What does uninsured vehicle coverage cover?

If you are in an accident and it is the other drivers fault, this coverage will kick in if that party does not have insurance.

Answer

While the foregoing is true as far as it goes, it is important to realize that in most contexts, uninsured motorist coverage refers to bodily injury protection and not to physical damage to the vehicle.

In most States, uninsured motorist coverage as defined here is not a required coverage. However, many States do require that insurers selling a customer auto liability coverage offer the customer uninsured motorist coverage in the same amount as the liability coverage. The customer may reject it (thereby lowering the premium). However, if involved in a collision with someone who does not have bodily injury liability coverage, he/she may be without a source of recovery.

Recovery under one's uninsured motorist coverage is similar to recovery under the third-party's liability insurance. That is, the insured has to demonstrate the existence of an injury that reaches any threshold of seriousness that the State law may require. Likewise, the same rules of negligence apply as in a liability claim, which may serve to reduce the insured's recovery. That is, depending upon the negligence theory to which the State adheres, the injured party's right of recovery may be eliminated or reduced according to his/her degree of fault in causing the collision. Examples of the various negligence theories are contributory negligence and comparative negligence.