Like liability insurance, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage breaks down into two coverage types: bodily injury and property damage.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage (UMBI/UIMBI)

Uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury is designed to cover you and the people in your car for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering if you're in an accident caused by someone who doesn't have insurance or enough insurance.

Medical payments (Med Pay) coverage or personal injury protection (PIP) may not be enough to keep drivers from needing UMBI or UIMBI. Keep in mind that if you're injured by an uninsured driver, UMBI or UIMBI may offer higher limits than either of those.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist property damage coverage (UMPD/UIMPD)

Uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) and underinsured motorist property damage (UIMPD) are designed to protect your car if someone hits you and doesn't have insurance or enough insurance.

Say another driver causes a 3-car accident. The damage is significant, and the responsible driver is uninsured or has low limits. These coverages could help cover the remaining repairs, up to the policy limits. They could also help to cover a collision deductible, rental car costs or other out-of-pocket expenses.

In some states, these coverages are required and automatically included for each vehicle on the policy. In other states where coverages are available but not required, if you want it for all vehicles on your policy, you'll need to add it separately for each.