Kalispell, MontanaKalispell Uninsured Motorist
Kalispell Uninsured Motorist Lawyers: UM/UIM Claims, Hit-and-Runs and Out-of-State Drivers in the Flathead Valley
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If a driver with no insurance, too little insurance or no name at all injured you in the Flathead Valley, 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, and your insurer must handle the claim fairly and promptly.
Hurt by an uninsured, underinsured or hit-and-run driver near Kalispell? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Why do UM and UIM claims come up so often in the Flathead?
Montana’s minimum limits are low. Montana requires only $25,000 in liability coverage for one injured person and $50,000 per accident (§ 61-6-103, MCA). A helicopter transport, a trauma admission at Logan Health Medical Center and a few months of lost work can pass that quickly. After a serious crash on US-2 or US-93, the at-fault driver’s policy is often gone well before the harm is covered. Your own UIM coverage is then where the rest of the recovery comes from.
Visitors and out-of-state drivers. Summer traffic to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake and Whitefish brings drivers from every state, plus rental cars from Glacier Park International Airport. Coverage varies widely:
- Some out-of-state drivers carry only their home state’s minimum limits.
- A rental car’s coverage depends on the rental contract and the renter’s own policy.
- Drivers from Canada come down US-93 through the Roosville border crossing. Their coverage is set by provincial law and the insurer, which adds a step to identifying and collecting the coverage.
Your own UIM coverage does not depend on any of that.
Hit-and-runs and “phantom” vehicles. Crashes happen when a driver swerves into your lane on a dark stretch of US-2 near Columbia Falls or MT-35 near Bigfork and never stops. So do crashes in a busy Kalispell parking lot where the other car simply leaves. Your uninsured motorist coverage is often the main source of recovery. But many policies add conditions, such as prompt police reports, prompt notice, and sometimes proof of physical contact. Whether a condition is enforceable depends on the policy and Montana law.
What happens after an uninsured or hit-and-run crash in Kalispell?
Report it right away. Call the Kalispell Police Department for a crash inside city limits. Call the Whitefish or Columbia Falls police in those cities, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office elsewhere in the county, or the Montana Highway Patrol on the highways. MHP has its District VI headquarters in Kalispell. A prompt report protects the UM claim, even if the driver is long gone.
Look for video. Businesses along Main Street (US-93) and Idaho Street (US-2), gas stations and home cameras often record over footage within days. Ask for it immediately, or let us send preservation requests.
Notify your insurer in writing, and keep a copy. 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.
Find every policy. We check every vehicle policy in your household, any umbrella policy, an employer’s coverage if the other driver was working, and medical payments coverage.
Court. If your insurer won’t pay fairly, a lawsuit against it can be filed in the Eleventh Judicial District Court at the Flathead County Justice Center, 920 South Main Street, Kalispell. National insurers often remove these cases to the U.S. District Court’s Missoula Division at the Russell Smith Courthouse, where many Montana coverage disputes are decided.
Montana law that applies
In brief; see our Montana uninsured and underinsured motorist lawyer page for the full treatment.
- UM is required unless rejected. Every Montana auto liability policy must include uninsured motorist coverage unless the named insured rejects it (§ 33-23-201, MCA).
- Stacking. An insurer may not charge separate premiums for coverage and then refuse to stack it (Hardy v. Progressive Specialty Ins. Co., 2003 MT 85). Since 2007, anti-stacking is allowed only when the premiums actuarially reflect the limit and the rates are filed with the commissioner (§ 33-23-203, MCA).
- Fair claim handling. An insurer that fails to investigate reasonably or delays payment can be liable under the Unfair Trade Practices Act (§§ 33-18-201, 33-18-242, MCA).
- Shared fault still applies (§ 27-1-702, MCA).
- Deadlines. Generally 3 years against the at-fault driver (§ 27-2-204, MCA). For actions filed on or after October 1, 2025, written-contract claims generally have 6 years (§ 27-2-202, MCA), and when that clock starts can be disputed. The policy may also require prompt notice. Treat the earliest deadline as the one that controls.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Kalispell case?
A UIM claim is a case against your own insurance company, and it is often decided on paperwork: declarations pages, rate filings and the timing of a release. We are based in Great Falls and handle UM and UIM claims across Montana. We travel to Kalispell and Missoula for depositions, hearings and trial. We do not have a Kalispell 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 know federal court. Many coverage disputes are decided there. We 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 build cases for trial. Our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We are part of the trial bar. AAJ and MTLA members. Samir Aarab is also a Public Justice member.
We also handle car accident cases in Kalispell and insurance bad faith cases in Kalispell. See our Kalispell personal injury page.
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Frequently Asked Questions
A tourist with minimum coverage hit me on US-2. What else can I recover? After the tourist’s policy pays its limits, your own underinsured motorist coverage may pay the rest, up to your limits, and it may stack across your household’s vehicles.
The driver who ran me off MT-35 never stopped. Am I covered? Possibly, under your uninsured motorist coverage. Report the crash right away and notify your insurer in writing. Some policies have contact or reporting conditions that need a close look.
A Canadian driver caused my crash near Whitefish. Does that change anything? It adds steps to identifying and collecting the other driver’s coverage. Your own UM and UIM coverage still applies under your Montana policy.
My insurer wants a recorded statement and all my medical records. Should I agree? Talk with a lawyer first. You have a duty to cooperate, but broad authorizations and recorded statements are often used to reduce claims.
Where would a lawsuit against my insurer be filed? In Flathead County District Court in Kalispell. Many insurers move these cases to federal court in Missoula.
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.
