Uninsured Motorist Accident Attorney in Fort Worth

No, but insurers must offer it, and it applies by default at a limit matching your liability coverage unless you reject it in writing. It's generally worth keeping, since it's the main protection you have against Texas's high rate of uninsured drivers.

In Texas, there's typically a $250 deductible on the property damage portion of a UM/UIM claim; bodily injury claims generally don't carry a deductible, though your specific policy controls.

It depends, and it's more limited than people often expect. Texas courts have allowed "stacking" coverage across two genuinely separate policies: for example, your own policy plus a household member's separate policy, as long as neither policy contains valid anti-stacking language. Combining multiple vehicles under the same policy, on the other hand, isn't allowed. The catch is that most Texas auto policies now include anti-stacking clauses specifically to prevent the first scenario, so don't assume you can stack until an attorney has actually reviewed your policy language. A skilled Fort Worth uninsured motorist accident lawyer can determine what applies and how to best approach your claim.

It depends on your policy. UM/UIM coverage pays whatever you're "legally entitled to recover" from the at-fault driver, up to your policy limits, and that could in theory include punitive (exemplary) damages if the driver's conduct was egregious enough to support them. In practice, though, many Texas UM/UIM policies specifically exclude punitive damages by their own terms, and even where they're not excluded, your policy limits (which are often just the state minimum) usually cap the payout well below what a jury might otherwise award. An attorney can review your specific policy language to tell you where you stand.