Drivers hit by uninsured motorists in Plano can pursue compensation through their own auto policy under Texas law. Our Plano uninsured motorist accident lawyers access every available coverage tier, handle all insurer communications, and push your insurance company toward a fair recovery rather than a token offer.
At The NMW Law Firm, our attorneys handle car accident claims involving uninsured and underinsured drivers throughout Plano and the DFW region. Our team files these cases in Collin County District Court at the Russell A. Steindam Courts Building in McKinney when insurers refuse to negotiate in good faith, and we have the persistence to see every claim through to a result that reflects what your policy actually owes you.
The financial pressure after a crash like this is real, and waiting only makes it worse. Call us for a free case review so our attorneys can lay out your options.
Get a Free ConsultationWhat Are the Insurance Requirements in Texas?
Every driver in Texas is legally required to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance before getting behind the wheel. Under Texas Transportation Code § 601.072, drivers must maintain what is commonly referred to as 30/60/25 coverage:
- $30,000 per person for bodily injury
- $60,000 total per accident when multiple people are hurt
- $25,000 for property damage
Those minimums are exactly that: a floor, not a realistic ceiling. A single emergency room visit, surgery, or extended physical therapy plan can easily exceed $30,000 before lost wages or long-term care costs are factored in.
Drivers who carry only the legal minimum, or who ignore the law and carry no insurance at all, often leave injured people with nowhere obvious to turn for the bills that follow. That's where your own policy steps in.
Texas insurers are required to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage with every policy they sell. Unless you signed a written waiver, that coverage is part of yours.
Want to know exactly what's available under your policy? Our Plano uninsured motorist accident lawyer team pulls the documents and explains them to you in plain terms.
Past Case Results
What Legal Options Are Available If the At-Fault Driver Doesn't Have Insurance?
You have more options than most people realize, and they don't depend on the other driver having anything to give. Texas law builds protection for situations exactly like yours.
Under Texas Insurance Code § 1952.101, every auto insurance policy issued in this state must include uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage unless the policyholder rejected it in writing. UM coverage applies when the other driver has no insurance.
UIM coverage applies when the other driver has insurance, but their limits aren't enough to cover your actual losses. Sources of recovery our firm pursues in these cases include:
- Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on your auto policy
- Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage when the other driver's limits fall short
- Personal injury protection (PIP) for immediate medical bills, lost income, and burial expenses in wrongful death cases
- Medical payments (MedPay) coverage
- Health insurance, with lien negotiation handled by our team
- Direct claims against the uninsured driver's personal assets when appropriate
Filing the wrong claim under the wrong coverage tier can shut down access to other recovery sources. Our attorneys identify every available policy, sequence the claims correctly, and pursue the full picture rather than the obvious starting point.
Reach out for a confidential conversation about your specific coverage. There is no obligation to retain our services once your questions are answered.
Can You Sue an Uninsured Driver Personally in Texas?
Yes, but the practical answer depends on the driver's assets. Many people who drive without insurance also have no savings, no real property, and no realistic way to pay a court judgment. A judgment against someone with nothing to collect from is essentially a piece of paper.
That doesn't make a personal injury lawsuit pointless in every case. Some uninsured drivers own homes, hold professional licenses, or earn wages substantial enough to warrant garnishment.
Our Plano uninsured motorist accident lawyers conduct asset investigations before recommending direct civil action, and we give you a straight answer about whether the effort is likely to produce a real recovery or just a symbolic one.
In most situations, the focus remains on the insurance sources your own policy provides. Personal lawsuits against uninsured drivers are appropriate only when the facts warrant them.
How Long Do You Have to File an Uninsured Motorist Claim in Texas?
In Texas, you have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit against an uninsured driver. The same deadline generally applies to UM and UIM claims against your own insurer. Missing that window can eliminate your right to recover entirely, regardless of how strong your evidence is. Call our office now so we can confirm the deadline that applies to your specific situation.
What Happens If Your Own Insurance Company Denies Your Claim?
When your own insurance company denies or delays a UM or UIM claim, you have the right to challenge that decision and pursue what your policy actually owes you. Our attorneys step in, handle the insurer directly, and pursue bad-faith claims when carriers cross the line.
Common denial tactics include disputing the severity of your injuries, arguing you contributed to the crash, blaming pre-existing conditions, and offering settlements that don't begin to cover your actual losses.
Under Texas Insurance Code § 541.060, insurers in Texas are prohibited from engaging in unfair settlement practices, including misrepresenting policy provisions, failing to attempt good-faith settlement, and offering substantially less than what a claim is worth. When an insurer crosses those lines, our firm pursues formal bad-faith claims that can add significant damages on top of the underlying recovery.
If your insurance company has denied your claim, delayed it without explanation, or sent you an offer that doesn't reflect your losses, our attorneys are ready to step in.
Hear From Our Clients
How Do Insurance Companies Try to Reduce Your Uninsured Motorist Claim?
Your insurer will use the same techniques against you that they use against any third-party claimant, sometimes more aggressively because they assume you don't know how to respond. Our Plano uninsured motorist accident attorneys see these patterns regularly and counter them with documentation, expert testimony, and a credible willingness to take the case to trial.
The tactics we counter most often include the following:
- Pressuring you into recorded statements designed to produce damaging quotes
- Requesting overly broad medical record releases unrelated to the crash
- Sending you to insurer-selected physicians for evaluations designed to minimize injuries
- Stretching the claim process past treatment milestones to push quick, undervalued settlements
- Citing policy exclusions that don't actually apply to your facts
- Opening with lowball offers in hopes of closing the claim before its real value emerges
We handle each of these directly. We decline or carefully manage recorded statements. We narrow medical record requests to what is actually relevant to the crash. Insurer evaluations get countered with independent expert opinions from physicians who actually treated you.
Texas law imposes strict deadlines on insurance companies when handling claims.
Once an insurer receives the information it needs to evaluate a claim, it must respond within a specified timeframe, and unreasonable delays can expose the company to additional liability.
Our team closely monitors these deadlines and uses available legal remedies to prevent insurers from delaying the claims process. Let our team take this off your plate. Call for a no-cost review.
Do You Need a Lawyer for an Uninsured Motorist Accident in Plano?
Yes. The reason is straightforward: once you file a UM or UIM claim, your insurer becomes the opposing party in a legal dispute, regardless of how friendly the adjuster sounds on the phone. Without representation, you're negotiating against a company that handles thousands of these claims a year while you're handling your first.
Insurance companies count on that experience gap. They know unrepresented claimants don't fully grasp what their policy covers, don't know how to calculate the value of a personal injury claim, don't know how to document non-economic damages like pain and emotional distress, and don't know what evidence holds up in court if the case proceeds to litigation.
That knowledge gap is exactly what they use to settle claims for a fraction of their true value. Our Plano uninsured motorist accident lawyers close that gap.
We manage all insurer communications, document every category of damages, including future medical costs and reduced earning capacity, and reject settlement amounts that don't reflect the full impact of the crash. When negotiations stall, we file suit in Collin County District Court and prepare the matter for trial.
Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001, Texas follows a proportionate responsibility system. Even when you are partially at fault, you can still recover damages, provided your share of responsibility does not exceed 50%. Your total award is reduced by the percentage of fault you bear.
Our attorneys build the evidence to keep responsibility where it belongs: on the uninsured driver who caused your injuries. Handling this alone almost always costs more than it saves.
Uninsured Motorist FAQ: Answers for Plano Injury Victims
Can I Use My Health Insurance While Waiting For A Settlement?
Yes, and you should. Health insurance covers your treatment costs while the UM claim is pending. Your health insurer may have subrogation rights to repayment from your settlement, and our attorneys negotiate those liens down so more of your settlement stays in your hands.
What If The Uninsured Motorist Refuses To Provide Their Information?
Call the police immediately and request that an officer be sent to the scene. Officers can compel identification through their traffic-stop authority, and the resulting report becomes a key document in your UM claim. If the driver leaves before the police arrive, the situation also qualifies as a hit-and-run.
Does Filing An Uninsured Motorist Claim Raise My Insurance Rates?
Texas law prohibits rate increases for non-fault UM claims. If your premiums rise after a UM claim where you weren't at fault, the increase itself may be a violation, and our attorneys investigate whether your insurer is improperly assigning blame to justify the higher rate.
What If I Was A Passenger When An Uninsured Driver Hit Us?
You may be covered under the driver's UM policy, your own UM policy, or both, depending on the policies' terms and residency rules. Stacking coverage is permitted in many situations. Our attorneys identify every applicable policy and pursue them in the proper sequence.
Can I File A UM Claim If The At-Fault Driver's Policy Lapsed Before The Crash?
Yes. A driver with a lapsed policy is legally uninsured at the time of the collision, and your UM coverage applies just as it would otherwise. Insurers occasionally dispute coverage status, and our attorneys obtain official records from the state to settle the question.
What If My Own Insurance Company Stops Responding To My Calls?
That's often the strongest sign your claim needs legal representation. Insurers go silent when they're hoping you'll give up or accept a lowball offer. Our attorneys compel communication through formal demand letters and litigation, which trigger court-supervised deadlines the insurer cannot ignore.
Can I Recover Damages For Future Medical Care Through A UM Claim?
Yes. UM coverage applies to future medical costs related to the crash, not just bills you've already received. Our Plano uninsured motorist accident attorneys work with treating physicians and life care planners to accurately project future expenses, then present them to the insurer in a format that supports full recovery.
What If The Uninsured Driver Was Driving A Borrowed Vehicle?
When an uninsured driver is operating someone else's car, the vehicle owner's policy may provide coverage, since Texas auto insurance generally follows the vehicle rather than the driver. Our attorneys investigate ownership, permissive use, and the owner's policy terms to identify every available source of recovery for your claim.
Talk to The NMW Law Firm About Your Plano Uninsured Motorist Claim
Uninsured motorist claims reward attorneys who understand the policy language, anticipate the insurer's tactics, and know how Collin County courts handle these disputes when they reach litigation. At The NMW Law Firm, our team has handled UM and UIM claims throughout the DFW area.
We approach every case with one objective: getting you what your policy actually owes, not whatever number the adjuster decides to offer.
Our firm takes these cases on a contingency fee basis. You don't owe anything upfront, and we only get paid when you do. Finding out what your claim is worth costs nothing. Waiting while the insurer stalls, on the other hand, costs you real money every week.
Let our attorneys handle the insurance company so you can focus on what matters at home. Schedule your free consultation now.