Uninsured vs. Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Texas

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Texas requires UM and UIM unless you reject them in writing. UIM pays up to your limit, reduced by what is recovered or recoverable from the other insurer. You are barred if more than 50 percent responsible, and you generally have two years to sue.

Required unless rejected

Tex. Ins. Code 1952.101 requires the coverage unless an insured named in the policy rejects it in writing.

How UIM pays

Section 1952.106 caps payment at the policy limit and reduces it by the amount recovered or recoverable from the other driver's insurer. With $100,000 of UIM, $25,000 recoverable and $250,000 of damages, the statute's wording gives $75,000. A different reading, where the other payment first reduces your damages and the limit then caps the result, would give $100,000; we did not read the court decisions that decide which applies.

Fault

You may not recover if your percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 33.001); otherwise damages are reduced by your percentage (33.012). Texas has no no-fault threshold for pain and suffering.

Deadlines

Personal injury suits must be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.003).

Next steps

Stacking is a separate question; see our statute post and the explainer, then use the Texas UM/UIM stacking calculator.

This is general information, not legal advice, and the state comparisons above are illustrative, not an exhaustive survey. Confirm how Texas's rules apply to your specific case with a licensed Texas attorney.