Uninsured motorists (UM) coverage pays the insured for injuries caused by a driver who has no liability insurance, as if the insured had bought the other driver's liability coverage.

The rule: Insurance Code §11580.2(a)(1) bars issuing a motor vehicle bodily injury liability policy in California unless it contains UM coverage. The CDI outline calls this a requirement to offer the coverage; the statute is stronger, because the coverage is in the policy automatically. The insurer and any named insured may delete it, or reduce it, only by a written agreement in the form the statute prescribes. A spoken consent is not enough.

Effect of a deletion: an agreement signed by any named insured binds every insured under the policy while it is in force, and it continues through any renewal or replacement policy with the same insurer. A resident family member who never signed is still bound, and the named insured does not have to sign again at each renewal.

Limits: a written agreement may set UM limits below the bodily injury liability limits, but never below the financial responsibility limits of Vehicle Code §16056. For a policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, that floor is $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident.