Deadline To Sue an Unreachable Uninsured Driver in Texas

Attorney Answer

Two years. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) gives you two years from the day the claim accrues to bring suit, and in Texas that same two-year period covers damage to property, not just personal injury. The fact that you cannot reach the driver does not pause it.

The statute requires a person to bring suit for injury to the property of another not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. There is no separate, longer window for vehicle damage the way some states have, and there is no rule that stops the clock because the other driver will not answer the phone. That is the single most important thing to know here: silence on their end runs your time down, not theirs.

Texas also required that driver to carry coverage in the first place. Tex. Transp. Code § 601.051 says a person may not operate a motor vehicle in this state unless financial responsibility is established for that vehicle, and § 601.191 makes driving without it an offense punishable by a fine of $175 to $350 for a first offense. That is enforced by the state and pays you nothing.

Your own policy is the more realistic route, and it may already cover this. Tex. Ins. Code § 1952.101(a) describes uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage as protecting insureds who are legally entitled to recover from uninsured motorists for bodily injury or for property damage, and § 1952.101(b) requires an insurer to provide the coverage in or supplemental to every Texas auto liability policy. Under § 1952.101(c), that requirement drops away only where a named insured rejected the coverage in writing. So unless there is a signed rejection in your file, uninsured motorist property damage should be available to you — subject to your policy's own terms, including any deductible. Collision coverage, if you carry it, is the other route and does not depend on finding the driver at all.

One caution if the driver turns out to be not just unreachable but unidentified: § 1952.104(3) requires, for recovery under uninsured motorist coverage where the owner or operator is unknown, that actual physical contact have occurred between the motor vehicle owned or operated by the unknown person and the person or property of the insured. A crash where your vehicle was struck satisfies that element; a claim built on a car that ran you off the road without touching you does not.

What you can do

1. Get a copy of the officer's crash report from the agency that responded. It carries the driver's name, address, vehicle and any insurance information the officer collected — often more than you have.

2. Open a claim with your own insurer under uninsured motorist property damage, or under collision coverage if you have it. Tell them plainly that the other driver appears to be uninsured and unreachable.

3. Send a short written demand to the driver's last known address, keep a copy, and mail it in a way that gives you proof of mailing. Even unanswered, it documents that you tried.

4. Keep the repair estimates, photographs of the damage, and any towing or rental receipts. Do not repair the vehicle before it is photographed and estimated.

5. Ask a Texas attorney about your options for suing a driver you cannot locate. There are rules for serving someone whose whereabouts are unknown, and they are not something to work out on your own — but the deadline above applies whether or not you have found the person.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts with a Texas attorney is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) requires suit for injury to property, and for personal injury, to be brought not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. Exactly when your period ends depends on your own facts, so have a Texas attorney confirm the date instead of counting it yourself — and move sooner, because the effort to locate an unresponsive driver is what usually eats the time.