Butte, MontanaButte Uninsured Motorist
Butte Uninsured Motorist Lawyers: UM/UIM Claims, Stacking and Hit-and-Run Crashes on Harrison Avenue, I-90 and I-15
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If a driver with no insurance, too little insurance or no name at all injured you in Butte, 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. After a hit-and-run in Butte, a prompt police report is often the key to coverage.
Hurt by an uninsured, underinsured or hit-and-run driver in Butte? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Why do UM and UIM claims come up so often after Butte crashes?
Two features of driving in Butte make your own coverage especially important.
Minimum limits run out fast. Montana’s minimum liability coverage is only $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident (§ 61-6-103, MCA). A crash on Homestake Pass or Elk Park Pass that requires an ambulance, an emergency room visit at St. James, surgery and a transfer to Missoula or Billings can exceed that in days. When the at-fault driver carries only the minimum, your UIM coverage is often where the real value of the claim lies.
Hit-and-runs happen where there is traffic to disappear into. Harrison Avenue, the Montana Street corridor and the interstate interchanges carry heavy traffic, and a driver who clips a car, a cyclist or a pedestrian can be gone in seconds. Uninsured motorist coverage usually treats an unidentified hit-and-run vehicle as uninsured, but policies commonly require a prompt police report and prompt notice to the insurer.
What should you do after a hit-and-run in Butte?
- Call police right away, even if the other driver is long gone. On city-county streets that is the Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Department; on I-90 and I-15, usually the Montana Highway Patrol. Make sure a report is written, and get the number.
- Look for cameras. Harrison Avenue is lined with stores, restaurants, gas stations and banks whose cameras may have caught the other vehicle. Most systems record over their footage within days, so ask, in person and in writing, that it be saved.
- Photograph everything: paint transfer, debris, damage to your car or bicycle, and the intersection.
- Notify your insurer in writing and keep a copy.
- Keep the vehicle, bicycle or helmet until it can be inspected.
If police later identify the driver, the claim may move to that driver’s insurance, with your UIM coverage behind it. MHP crash reports can be requested by mail with a short form and a $2 search fee (Montana DOJ).
What happens with a UM or UIM claim from Butte?
Your own insurer becomes the other side. To collect UM or UIM benefits, you generally must show what you would have shown against the at-fault driver: that driver’s fault and the value of your injuries. Your insurer can dispute both, and Montana’s comparative-fault rule applies (§ 27-1-702, MCA).
Protect the UIM claim before settling with the other driver. Many policies require notice to your insurer before you accept the at-fault driver’s limits or sign a release. Montana law allows reasonable policy terms designed to prevent double payment (§ 33-23-203(2), MCA).
Where disputes are decided. A lawsuit over a Butte crash, whether against the at-fault driver or your own insurer, is usually filed in the Second Judicial District Court, Silver Bow County (§ 3-5-101(2), MCA), at the courthouse at 155 West Granite Street. Insurers based outside Montana often remove UM and UIM suits to the U.S. District Court, Butte Division, at the Mike Mansfield Federal Courthouse (mtd.uscourts.gov).
Montana law that applies
Briefly. Our Montana uninsured and underinsured motorist lawyer page covers stacking and deadlines in more depth.
- UM coverage must be included in every Montana auto liability policy unless the named insured rejects it (§ 33-23-201, MCA).
- Stacking: an insurer that charges separate premiums may not refuse to stack UIM coverage (Hardy v. Progressive Specialty Ins. Co., 2003 MT 85). Since 2007, the statute allows anti-stacking only when premiums actuarially reflect a single limit and the rates are filed with the commissioner (§ 33-23-203).
- Personal and portable: coverage generally follows the person, so it may protect you as a passenger, pedestrian or cyclist.
- Fair handling: an insurer that fails to investigate reasonably or pay when liability is reasonably clear may be liable under the Unfair Trade Practices Act (§ 33-18-242, MCA).
- Deadlines: protect the 3-year deadline for the injury claim (§ 27-2-204, MCA); a claim on the written policy generally has 6 years for actions filed on or after October 1, 2025 (§ 27-2-202, MCA), and the policy’s own notice terms come first.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Butte case?
Because a UM or UIM claim is a case against an insurance company that will value it by what it expects your lawyers to do at trial. We are based in Great Falls and handle these claims statewide. Much of the work, reading every household policy, demanding rating information and building the injury case, can be done wherever you are, and our attorneys travel to Butte to meet with you and for depositions, hearings and trial. There is no Boland Aarab office in Butte, and our jury trials have been in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We win and protect crash 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 know federal court, where insurers often take coverage disputes: more than 40 District of Montana cases over nine years.
- We try cases: more than a dozen jury trials and more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- Trial-bar members: AAJ, MTLA and Public Justice.
We also handle car accident cases in Butte and insurance bad faith cases in Butte. See our Butte personal injury page.
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Frequently Asked Questions
A driver hit me on Harrison Avenue and drove off. Will my insurance pay? Often, through uninsured motorist coverage, which usually treats an unidentified hit-and-run vehicle as uninsured. Report it to Butte-Silver Bow law enforcement right away and notify your insurer in writing.
The driver who hit me on I-90 had only minimum coverage. What now? Your own underinsured motorist coverage may pay the difference between the driver’s limits and your damages, and it may stack across your household’s vehicles.
Can I stack UIM coverage on all the vehicles in my household? Often, if you paid separate premiums. Whether the insurer can limit stacking depends on its rating and filings under § 33-23-203, so each policy must be reviewed.
Does my UM coverage apply if I was walking or biking in Butte? Often, yes. UM and UIM coverage generally follows the person, depending on the policy language.
Where would a UM or UIM lawsuit be heard? Usually in the Second Judicial District Court in Uptown Butte, or in the federal Butte Division if the insurer removes it.
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.
