Billings, MontanaBillings Uninsured Motorist
Billings Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Lawyers: UM/UIM Claims, Stacking and Hit-and-Run Crashes in Yellowstone County
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If a driver with no insurance, too little insurance or no name at all injured you in Billings, your own auto policy may pay. Uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) motorist coverage is protection you bought for yourself, Montana law often lets you stack it across vehicles, and your insurer must handle the claim fairly and promptly.
Hurt by an uninsured, underinsured or hit-and-run driver in Billings? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Why do UM and UIM claims matter so much in Billings?
Because the other driver’s policy is often far too small for a serious crash. Montana’s minimum liability limits are only $25,000 for one injured person and $50,000 for everyone hurt in one accident (§ 61-6-103, MCA). In Montana’s largest city, that gap shows up constantly:
- Heavy local traffic. MDT reports that the Main Street and Airport Road corridor in the Billings Heights carries an average of about 63,500 vehicles per day (MDT). King Avenue West, Grand Avenue, 24th Street West and Shiloh Road carry heavy commercial traffic too. More cars mean more crashes with drivers who carry only the minimum.
- Interstate traffic. I-90 runs through Billings and I-94 begins at I-90 in Lockwood, so many crashes involve drivers from other states whose policies and limits follow their home state’s law.
- Hit-and-run. Drivers who leave the scene in parking lots, at downtown intersections and on the interstate on-ramps leave the injured person with only their own UM coverage.
- People outside a car. UM and UIM coverage generally follows the person. It may protect you as a pedestrian downtown, a cyclist on a Heritage Trail crossing, a rider stepping off a MET Transit bus, or a passenger in someone else’s car.
A single stay at a Level 1 trauma center such as Billings Clinic or St. Vincent Regional Hospital (DPHHS list) can exceed a $25,000 policy quickly. That is when your own coverage becomes the real source of recovery.
What happens after a crash with an uninsured or hit-and-run driver in Billings?
- Report it to police immediately. Inside the city, that is the Billings Police Department; outside the city, the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office; on I-90, I-94 and state highways, often the Montana Highway Patrol. Many policies make a prompt police report a condition of hit-and-run coverage.
- Look for video fast. Businesses along the major arterials, apartment complexes, doorbell cameras and dash cameras often record over footage within days.
- Notify your own insurer in writing, and keep a copy.
- Find every policy in the household, including other cars, trucks, motorcycles and any umbrella policy.
- Do not sign a release from the at-fault driver’s insurer until your UIM rights are protected. Many UIM policies require notice before you accept the other driver’s limits.
- Be careful with recorded statements and broad medical authorizations, even with your own company.
If your insurer denies or lowballs the claim, the lawsuit is usually filed in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court at the Yellowstone County Courthouse, 217 North 27th Street (§ 3-5-101, MCA). National insurers often remove these cases to the Billings Division of the U.S. District Court, at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse, 2601 2nd Avenue North (District of Montana).
Can I stack my coverage?
Often. If you paid a separate UM or UIM premium on each vehicle, you may be able to add the limits together. The Montana Supreme Court held that an insurer may not collect separate premiums and then refuse to stack (Hardy v. Progressive Specialty Insurance Co., 2003 MT 85). Since 2007, the statute allows anti-stacking only when the premiums actuarially reflect a single limit and the rates are filed with the insurance commissioner, and the insurer must tell you in writing whether coverage can be added together (§ 33-23-203, MCA). We request the declarations pages, endorsements and rating information and test the insurer’s position.
Montana law that applies
- UM coverage must be included in every auto liability policy unless the named insured rejects it (§ 33-23-201, MCA).
- Stacking: Hardy and § 33-23-203, above.
- Claim handling: an insured may sue for certain unfair claim practices (§§ 33-18-201, 33-18-242, MCA).
- Deadlines: generally 3 years for the injury claim against the driver (§ 27-2-204, MCA); a contract claim against your insurer falls under the written-contract statute (§ 27-2-202, MCA); and your policy has its own notice rules. Treat the earliest as the one that controls.
Our Montana UM/UIM page explains the coverage, stacking and deadlines in more depth.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Billings case?
A UM or UIM claim is decided by the policy, the medical proof and your insurer’s file, and it often becomes a lawsuit against your own company. We are based in Great Falls and handle these claims across Montana. Our attorneys travel to Billings for depositions, hearings and trial, our firm has tried jury trials in Yellowstone County, and we are comfortable in the federal court where insurers move these cases. We do not have a Billings office.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We protect verdicts. In a rear-end crash case, the Montana Supreme Court reinstated a $168,500 jury verdict for our client (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137).
- We try cases. More than a dozen jury trials, in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties, and more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We know federal court. More than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years; Samir Aarab has argued twice before the Ninth Circuit.
- We are part of the trial bar. Both attorneys are AAJ and MTLA members; Caitlin Boland Aarab is an AAJ Governor and serves on the MTLA Board.
Related Billings pages: car accidents · insurance bad faith · all Billings personal injury cases
Frequently Asked Questions
A driver hit me on King Avenue and drove off. Who pays? Usually your own uninsured motorist coverage, because most policies treat an unidentified hit-and-run vehicle as uninsured. Report the crash to Billings police and your insurer right away.
The other driver had only $25,000 in coverage. What now? Your underinsured motorist coverage may pay the rest, up to your limits, and those limits may stack across your vehicles. Do not sign a release until your UIM rights are protected.
I was walking downtown when a car hit me. Does my auto policy help? Often, yes. UM and UIM coverage is generally personal and may protect you as a pedestrian, depending on your policy.
The driver who hit me on I-90 was from another state. Does that matter? It can affect which policy terms and limits apply, but your own Montana coverage still protects you. We review every policy involved.
Where would a lawsuit against my insurer be heard? In the Thirteenth Judicial District Court in Billings, or in the federal court’s Billings Division if the insurer removes it.
Talk to a Billings Uninsured Motorist Lawyer
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
