Uninsured & Underinsured.

When the driver who hit you has no insurance, or nowhere near enough, the case does not disappear. It turns toward your own policy.

A large share of Texas drivers carry only the state minimum, and many carry nothing at all. When one of them causes a serious injury, the at-fault coverage runs out fast and the harm does not. This is what uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, UM and UIM, is for. It is the part of your own auto policy that steps in when the responsible driver cannot pay for what they did. Texas insurers must offer it and can only leave it off a policy if you rejected it in writing, so many people carry more of this coverage than they realize.

Why your own insurer fights you

It feels wrong, and it catches people off guard. When you make a UM or UIM claim, your own insurance company becomes the opposing party. The same carrier you paid for years now has a financial reason to value your injuries as low as possible, because this time the money comes out of its pocket. The friendly relationship ends the moment you ask the policy to do what you bought it to do.

The Brainard problem

Texas adds a wrinkle that traps people who try to handle these claims alone. Under a rule from a case called Brainard, an insurer generally does not owe underinsured motorist benefits until the injured person has established the other driver's fault and the amount of damages, often by taking the claim all the way to a judgment. You cannot simply send your carrier the bills and expect a check. Knowing the order of operations, and building the case to satisfy it, is the difference between a paid claim and a denied one.