Holly Dunn was on her commute to work near the Fort Worth Stockyards. She was driving north on I35W when an 11-pound piece of metal ricocheted through her windshield. The police investigation concluded the metal piece that shot through Holly’s windshield was a leaf spring that likely came loose from a semi-truck on I-35. Her husband, Tim, began filing claims with Allstate requesting uninsured motorist benefits from Allstate. “Allstate refused and said they would not pay,” said Tim. Allstate denied the bodily injury payment writing, “…there had been no physical contact with an unidentified motor vehicle.” The TX insurance code said to qualify for uninsured motorist benefits there has to be “physical contact” with the vehicle. But it makes no provision for a part of a vehicle and leaves room for interpretation. That’s where the Texas Supreme Court comes in. In similar cases, the court concluded you have to be hit by the whole vehicle to get bodily injury benefits.
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