We Recovered $32,500 From Her Own Policy for a Driver Hit From Behind by an Uninsured Driver on I-35E

A Rear End Accident in the Rain With a Driver Who Admitted It

It was about 8 on a weekday morning in 2023. The road was wet, rain was falling, and traffic on northbound I-35E, the Stemmons Freeway, was moving under a 60 mph limit. Our client was in the right lane when a third car came up behind her. It struck the back and left rear corner of her sedan and then the side of another car in the lane beside her. Her rear bumper was torn off, her left rear corner was crushed and the sedan was towed. The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office investigated, and the deputy’s narrative records what the drivers said.

The report lists the third driver’s factors as “Unsafe Speed” and “Driver Inattention” and shows no proof of insurance for his car. It also lists a charge against him of “No Insurance.” Fault was not in question. The report coded our client’s injury as “C,” a possible injury, and she was not transported from the scene. In 2025 TxDOT records, our rear end crash index found officers cited inattention in 17.9% of the state’s rear end crashes.

A Clear Finding of Fault Does Not Pay a Bill

An admission and a deputy who agrees are strong proof of fault, but proving fault does not pay a single bill. When the driver who caused an accident has no liability insurance, there is no insurance company to pay the claim, and suing him personally can only recover what he actually owns.

Texas requires liability coverage, and the required amounts are low even when a driver carries it. Our guides on who covers the bills after an uninsured driver causes a crash and the state’s minimum coverage lay out both questions. Here, the answer sat in her own policy.

Uninsured Motorist and PIP Come With the Policy

Under Tex. Ins. Code § 1952.101(b), an insurer may not issue an auto liability policy in Texas “unless the insurer provides uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage in the policy or supplemental to the policy.” Subsection (c) lets any named insured turn the coverage down, but only in writing. That is why her own uninsured motorist claim was the first thing we looked at.

Personal injury protection follows the same rule. Section 1952.152(a) requires it, and (b) says the rule does not apply “if any insured named in the insurance policy rejects the coverage in writing.” Under § 1952.151, PIP pays “all reasonable expenses” from an accident, including necessary medical and hospital services and “replacement of income lost as the result of the accident.”

Our PIP guide explains that PIP pays whoever caused the crash, with $2,500 per person as the minimum. That lets it pay out early, before the injury claim is finished.

Starting With the Declarations Page and Keeping the Terms in Writing

With no insurer on the other side, the work centered on her policy. These are the steps we follow in a case like this.

Find the policy

The declarations page shows whether UM and PIP are on the policy and for how much. When a client cannot locate theirs, someone on our intake team will request a copy, so the coverage question is answered before anything is assumed.

Look for a signed rejection

Both coverages stay on the policy until someone named on it turns them down on paper. When nobody remembers declining PIP or UM, we have the insurer show us the signed form, since a rejection only counts in writing.

Set the terms in writing

Our fee agreement spells out the percentage, which case costs may be charged and how any liens will be handled, and the client has all of it in writing before signing.

Explain each step

Each demand is shared with the client as it goes out, along with the figure it asks for. Before any offer is accepted, the client sees every deduction that will come out of it.

$32,500 From Her Own Coverage Before Any Lawsuit Was Filed

That $32,500 is a gross figure, and the attorney fee and case expenses were taken from it first. Her result reflects her own crash and her own policy, so it says nothing about what someone else will recover.

Three Takeaways About Your Own Policy

• Check your declarations page for UM and PIP now, before you need them. In Texas both come with an auto policy and stay there until someone named on it declines them on paper.
• A driver’s admission and a deputy’s report prove fault, but they cannot pay a claim when no insurance stands behind them. Her UM coverage could, and it paid all $30,000.
• PIP paid $2,500 without regard to fault, so it can arrive early. Our Texas car accident lawyers will go through your policy with you if the car that hit you was uninsured.

Attorney Review

Reviewed by: Josh Alexander, Founder and Managing Attorney

Published and reviewed on October 16, 2026

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