The Texas uninsured motorist statute — Chapter 1952 of the Texas Insurance Code — requires every auto insurer in the state to include uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage in any liability policy it sells, unless you reject that coverage in writing. If you never sign a rejection, the coverage is on your policy by default and pays for your injuries and property damage when the at-fault driver has no insurance, not enough insurance, or fled the scene.
What the Statute Requires Insurers to Offer
Texas Insurance Code Section 1952.101 bars an insurer from selling you an auto liability policy without also providing UM coverage. A verbal decline doesn’t cut it. The rejection has to be in writing, and once you sign one, it carries forward automatically to every renewal and reinstatement of that same policy. Your insurer never has to ask again.1Texas Department of Insurance. What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage, and Do I Really Need It?
If you rejected UM coverage years ago and want it back, you have to ask for it in writing. Switching to a different insurer resets the clock: the new company owes you a fresh offer.
What UM and UIM Coverage Pay For
Chapter 1952 bundles two related protections. UM coverage applies when the at-fault driver carries no liability insurance at all. UIM coverage applies when that driver has some insurance, but not enough to cover your losses. Insurers must offer both.
Both cover two categories of loss. Bodily injury benefits pay for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Property damage benefits pay to repair your vehicle and replace damaged personal property, with a $250 deductible you pay before benefits begin.1Texas Department of Insurance. What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage, and Do I Really Need It?
Hit-and-run accidents get separate treatment under Texas Insurance Code Section 1952.052. If the driver who caused your accident is unknown, you can still recover under UM coverage, but only if there was actual physical contact between your vehicle and the unidentified vehicle. The rule exists to block staged single-car wrecks blamed on a phantom driver.2State of Texas. Texas Insurance Code 1952.052
Minimum Limits and How Much You Can Collect
Texas Insurance Code Section 1952.105 pegs UM coverage limits to the state’s minimum liability insurance requirements under Chapter 601 of the Transportation Code. The floor is $30,000 per person for bodily injury, $60,000 per accident when multiple people are hurt, and $25,000 for property damage.
These are minimums. Your insurer must offer UM coverage up to whatever bodily injury and property damage limits you carry on your own liability policy. If your liability limit is $100,000 per person, you can buy UM up to $100,000 per person. You cannot buy UM limits higher than your liability limits.
At the minimum levels the coverage runs out fast. A single overnight hospital stay can exceed $30,000, and any serious injury involving surgery blows past it. When the UM payout caps before your losses do, the rest comes out of your pocket.
Stacking Is Not Allowed
Some states let you combine UM coverage across multiple vehicles on the same policy or across separate policies. Texas does not. If you insure three cars with $60,000 in per-accident UM coverage on each, you cannot combine those into $180,000 for a single accident. Your recovery is capped at the highest single policy limit.
The Offset Rule
Texas applies an offset for anything the at-fault driver’s insurer pays. If an underinsured driver’s policy pays $15,000 toward your $50,000 in damages, your UIM coverage picks up the remaining $35,000. You do not collect the full $50,000 from your own insurer on top of the $15,000 already paid.
Common Exclusions
UM coverage does not apply to every accident involving an uninsured driver. Several standard exclusions catch policyholders off guard.
If you own a vehicle but didn’t list it on your policy, your insurer can deny a UM claim for an accident in that vehicle. Texas courts have consistently upheld this exclusion. The same logic applies to vehicles you don’t own but use regularly, like a company car or a household relative’s vehicle that isn’t on your policy. Occasional borrowing of a friend’s car is usually still covered; the exclusion targets vehicles that function as your regular transportation.
Commercial use is another gap. Standard personal auto policies generally exclude accidents that happen while you’re using your vehicle for rideshare, delivery, or other gig work. Some insurers sell endorsements to close the gap, but without one the exclusion applies.
UM coverage also exists for accidents, not deliberate harm. Road rage collisions, intentional ramming, and accidents that happen while you’re committing a crime fall outside the policy, and courts back insurers up on those denials.
Deadlines Your Insurer Has to Meet
The statute doesn’t stop with what has to be offered. Chapter 542 of the Insurance Code, the Prompt Payment of Claims Act, puts hard deadlines on every stage after you file.
Once your insurer receives everything it needs for a final proof of loss, it has 15 business days to accept or reject the claim. Suspected arson extends that to 30 days. If the insurer needs more time, it must tell you in writing why, and then it has a hard stop of 45 days from that notice to decide.3State of Texas. Texas Insurance Code Chapter 542
After accepting a claim, the insurer must pay within five business days. Miss any of these deadlines without a valid reason and the insurer owes you 18 percent annual interest on the unpaid amount, plus reasonable attorney’s fees.4State of Texas. Texas Insurance Code 542.060 – Liability for Violation of Subchapter
The interest accrues from the date payment should have been made, not the date you file a complaint or a lawsuit. On a $50,000 claim delayed six months, that penalty alone runs $4,500 before attorney’s fees.
How to Actually File the Claim
Notify your own insurer as soon as possible after the accident. Most policies require notice “as soon as practicable,” which Texas courts read as a reasonable time under the circumstances. Waiting weeks or months without good reason gives the insurer grounds to deny.
You’ll need to establish that the at-fault driver was uninsured or underinsured. That usually means a police report documenting the accident and the other driver’s insurance status, a written denial from the at-fault driver’s insurer confirming their policy doesn’t cover the accident, and, in hit-and-run cases, evidence of physical contact with the unknown vehicle along with witness statements or surveillance footage.
Expect requests for recorded statements, medical records, and repair estimates. Cooperate. Incomplete documentation gives the insurer a legitimate reason to hold the deadlines open.
The Two-Year Deadline to Sue
Texas gives you two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit, including a lawsuit against your own insurer for refusing to pay a UM claim. The deadline comes from Section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code and applies to both bodily injury and property damage actions.5State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 16
Two years sounds generous until the claims process eats into it. If your insurer strings things along for 18 months with document requests, lowball offers, and repeated delays, you can find yourself running out of time. Most people assume they’ll settle without a lawsuit, and by the time they realize the insurer isn’t moving, the window has nearly closed. If your UM claim isn’t headed toward resolution within the first year, talk to a lawyer before the clock becomes the problem.
Bad Faith and Unfair Settlement Practices
When your insurer denies a UM claim or offers a settlement that doesn’t come close to your losses, the statute gives you several ways forward.
Many UM policies include an arbitration clause requiring disputes to go before a neutral arbitrator rather than a court. Arbitration is faster and cheaper than a lawsuit but limits your appeal rights. Whether the decision binds you depends on the specific policy language, so read your policy before assuming you can skip arbitration.
If arbitration doesn’t apply, you can sue under the Texas Declaratory Judgments Act to have a court decide whether your insurer owes coverage, and you can bring a breach-of-contract claim for the unpaid benefits.
Texas Insurance Code Section 541.060 also prohibits insurers from misrepresenting policy terms, refusing to investigate your claim, or dragging out the process when their liability is reasonably clear.6State of Texas. Texas Insurance Code 541.060 – Unfair Settlement Practices
When an insurer knowingly violates these rules, Section 541.152 lets a court award up to three times your actual damages, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.7State of Texas. Texas Insurance Code 541.152 – Damages, Attorneys Fees, and Other Relief
The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act adds another layer. Insurers who engage in misleading conduct handling UM claims face the same treble-damage exposure under the DTPA. Between these overlapping remedies, an insurer that lowballs or stonewalls a legitimate UM claim risks paying far more than the original amount owed. The Texas Department of Insurance also investigates consumer complaints; a TDI filing won’t force payment on its own, but it creates a regulatory record that can support enforcement action against repeat offenders.