The estimated percentage of uninsured motorists in the U.S. hasbeen trending down for the past three years, according to newestimates from the Insurance Research Council(IRC) in its “Uninsured Motorists, 2014 Edition” study. In2003, a cyclical high of 14.9% of drivers were uninsured, while theIRC's most recent findings show the ratio has fallen to 12.6%.Nationally, the number of uninsured peaked at 29.9% in 2009 andmoderately declined thereafter to 29.7 million in 2012.

Discounting fatalities and total permanent disability claims,the IRC estimates that $2.6 billion was paid in the U.S. on 2012uninsured motorists claims. Despite the declining trend inuninsured rates over the last decade, this amount has increased 75%over the last 10 years, translating to $14 per insured individualin 2012.

IRC estimates the percentage of uninsured drivers nationally andin individual states by comparing the number of claims filedunder the injury portion of the uninsured motorist (UM) coveragewith the number of claims filed under the bodily injury (BI)liability coverage.

According to these ratios, the states with the highestestimated uninsured motorists were:

10. Washington

UM claim frequency: 0.189

BI claim frequency: 1.174

UM-to-BI ratio: 16.1%

9. Colorado

UM claim frequency: 0.121

BI claim frequency: 0.748

UM-to-BI ratio: 16.2%

8. Rhode Island

UM claim frequency: 0.400

BI claim frequency: 2.357

UM-to-BI ratio: 17.0%

7. Alabama

UM claim frequency: 0.155

BI claim frequency: 0.791

UM-to-BI ratio: 19.6%

6. Tennessee

UM claim frequency: 0.172

BI claim frequency: 0.853

UM-to-BI ratio: 20.1%

5. Michigan

UM claim frequency: 0.060

BI claim frequency: 0.288

UM-to-BI ratio: 21.0%

4. New Mexico

UM claim frequency: 0.211

BI claim frequency: 0.975

UM-to-BI ratio: 21.6%

3. Mississippi

UM claim frequency: 0.201

BI claim frequency: 0.877

UM-to-BI ratio: 22.9%

2. Florida

UM claim frequency: 0.292

BI claim frequency: 1.224

UM-to-BI ratio: 23.8%

1. Oklahoma

UM claim frequency: 0.256

BI claim frequency: 0.991

UM-to-BI ratio: 25.9%