Underinsured Motorist Claims in Virginia in Virginia Beach, VA Stacked Limits, Credits and Election Forms

Coverage that tracks the liability limits unless someone opted out

Virginia Code 38.2-2206(A) requires uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in an amount equal to, but not exceeding, the liability limits of the policy, unless a named insured rejects the additional coverage in the manner Virginia Code 38.2-2202(B) prescribes. The practical effect is that a policyholder who raised liability limits without thinking about it generally raised this coverage too, and one who signed a rejection may have less protection than the declarations page suggests at a glance.

Virginia Code 38.2-2202 also requires specific boldface notices in a motor vehicle policy. It requires notice of the availability of medical expense benefits of up to $2,000 per person for expenses incurred within three years of the accident, and income loss benefits of up to $100 per week for a period of up to one year. Those optional first-party benefits are modest by design, and whether they were purchased is a question the declarations page answers.

The credit question is the one worth finding

The same statute sets out how the underinsured payment interacts with what the at-fault driver's insurer pays. Underinsured motorist benefits are paid without a credit for the liability payment unless a named insured has signed an election to reduce the coverage by amounts recoverable from other sources. Two policies with identical limits can therefore produce very different totals depending on whether that election exists.

Locating the election form, the rejection form and the declarations page for the policy period in effect on the date of the crash is accordingly a first step rather than a formality. General explanation cannot determine what any particular policy provides.

Minimum limits changed, and the policy date decides which apply

Virginia Code 46.2-472 sets the minimum liability amounts, and the figures depend on when the policy took effect. Policies effective between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024 carry minimums of $30,000 where one person is injured or killed, $60,000 where two or more are, and $20,000 for property damage. Policies effective on or after January 1, 2025 carry $50,000, $100,000 and $25,000 instead.

That transition matters to an underinsured analysis in both directions. It raises the floor on what a minimally insured at-fault driver carries, and because uninsured and underinsured limits track liability limits absent a rejection, it can raise the injured person's own coverage as well. It also means two crashes six months apart can be governed by different numbers.

The insurer becomes a participant in the lawsuit

Virginia Code 38.2-2206(F) requires an insured who brings an action against the owner or operator of an uninsured or underinsured vehicle, and who intends to rely on the coverage, to serve a copy of the process on the insurer in the manner prescribed as though the insurer were a party defendant, with Virginia Code 8.01-288 not applying to that service. The insurer may then file pleadings and take other action in the name of the owner or operator, or in its own name.

The same subsection removes sovereign or other personal immunity as an obstacle: where the owner or operator is immune from liability for negligence, that immunity does not bar a judgment enforceable against the insurer, is not a defense the insurer may raise, and produces a judgment entered in the name of "Immune Defendant" that is enforceable against the insurer and any non-immune defendant.

Releases can close doors that were still open

Because an underinsured claim usually follows a settlement with the at-fault driver's carrier, the terms of that first settlement matter. Virginia Code 8.01-35.1 provides that a release or covenant not to sue given in good faith to one of two or more persons liable for the same injury does not discharge the others unless its terms so provide, and reduces the claim against the others by the amount stipulated or the consideration paid, whichever is greater. The release is not admitted into evidence at trial but is considered by the court in reducing the verdict, and it discharges the released party from liability for contribution. The section also covers agreements limiting a defendant's liability to an agreed maximum and minimum.

That reduction mechanism is why the sequence and the language of a settlement are substantive terms rather than paperwork. Nothing here indicates whether a particular release should be signed.

The fault question does not soften

An underinsured claim still requires proof that the other driver was negligent and that the negligence caused the harm, and Virginia's contributory negligence rule means carelessness by the injured person that proximately contributed can bar the claim outright rather than reducing it by a share. The contributory negligence page sets out that doctrine, and the last clear chance page covers the narrow exception.

Context on exposure: the 2025 Virginia traffic crash facts report recorded 4,965 crashes in Virginia Beach City with 28 people killed and 3,102 injured, against 309,904 licensed drivers in the city. Statewide the report counted 115,858 crashes, 825 deaths and 74,194 injuries. Those totals describe a year of collisions; they do not describe what any policy will pay.

The above is general information about Virginia's uninsured and underinsured motorist statutes and is not legal advice on any claim; coverage questions in a real case belong with the attorney advertising on this site.