Common Questions / Uninsured Drivers
What if the driver who hit me has no insurance or fled the scene?
You may still have a strong claim through your own policy. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which Texas insurers must offer and which most hit-and-run drivers trigger, steps in to pay what the missing driver cannot, and PIP and MedPay help regardless of fault.
The coverage most people forget they bought
Texas requires insurers to offer uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, called UM/UIM, with every auto policy, and it can only be excluded if the insured rejected it in writing. Many people carry it without remembering. UM/UIM does exactly what its name says: when the at-fault driver has no insurance, or has limits too small for your injuries, your own policy pays the difference up to your UM/UIM limits. In a state where a meaningful share of drivers carry no insurance at all, this coverage is frequently the entire case.
Hit-and-run drivers count as uninsured
A driver who flees is treated as an uninsured motorist under most Texas policies, so the escape does not defeat your claim, though policies typically impose conditions such as prompt reporting to police and, in some phantom-vehicle situations, evidence requirements about contact with your vehicle. That is one more reason the immediate steps matter: call the police at the scene, get any fragment of a description or plate, and canvass for cameras fast, because doorbell and business footage that identifies the fleeing driver converts a UM claim into a liability claim with a real defendant.
Your own insurer is not on your side here
A UM/UIM claim puts you in an adversarial posture with your own carrier, which must be proven up like any lawsuit: their obligation to pay turns on establishing the other driver's fault and your damages, and they will contest both exactly as a stranger's insurer would. Texas law imposes specific duties and deadlines on insurers handling these claims, and carriers that drag or lowball can face statutory consequences. Treat the friendly voice from your own company with the same caution you would give the other side, because in this claim, they are the other side.
Stack every available source
Beyond UM/UIM, PIP and MedPay pay medical bills and, for PIP, lost income regardless of fault. Multiple policies in a household can sometimes apply. Reading the declarations pages, all of them, is the first task in every uninsured-driver case Silver Key Law takes, and the review costs you nothing.
Injured in Arizona? Some rules on this page are Texas-specific. Arizona differs on points that change outcomes, including pure comparative fault and government-claim deadlines. See our Arizona answers or call (888) 508-6967.
Related: Car Accident Lawyer · What To Do After a Crash · Submit Your Case · All Common Questions
This page is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes depend on facts; talk to a lawyer about yours.
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