Contact Us Today (737) 999-3335
Contact Us Today (737) 999-3335
The driver who hit you had no insurance, or a minimum policy that ran out before the first surgery bill. Maybe the car had Mexican plates and was back across the bridge by evening. Now you want to know who pays your medical bills and lost wages, and whether your own insurer is really on your side.
Texas puts uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage in every auto policy unless you rejected it in writing. That coverage pays what the other driver cannot. The catch is that your own insurer becomes the other side, and it may wait for a court to decide what you are owed. In most cases you have two years from the crash to file suit.
Attorney Abraham Peña was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, and his office takes injury cases only, in English and in Spanish. Bring us your policy, tell us what happened, and we will explain what your coverage owes you.
Traffic from the Hidalgo-Reynosa, Anzalduas and Pharr-Reynosa bridges flows onto Interstate 2, 10th Street and 23rd Street, so McAllen drivers share the road with cars insured in Mexico, insured for the legal minimum, or not insured at all. Texas requires only $30,000 per person, $60,000 per crash and $25,000 for property damage, so a legal driver can still be underinsured for a serious injury.
An uninsured vehicle has no liability coverage, or an insurer that has gone insolvent; an underinsured vehicle carries less coverage than the UIM limit on your own policy.
Your own insurer will review this claim closely. If you can, take these steps:
Several policies can apply, and we check each one:
Early on we get your full policy, give your carrier written notice of the claim, and demand the crash report and the other driver’s coverage information.
Texas requires anyone driving here to have proof of financial responsibility, wherever the car is registered, and to show it to others involved in a crash. A visiting driver may carry a Mexican liability policy, a short-term border policy, or nothing.
Whether a Mexican policy counts depends on whether it covers driving in the United States, its limits, and how your policy defines an uninsured vehicle. If the foreign insurer does not answer or has no presence in Texas, the claim usually becomes a UM claim, and your insurer, not you, must prove the other car was insured. If the driver was never identified, see our McAllen hit-and-run accident lawyer page.
Your UM/UIM carrier owes what the at-fault driver would have owed, up to your limit, including:
One person can collect no more than the per-person limit, however many claims are involved. Exemplary damages may be available against a grossly negligent driver, but most Texas auto policies exclude them from UM/UIM coverage, so the policy language controls.
A lawsuit against the driver who hit you generally must be filed within two years of the crash. A claim against your own insurance company for uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits is different: it is a claim under your insurance contract, and Texas generally allows four years to sue your insurer on it.
Your insurer can raise any defense the other driver could, including that you were partly at fault. Under Texas’s modified comparative fault rule, a share of fault up to half lowers your recovery by that percentage, and a share above half ends the claim. If a jury valued your case at $90,000 and put 20 percent of the fault on you, you would receive $72,000.
Look for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage with a dollar limit on your policy’s declarations page. If it is missing, ask your insurer for the signed written rejection that Texas law requires. Without one, the coverage is part of your policy.
Yes, if your damages exceed $30,000 and your UIM limit is higher; your carrier pays the difference, up to your limit. Most Texas policies require your carrier’s written consent before you accept the other insurer’s offer.
Expect it to act like the other side. Texas law lets your carrier wait until a court decides the other driver’s fault and your damages, so we prepare these claims as if they will be tried. For most of our clients, that suit belongs in the district courts or county courts at law.
Generally yes. UM/UIM coverage protects you as a person, so it can follow you into another car, onto a bicycle or into a crosswalk, subject to your policy’s definitions.
Yes, and your insurer can also recover from the driver what it paid you. A judgment can reach non-exempt assets — Texas protects wages from garnishment — but most uninsured drivers have little to collect, which is why UM coverage exists.
Nothing to start, and the first review of your policy is free. We work on a contingency fee, a share of what we recover for you, and if there is no recovery, there is no fee.
Getting hurt by someone who carried no insurance is hard enough without fighting your own insurance company alone. Call The Law Office of Abraham Peña, PLLC at (737) 999-3335 or use our contact page to set up a free, confidential consultation. You owe no fee unless we win, and we meet by appointment at 813 N Main St., Suite 404, McAllen. ¡Hablamos español! Esta página también está disponible en español: abogado de accidentes con conductor sin seguro en McAllen.
You pay nothing upfront. Our fee is only collected
if we secure compensation for you.
813 N Main St. Suite 404
McAllen TX, 78501
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