Havre, MontanaHavre Uninsured Motorist
Havre Uninsured Motorist Lawyers: UM and UIM Claims, Hit-and-Run Crashes and Stacking for Hi-Line Families
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If a driver with no insurance, too little insurance or no name at all injured you near Havre, your own auto policy may pay. Uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) motorist coverage is protection you bought for yourself. Montana 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 on the Hi-Line? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Why does UM and UIM coverage matter so much around Havre?
Serious crashes, small policies. Crashes on US-2 and US-87 happen at highway speed on two-lane roads. Montana’s minimum liability limits are only $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident (§ 61-6-103, MCA). When an injury requires a transfer from Havre to Great Falls or Billings, surgery and months away from work, the at-fault driver’s policy can be used up quickly. Your UIM coverage is often where the real value of the claim lies.
Hit-and-run crashes on dark highways. Long stretches of the Hi-Line have no streetlights, few businesses and few cameras. A driver who sideswipes you at night on US-2 between Havre and Chinook, or runs you off a gravel county road, may never be identified. Most policies treat an unidentified hit-and-run vehicle as uninsured, but many add conditions, such as prompt police reporting, prompt notice to the insurer and, in some policies, proof of physical contact. Whether a condition is enforceable depends on the policy language and Montana law.
Families with several vehicles. Hi-Line households often insure several pickups, cars and farm vehicles. If you paid separate UM or UIM premiums for each vehicle, you may be able to add, or “stack,” those coverages together. That can multiply what is available.
Walking and biking in Havre. UM and UIM coverage is generally personal, not tied only to a car. Depending on the policy, it may protect you as a pedestrian crossing First Street or as a cyclist on a city street, and it may protect members of your household.
What happens after a crash with an uninsured or hit-and-run driver in Havre?
Report it right away. Inside Havre, call the Havre Police Department. Outside the city, call the Hill County Sheriff’s Office or the Montana Highway Patrol, which covers US-2, US-87 and the secondary highways. Make sure a written report is made, even if the other driver is long gone. A prompt report is often a policy condition.
Look for video quickly. Gas stations, businesses and homes along First Street, and dash cameras in other vehicles, may have captured the other car. Footage is often recorded over within days.
Photograph and preserve. Keep paint transfer, debris and the damaged vehicle, bicycle or helmet until it can be inspected.
Notify your insurer in writing. Keep a copy. Be cautious about recorded statements and broad medical authorizations before you have advice.
Protect your UIM rights before settling. Before you accept the at-fault driver’s policy limits or sign a release, read your own policy. Many UIM policies require notice to your insurer before settlement (§ 33-23-203(2), MCA). A release signed too early can create a coverage fight.
Courts. If your insurer will not pay fair value, a lawsuit may be filed in the Twelfth Judicial District Court at the Hill County Courthouse, 315 4th Street, Havre (§ 3-5-101, MCA). Because most auto insurers are based out of state, many UM and UIM disputes are removed to the federal Great Falls Division (D. Mont. L.R. 1.2(c)(3)).
Montana law that applies
Our Montana uninsured and underinsured motorist lawyer page explains these rules in depth:
- Every Montana auto liability policy must include uninsured motorist coverage unless the named insured rejects it (§ 33-23-201, MCA).
- An insurer may not charge separate premiums for underinsured coverage and then refuse to stack it (Hardy v. Progressive Specialty Ins. Co., 2003 MT 85). Since 2007, the statute allows anti-stacking only when the premiums actuarially reflect a single limit and are filed with the insurance commissioner (§ 33-23-203, MCA).
- You must prove the other driver’s fault and your damages, and your recovery is reduced by any share of fault assigned to you (§ 27-1-702, MCA).
- An insurer that mishandles your claim may be liable under the Unfair Trade Practices Act (§ 33-18-242, MCA).
- Deadlines: generally 3 years for the injury claim against the at-fault driver (§ 27-2-204, MCA), and generally 6 years for a claim on a written contract filed on or after October 1, 2025 (§ 27-2-202, MCA). Policies also impose their own notice requirements. Treat the earliest deadline as the one that controls.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Havre case?
A UM or UIM claim is a claim against your own insurance company, which may defend it as if it were the other driver. We handle cases statewide, and many of these disputes end up in federal court in Great Falls, where our office is. We come to Havre to meet with you, and we read every policy in your household before we tell you what coverage is available. We have no office in Havre.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We try the underlying case. The Montana Supreme Court reinstated a Phillips County jury’s $168,500 verdict for a woman rear-ended by a pickup on our appeal (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137).
- We know federal court. Our attorneys have handled more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years, and Samir Aarab has argued twice before the Ninth Circuit.
- We try cases. The firm has tried more than a dozen jury trials, in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties, and our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We belong to the trial bar. Both attorneys belong to AAJ and MTLA, and Caitlin Boland Aarab serves as an AAJ Governor and on the MTLA Board.
Related Havre pages: car accidents · insurance bad faith · Havre and Hill County injury lawyers.
Frequently Asked Questions
A driver ran me off US-2 at night and kept going. Can I make a claim? Often, yes, under your uninsured motorist coverage. Report the crash to police and your insurer promptly, because policies often make that a condition of coverage.
We insure four pickups on our ranch policy. Can we stack UIM coverage? Possibly. If you paid separate premiums for each vehicle’s coverage, Hardy and § 33-23-203 may allow stacking. It depends on how the premiums were priced and what you were told in writing.
I was hit while walking across First Street. Does my car insurance help? It may. UM and UIM coverage is generally personal, so it can protect you as a pedestrian, depending on your policy.
The other driver’s insurer offered its full limits. Should I sign? Not before protecting your UIM claim. Many policies require notice to your own insurer before you settle.
Will my premium go up if I make a UM claim? Montana law limits premium increases and cancellations based on injury to the insured, with exceptions such as a finding that the insured was negligent (§ 61-6-103(6), MCA).
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.
