Car accident claims in Texas
Call (972) 888-8888 for a free case evaluation. The firm has attorneys licensed in Texas and an office in Dallas.
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After a crash in Texas, the other driver’s insurer will call first. What you say to it, what you sign and how long you wait all change what the claim is worth. This page explains six Texas rules that bear on a car accident claim: the deadline to sue, shared fault, claims against a government body, reporting a crash, minimum insurance and uninsured motorist coverage.
Is it worth getting a lawyer after a Texas car accident?
It can be. A lawyer deals with the insurers, collects the evidence and keeps track of the deadlines, and the first conversation with the firm is free. Whether it is worth it for you depends on your injuries, who was at fault and what the insurers offer.
A claim has parts that are easy to miss: medical bills and future care, lost pay and other losses. Insurers ask for statements and releases early. A short call with a lawyer before you answer them costs nothing. At the free case evaluation you tell the firm what happened, and the firm tells you whether it can help.
How much do lawyers take from a car accident settlement in Texas?
It depends on the lawyer’s fee agreement. The firm works on a contingency fee: the fee is a percentage of what is recovered. If there is no recovery, you owe no attorney fee, but you may still be responsible for court costs and case expenses.
Ask to read the fee agreement before you sign it. Ask what percentage applies, whether it changes if a lawsuit is filed, and how court costs and case expenses are handled. Those are fair questions for any lawyer, the firm included.
What is the average settlement for a car accident in Texas?
It depends. No single average fits a particular claim. What a claim is worth turns on your injuries and medical care, the pay you lost, who was at fault and by how much, and the insurance coverage available.
Two of those points are written into Texas law and are explained below: shared fault can reduce a claim or bar it, and the insurance coverage available can be limited. The firm does not promise any result.
What not to tell the attorney or the insurance company after a Texas car accident?
Tell your own attorney everything. Be careful with the other driver’s insurer: do not give it a recorded statement or sign a release before you have talked with a lawyer.
A lawyer can only plan around what the lawyer knows, so facts that seem to hurt the claim belong in that first conversation. The other driver’s insurer is on the other side of the claim. Its adjuster may ask for a recorded statement or a signed release early, and a release can end the claim. The firm’s other site, Lawyer.si, answers this question in more detail: recorded statements and the other driver’s insurance company.
What to do after a crash in Texas
- Stop, check whether anyone needs help, and stay at the scene. Texas law requires the driver of a vehicle in a collision that injures or kills someone, or is reasonably likely to, to stop and remain at the scene (Transportation Code section 550.021).
- Get medical care first, and keep every record and bill.
- Call the police. The Texas rule on reporting a crash is explained below.
- Photograph the vehicles, the road and your injuries before anything is moved.
- Take the names and numbers of the people who saw it.
- Get a copy of the crash report. The Texas Department of Transportation sells officers’ crash reports through its Crash Report Online Purchase System. A report may not be there right away, because the officer has until the tenth day after the collision to file it.
- Do not give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement or sign a release before you have talked with a lawyer.
Texas rules that matter in a car accident claim
The deadline to sue
Texas law says a person must bring suit for personal injury no later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003(a)). In a case of injury resulting in death, the same section sets two years as well, and says the cause of action accrues on the death of the injured person (section 16.003(b)). The statute names a few exceptions, and which date applies to a claim is a question for a lawyer, so ask early.
Shared fault
Texas uses proportionate responsibility. The jury, or the judge if there is no jury, decides each person’s percentage of responsibility (section 33.003). If your percentage is greater than 50 percent, you may not recover damages (section 33.001). If it is 50 percent or less, the court reduces your damages by your percentage (section 33.012): a finding of 20 percent reduces the damages by 20 percent. The same section says settlements with other people reduce the amount further, by the dollar amounts of those settlements.
Claims against a government body
A claim against a city, a county or another governmental unit in Texas runs under the Texas Tort Claims Act, chapter 101 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. For example, section 101.021 makes a governmental unit liable for injury or death proximately caused by an employee’s negligence, within the scope of employment, that arises from the operation or use of a motor-driven vehicle, if the employee would be personally liable to the claimant under Texas law. Under section 101.101, the governmental unit is entitled to notice of the claim no later than six months after the day of the incident. The notice must reasonably describe the injury or damage claimed, the time and place of the incident, and the incident. A city’s charter may set its own notice period. The notice requirements do not apply if the governmental unit has actual notice that a death occurred, that the claimant was injured or that property was damaged.
Reporting a crash and getting the report
The driver’s duty and the officer’s duty are different. A driver in a collision that results in injury or death, or in damage that keeps a vehicle from being driven normally and safely, must immediately give notice by the quickest means of communication (Transportation Code section 550.026). The statute says whom to notify, the local police department or the sheriff’s office, depending on where the collision happened.
An officer who investigates a collision must write a report if it resulted in injury or death, or in apparent damage of $1,000 or more to one person’s property, and must file it electronically no later than the tenth day after the collision (section 550.062). The $1,000 figure is the officer’s reporting threshold, not the driver’s.
Minimum liability insurance
Under Transportation Code section 601.072(a-1), the minimum amounts of liability coverage that establish financial responsibility are $30,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in one collision, $60,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in one collision, and $25,000 for damage to the property of others in one collision. These are minimums. A driver may carry more, and in a serious crash a driver’s coverage can be less than the losses.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage
Insurance Code section 1952.101 says an insurer may not issue an automobile liability policy unless the policy, or a supplement to it, includes uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. The coverage does not apply if a named insured rejects it in writing. It protects insureds who are legally entitled to recover damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle. Your own policy shows whether you have it.
This is general information and not legal advice. Every deadline has exceptions. Ask a lawyer about the dates and rules in your own case.
How The Ledger Law Firm handles a Texas car accident claim
A Texas car accident claim at the firm moves in stages.
- Free case evaluation. You describe what happened, and the firm tells you whether it can help. It costs nothing.
- Evidence. The firm gathers the crash report, photographs, witness accounts, and your medical records and bills.
- The insurers. The firm deals with the insurance companies so you do not have to.
- The demand. The firm adds up your medical costs, lost pay and other losses and sends the insurer a written demand.
- Your decision. Every offer comes to you, and you decide whether to accept it. If no offer is acceptable to you, a lawsuit can be filed in a Texas court before the deadline.
The firm does not promise any result.
Who is licensed in Texas
The firm has attorneys licensed in Texas: Emery Brett Ledger and Randall L. Meredith. The firm’s Dallas office is at 3203 McKinney Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75204.
Where the firm meets clients in Texas
The firm meets clients at its Dallas office, 3203 McKinney Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75204. Call (972) 888-8888 to talk with the firm first.
- Texas personal injury attorneys
- Car accident claims in Dallas
- Truck accident claims in Dallas
- Motorcycle accident claims in Dallas
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- Contact the firm
The firm also publishes plain answers to after crash questions at Lawyer.si and a case value calculator at whats-my-case-worth.com.
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Emery Brett Ledger is the attorney responsible for this page. The firm’s California headquarters is in Newport Beach; its Texas office is in Dallas.