About uninsured motorist property damage coverage
Uninsured motorist property damage coverage, commonly abbreviated UMPD, pays for damage to an insured vehicle caused by an uninsured vehicle. It is a first-party coverage.
Oregon treats UMPD differently from uninsured motorist coverage for bodily injury. Under ORS 742.502, every motor vehicle liability policy issued in Oregon must provide uninsured motorist coverage for bodily injury. ORS 742.510 requires only that an insurer offers UMPD. It must be offered and is only included if purchased.
The coverage applies to self-propelled mobile homes and private passenger motor vehicles not more than 12 years old and not used as a public or livery conveyance.
What counts as an uninsured vehicle. ORS 742.508 defines the term to refer to a vehicle with no collectible property damage insurance, a hit-and-run vehicle, and a phantom vehicle, which causes damage without any physical contact. The last two carry procedural conditions which call for the accident to be reported within 72 hours to a police, peace or judicial officer or to the Department of Transportation, and a sworn statement to be filed with the insurer within 30 days. A phantom vehicle claim additionally requires corroboration by evidence other than the testimony of the insured or any passenger in the insured vehicle. The section also creates a disputable presumption that a vehicle is uninsured when the insured and insurer, after reasonable efforts, cannot locate applicable insurance within 90 days of the accident.
Deductibles. ORS 742.510 sets them by statute, so they do not vary by policy. The first $300 of property damage is not covered where the loss results from an accident with a hit-and-run vehicle or a phantom vehicle. In all other cases, the first $200 is not covered. Both figures have stood unchanged since the section was enacted in 1987.
What the coverage does not reach. It applies only to the amount of damages the insured would be legally entitled to recover, so the uninsured driver’s fault remains at issue. It also excludes loss of use of the covered vehicle, which the legislature added expressly in 1991.
The full text of both sections, every prior version back to their 1987 enactment, and the legislative history are on the statute pages: ORS 742.508 and ORS 742.510.