Tennessee Auto Insurance & Crash Law

VictimsGuide’s Tennessee library organizes the rules that matter after a serious motor-vehicle crash: required liability insurance, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, anti-stacking rules, policy interpretation, claims handling, employer and commercial coverage, government claims, modified comparative fault, damages, hospital liens, settlement and controlling case authority.

Tennessee rules to identify early

• Minimum liability: Tennessee requires at least $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $25,000 for property damage.
• UM/UIM: Tennessee law generally requires UM/UIM protection unless validly rejected or reduced, but anti-stacking and policy-priority rules can materially affect available limits.
• Comparative fault: Tennessee follows modified comparative fault; a claimant generally must be less than 50% at fault to recover.
• Limitations: many Tennessee personal-injury claims remain subject to a one-year limitations period, making early investigation and preservation especially important.
• Government claims: local-government claims generally implicate the Governmental Tort Liability Act, while state claims may proceed through the Tennessee Claims Commission.

Preserve the declarations and endorsements, crash report, photographs, video, electronic vehicle data and medical billing records, and investigate household, employer, commercial, umbrella and excess coverage before closing the liability claim.

Current-law review: September 17, 2026. Verify current Tennessee statutes, appellate decisions and the policy actually issued before relying on this educational guide.