Excess Damages
Unless your defendant is a solvent business, or an individual with considerable assets, it will be extremely difficult to recover more than the limits of the other driver’s liability coverage plus your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM). In theory it can be done (the driver at fault is personally liable whatever his insurance coverage is), but in practice it rarely happens. The best thing you can do to prevent such a situation is to purchase as much liability coverage as you can, and UM coverage at the same level.