Home › Locations › Gilbert, AZ › Hit by an Uninsured Driver in Gilbert: Your Real Options
Roughly one in seven U.S. drivers carries no insurance. When one of them hits you in Gilbert, the playbook changes — but you are not out of options.
Your own insurer becomes the opposing party in a UM claim: they owe the money, so they evaluate your injuries the way the other driver's insurer would have. Document treatment from day one, don't give casual recorded statements about your injuries, and get any settlement offer benchmarked before signing. The Arizona lawsuit deadline (generally 2 years) and shorter policy notice deadlines both apply.
When a driver says "I don't have insurance," people skip steps. Don't: call 911, get the Gilbert police report, photograph everything, and get the driver's license and plate. The report proving their uninsured status is what unlocks your UM claim.
Your options narrow to collision coverage for the car, health insurance for treatment, and suing the driver personally. Going forward, UM coverage is one of the cheapest protections you can add to a policy.
Yes, within generally 2 years of the crash. Whether it's worthwhile depends on the driver's assets and wages — judgments against judgment-proof defendants often go uncollected. Get an attorney's read first.
Similar: when the at-fault driver's limits are too low for your damages, UIM pays the gap up to your own limits, after the at-fault policy pays its maximum.