Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 32-7-23 (2026)
Uninsured Motorist Coverage; “Uninsured Motorist” Defined; Limitation on Recovery.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
(a) No automobile liability or motor vehicle liability policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury or death suffered by any person arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state with respect to any motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this state unless coverage is provided therein or supplemental thereto, in limits for bodily injury or death set forth in subsection (c) of Section 32-7-6, under provisions approved by the Commissioner of Insurance for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles because of bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death, resulting therefrom; provided, that the named insured shall have the right to reject such coverage; and provided further, that unless the named insured requests such coverage in writing, such coverage need not be provided in or supplemental to a renewal policy where the named insured had rejected the coverage in connection with the policy previously issued to him or her by the same insurer.
(b) The term uninsured motor vehicle shall include, but is not limited to, motor vehicles with respect to which:
(1) Neither the owner nor the operator carries bodily injury liability insurance;
(2) Any applicable policy liability limits for bodily injury are below the minimum required under Section 32-7-6;
(3) The insurer becomes insolvent after the policy is issued so there is no insurance applicable to, or at the time of, the accident; and
(4) The sum of the limits of liability under all bodily injury liability bonds and insurance policies available to an injured person after an accident is less than the damages which the injured person is legally entitled to recover.
(c) The recovery by an injured person under the uninsured provisions of any one contract of automobile insurance shall be limited to the primary coverage plus such additional coverage as may be provided for additional vehicles, but not to exceed two additional coverages within such contract.
(Acts 1965, No. 866, p. 1614; Acts 1984, No. 84-301, p. 672, §4.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 123
cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1979–2024 · leading case: State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Motley, 909 So. 2d 806 (Ala. 2005).
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Motley, 909 So. 2d 806 (Ala. 2005). “This appeal involves the construction to be accorded certain provisions of the Alabama Uninsured Motorist Act, § 32-7-23, Ala.Code 1975 ("the Act"), as those provisions impact the credit or "set-off" against underinsured-motorist coverage an insurer may enforce under the…”
Ex Parte Carlton, 867 So. 2d 332 (Ala. 2003). “Code 1975, § 32-7-23, and the State Farm automobile insurance policy, both of which, it asserts, require that an insured be legally entitled to recover against the negligent party in order for the insured to be entitled to uninsured-motorist benefits.”
Cont'l Nat. Indem. Co. v. Fields, 926 So. 2d 1033 (Ala. 2005). “for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles because of bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death, resulting therefrom.”
McKinney v. Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins., 33 So. 3d 1203 (Ala. 2009). “Acts 866 (codified at Ala.Code 1975, § 32-7-23). The policy of compensation underlying the statute was `to provide financial recompense to innocent persons who are injured and to dependents of those who are killed because of the wrongful conduct of uninsured motorists.”
Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Austin, 34 So. 3d 1238 (Ala. 2009). “ng Nationwide's motion for satisfaction of the judgment, the trial court concluded that Nationwide's election to opt out of the litigation bound it to the amount of damages awarded in the final judgment and that the medical-payments setoff provision of the policy would limit the…”
Walker v. GuideOne Specialty Mut. Ins. Co., 834 So. 2d 769 (Ala. 2002). “This is the first time this Court has addressed the issue presented by this appeal: Whether, under Alabama's uninsured-motorist statute, § 32-7-23, *771 Ala.Code 1975, [1] an insurance policy provision is invalid and unenforceable because, in a "miss-and-run" accident allegedly…”
Cherokee Ins. Co., Inc. v. Sanches, 975 So. 2d 287 (Ala. 2007). “First, the plaintiffs contend that the principles of Alabama law encompassed in our UM statute § 32-7-23, Ala.Code 1975 must apply because the vehicle was garaged and operated in this State.”
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Fox, 541 So. 2d 1070 (Ala. 1989). “In 1984, the Legislature amended Alabama Code 1975, § 32-7-23, by adding the following as paragraph (c): "The recovery by an injured person under the uninsured provisions of any one contract of automobile insurance shall be limited to the primary coverage plus such additional…”
Peachtree Cas. Ins. Co., Inc. v. Sharpton, 768 So. 2d 368 (Ala. 2000). “legally entitled to recover damages under the Alabama Uninsured Motorist Act, Ala.Code § 32-7-23 (1975), when the [plaintiff's insurer's] policy maintained coverage for defendants' automobile only, the policy expressly excluded from coverage any bodily injury to a person…”
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Carlton, 867 So. 2d 320 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001). “1985), our Supreme Court has looked to the "legislative policy" underlying Alabama's UM statute in construing § 32-7-23 and insurance policies such as that herein at issue.”
Hogan v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 730 So. 2d 1157 (Ala. 1998). “, has certified to this Court the following question: "Is an automobile covered under a liability insurance policy considered an `uninsured motor vehicle' under the Alabama Uninsured Motorist Act, 1975 Ala.Code, § 32-7-23, for the purpose of the passenger in the same automobile…”
Nationwide Ins. Co. v. Nicholas, 868 So. 2d 457 (Ala. Civ. App. 2003). “Nicholas also alleged negligence and wantonness based, she claimed, on Nationwide's failure to comply with § 32-7-23, Ala.Code 1975, the Alabama Uninsured Motorist Statute.”
— Ala. Code § 32-7-23(a) — 39 cases
Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Austin, 34 So. 3d 1238 (Ala. 2009). “ng Nationwide's motion for satisfaction of the judgment, the trial court concluded that Nationwide's election to opt out of the litigation bound it to the amount of damages awarded in the final judgment and that the medical-payments setoff provision of the policy would limit the…”
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Motley, 909 So. 2d 806 (Ala. 2005). “This appeal involves the construction to be accorded certain provisions of the Alabama Uninsured Motorist Act, § 32-7-23, Ala.Code 1975 ("the Act"), as those provisions impact the credit or "set-off" against underinsured-motorist coverage an insurer may enforce under the…”
Ex Parte Carlton, 867 So. 2d 332 (Ala. 2003). “Code 1975, § 32-7-23, and the State Farm automobile insurance policy, both of which, it asserts, require that an insured be legally entitled to recover against the negligent party in order for the insured to be entitled to uninsured-motorist benefits.”
Progressive Specialty Ins. Co. v. Gore, 1 So. 3d 996 (Ala. 2008).
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Mason, 982 So. 2d 507 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007).
— Ala. Code § 32-7-23(b) — 10 cases
Cont'l Nat. Indem. Co. v. Fields, 926 So. 2d 1033 (Ala. 2005). “for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles because of bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death, resulting therefrom.”
Hogan v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 730 So. 2d 1157 (Ala. 1998). “, has certified to this Court the following question: "Is an automobile covered under a liability insurance policy considered an `uninsured motor vehicle' under the Alabama Uninsured Motorist Act, 1975 Ala.Code, § 32-7-23, for the purpose of the passenger in the same automobile…”
Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Austin, 34 So. 3d 1238 (Ala. 2009). “ng Nationwide's motion for satisfaction of the judgment, the trial court concluded that Nationwide's election to opt out of the litigation bound it to the amount of damages awarded in the final judgment and that the medical-payments setoff provision of the policy would limit the…”
Lowe v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 521 So. 2d 1309 (Ala. 1988).
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Carlton, 867 So. 2d 320 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001). “1985), our Supreme Court has looked to the "legislative policy" underlying Alabama's UM statute in construing § 32-7-23 and insurance policies such as that herein at issue.”
— Ala. Code § 32-7-23(b)(1)(4) — 1 case
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Motley, 909 So. 2d 806 (Ala. 2005). “This appeal involves the construction to be accorded certain provisions of the Alabama Uninsured Motorist Act, § 32-7-23, Ala.Code 1975 ("the Act"), as those provisions impact the credit or "set-off" against underinsured-motorist coverage an insurer may enforce under the…”
— Ala. Code § 32-7-23(b)(4) — 11 cases
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Motley, 909 So. 2d 806 (Ala. 2005). “This appeal involves the construction to be accorded certain provisions of the Alabama Uninsured Motorist Act, § 32-7-23, Ala.Code 1975 ("the Act"), as those provisions impact the credit or "set-off" against underinsured-motorist coverage an insurer may enforce under the…”
McKinney v. Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins., 33 So. 3d 1203 (Ala. 2009). “Acts 866 (codified at Ala.Code 1975, § 32-7-23). The policy of compensation underlying the statute was `to provide financial recompense to innocent persons who are injured and to dependents of those who are killed because of the wrongful conduct of uninsured motorists.”
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Carlton, 867 So. 2d 320 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001). “1985), our Supreme Court has looked to the "legislative policy" underlying Alabama's UM statute in construing § 32-7-23 and insurance policies such as that herein at issue.”
Hill v. Campbell, 804 So. 2d 1107 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001).
Knowles v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 781 So. 2d 211 (Ala. 2000).
— Ala. Code § 32-7-23(c) — 12 cases
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Fox, 541 So. 2d 1070 (Ala. 1989). “In 1984, the Legislature amended Alabama Code 1975, § 32-7-23, by adding the following as paragraph (c): "The recovery by an injured person under the uninsured provisions of any one contract of automobile insurance shall be limited to the primary coverage plus such additional…”
Travelers Ins. Co., Inc. v. Jones, 529 So. 2d 234 (Ala. 1988).
Peacock v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., 51 So. 3d 298 (Ala. 2010).
Isler v. Federated Guar. Mut. Ins. Co., 594 So. 2d 37 (Ala. 1991).
Harris v. Magee, 573 So. 2d 646 (Miss. 1990).
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