Houston Texas Uninsured Motorist Attorney, Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Lawyer

Uninsured motorist coverage is not required in the State of Texas. In order to be eligible for uninsured motorist benefits, you, or the party you are riding with, must specifically carry uninsured motorist coverage on the applicable insurance policy. Uninsured motorist coverage is ONLY available when the liable party in an auto accident does not have insurance or when you are involved in a hit-and-run accident and the liable party is unknown.

A policy holder who carries uninsured motorist coverage usually has one of the following types of uninsured policy limits: 25/50, 50/100, or 100/300. Of course, the amount of uninsured policy limits depends upon the amount of premium paid on the applicable policy.

Lets take 25/50 for instance to explain what this means. Essentially, when 25/50 uninsured coverage is evoked, this means that the insurance company will pay no more than $25,000 per person on an uninsured motorist claim, and no more than $50,000 per accident on an uninsured motorist claim.

To better explain how this works, lets assume that Larry and Moe are riding in Larry's car and they are severely injured by John Doe who does not have insurance. Lets also assume that both Larry and Moe each have medical bills of $30,000. Lets further assume that Larry, as the driver, carries uninsured motorist coverage of 25/50. Because Larry has uninsured motorist benefits of 25/50, Larry's insurance company will pay no more than $25,000 per person, and no more than $50,000 for the entire accident.

Therefore, due to the extensive damages to Larry and Moe, it's likely that Larry's insurance company will pay its policy limits of $25,000 to Larry and another $25,000 to Moe. Larry and Moe would then be required to sign over all of their rights from the auto accident to Larry's insurance company which may then choose to pursue John Doe to recover the money paid to Larry and Moe.

Essentially, no matter how many people are involved in the auto accident, and no matter how serious the injuries, Larry's uninsured motorist company will not pay any more than the applicable uninsured policy limits. Therefore, when you have three or more claimants with serious injuries and only limited uninsured motorist benefits, it can very quickly become a race to the uninsured insurance proceeds.

What If The Owner of The Car I'm Riding in Has Uninsured Motorist Coverage and I, As a Passenger, Have Uninsured Motorist Coverage On My Own Policy, Can I Stack The Benefits?

You are entitled to stack uninsured motorist benefits in Texas. Applying the above example, this means that if Moe carried his own uninsured motorist benefits of 50/100/50, then Moe, as the passenger, would be entitled to stack the benefits as follows: Moe would be entitled to Larry's uninsured policy limits of $25,000, thereafter, Moe could then claim the $50,000 uninsured policy limits from his own policy; of course, this is assuming that Moe's case was worth at least $75,000. Larry on the other hand, since it was his car, is limited to his own uninsured motorist benefits and can not file a claim under Moe's policy.

If you and/or a family member have suffered serious or fatal injuries due to an accident, you and/or the family member may be eligible to file a claim. However, persons seeking to preserve any potential legal claims should contact an attorney promptly because Texas has mandatory time periods ("Statute of Limitations") in which a lawsuit must be filed.