehicle principally used or garaged here, must provide uninsured motorist coverage.
Limits follow the liability limits. A bodily injury liability policy must carry the same uninsured motorist limits as its bodily injury liability limits unless a named insured elects lower limits in writing. Lower limits may not go below the amounts ORS 806.070 requires.
The policy terms are set by statute. ORS 742.504 requires every policy to provide coverage that in each instance is no less favorable in any respect to the insured than the provisions the section sets out, though an insurer need not reproduce the statutory language word for word.
ORS 742.505 supplies the arbitration mechanics. The dispute goes to a panel of three arbitrators, one chosen by each party and the third chosen by those two, and the proceeding runs under the local court rules of the county where it is held.
ORS 742.506 governs allocation between insurers. ORS 742.504(9) controls, except where every policy potentially involved allocates responsibility expressly and without repugnancy, in which case the policies control. ORS 742.500 defines the terms used across the series.
The full text of all five sections, every prior version back to enactment, and the legislative history are on the statute pages below.