An uninsured driver accident in Houston feels like a dead end, but it often is not. Texas puts two kinds of protection into most auto policies, and they can pay you even when the driver at fault carries nothing or far too little.
This article comes from LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC, which publishes Automobile Accident Lawyers Houston out of its Houston office at 5300 Memorial Dr Ste 810. It is general information about Texas law, not advice on your claim. Jonathan Harris is the lawyer responsible for this site.
What the law requires every Texas driver to carry
Texas sets a floor for liability coverage known as 30/60/25: $30,000 for bodily injury or death of one person, $60,000 when two or more people are hurt, and $25,000 for property damage in a single crash (Transportation Code 601.072). Those are statutory minimums, not a measure of what any injury is worth.
Two problems come up after a Houston crash. Some drivers carry no policy at all. Others carry only the minimum, and when the injuries are serious, $30,000 for one person may not stretch far. The first driver is uninsured; the second is underinsured. Your own coverage answers both.
UM/UIM: coverage on your side of the claim
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, usually shortened to UM/UIM, must be part of every Texas auto policy unless a named insured rejects it in writing (Insurance Code 1952.101). Without a signed rejection, it should be there.
UM/UIM lets you claim against your own insurer for the losses the other driver’s coverage cannot pay. In an uninsured driver accident in Houston, it stands in for the policy the other driver never bought. In an underinsured one, it can add to what the other driver’s policy pays.
Finding out if you rejected it
Start with the declarations page, which lists each coverage and its limits. If UM/UIM is missing, ask your insurer for a copy of the written rejection. Because the law requires that rejection to be in writing, the insurer should be able to produce it.
PIP pays alongside it, whoever caused the crash
Personal injury protection, or PIP, follows the same default: it must be included in a Texas policy unless it is rejected in writing (Insurance Code 1952.152). Three more rules in the same chapter make it useful right after a crash:
- The law does not require PIP limits above $2,500 per person (1952.153).
- PIP is paid without regard to fault (1952.155), so it does not wait for anyone to decide who caused the crash.
- The insurer must pay within 30 days after it receives satisfactory proof of the claim (1952.156).
PIP is often the fastest money available after an uninsured driver accident in Houston, because it does not depend on finding or collecting from the driver at fault.
Your own insurer reviews the claim
In a UM/UIM claim, you ask your own insurance company to pay what the other driver’s coverage could not, and it looks hard at who caused the crash. Fault still matters, and the Texas rule is that you can recover only if your share is 50 percent or less, and the amount is reduced by that share (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 33.001 and 33.012).
Our Houston attorneys spent years on the insurer’s side of files like these. Jonathan Harris, Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization, worked more than a decade as a senior trial attorney for a major automobile insurance company, and Ian Nelsen was an adjuster before he was an insurance defense attorney.
After an uninsured driver accident in Houston, call our office and we will read your policy with you, free.
What to do after a crash with an uninsured or underinsured driver
- Stay at the scene and check on everyone. Texas law requires drivers in an injury crash to stop, render aid and give information (Transportation Code 550.021).
- Ask the other driver for a name, address, registration number and insurer (550.023). If the answer is no insurance, note it and photograph the license and plate.
- Report the crash to the police or sheriff when someone is hurt or a car cannot be driven (550.026). The officer’s report records what the other driver said about coverage.
- Get medical care and keep the records.
- Tell your own insurer about the crash and read your policy for its notice terms.
- Gather your declarations page and ask for any written rejection of UM/UIM or PIP.
- Talk with us before you give anyone a recorded statement, including your own insurer.
If the other driver left the scene
A driver who leaves an injury crash without stopping to help breaks Transportation Code 550.021, and leaving is a felony when someone is killed or seriously hurt. If that driver is never found, your own UM coverage and PIP may be the place to turn, so report the crash quickly.
Deadlines still apply
An injury lawsuit in Texas generally has to be filed within two years after the claim accrues (CPRC 16.003). Your policy also sets conditions for a UM or PIP claim, so we read it early. If a government vehicle was involved, written notice is due within six months, or less under a city charter (CPRC 101.101).
To see how we take on an uninsured driver accident in Houston from the first call, read about our auto accident attorney Houston work.
Fees
No Fees or Costs Unless We Win, because LAWBOSS advances what the case costs, so if the claim against your insurer or anyone else brings in no money for you, you owe neither a fee nor those expenses. The consultation is free.
Questions people ask
Where do I find my UM/UIM limits?
On the declarations page of your auto policy. We read it with you.
Can I use PIP and still bring a UM claim?
PIP and UM/UIM are separate coverages in the same policy. PIP pays without regard to fault; a UM/UIM claim looks at fault and damages.
Who pays first after a crash with an uninsured driver?
Often your own PIP, since it does not wait on fault. We sort out the order of claims with you.