A potentially life-threatening car accident in Texas can quickly become tricky, particularly if the victim seeks compensation for the damage or injury suffered. The Lone Star State has long had unique rules about how such claims get filed.
Once you know the key steps for bringing a car accident claim, you will have a better understanding of complexities of a car accident case, and feel less frustrated.
Article Summary
Steps To Take Immediately After A Car Accident Claim
What you do immediately after an accident could affect your ability to make an injury claim For injuries, fatalities, or damage exceeding $500 to property, Texas requires you to file a report with the police department in the city where the accident occurred or, in rural areas, with the sheriff’s department for the county where the accident happened.
According to a representative from State Farm Insurance, dents in bumpers often cost more than $500 to repair, including the cost of labour, so it’s recommended that you report any accident, including a minor rear-ending accident to the proper authorities.
Sometimes, yes, this does mean hanging out at the scene of the accident until the authorities call you and tell you it’s OK to move on. Sometimes, it even means waiting for several hours and having your plans for the day completely wrecked. But, you know, if you don’t report the accident or wait around to speak to the authorities, that is hit and run – something you don’t want to add to the accident.
Having reported the accident, check yourself and others in the collision out, seeing if there are any serious injuries, and let the 911 operator know so that they will call out the accident site to the paramedics and police.
Seek Medical Attention
In fact, it doesn’t matter how minor your injuries appear to be, or if you think you’re walking away with no more than rattled nerves – you should still see your doctor. I have internal injuries, and these often don’t present signs and symptoms for a long time afterwards.
If you don’t identify these injuries before your insurance claim, you will not receive compensation for all the damages sustained. If you want to receive compensation for any injury resulting from your road accident, you should provide a medical certificate.
Let’s suppose you accept a settlement from the insurance company before seeing a doctor; once that happens, you can’t claim any other damages. Your claim is settled. You can’t refile it. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.
Contact the Insurance Companies
Texas is one of many states that follow at-fault car insurance rules. If you’re involved in a car accident, you’ll file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier. What if that at-fault driver has no insurance or inadequate car insurance? The answer varies, and depends on the car insurance you’re carrying.
Likewise, even though you would still be on the hook for any lawsuit that the other driver files against you, if you have only liability insurance, you would not be able to put in a claim against your provider and say: ‘Hey, I crashed my car, my left knee will never be the same, and this hurts.’
Full coverage does often recover your property damage and medical expenses, but your non-economic losses – what’s called your ‘pain and suffering’ – are almost never part of your policy.
If you’re carrying underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage, then it shouldn’t be an issue for you to recover the bulk of your harms and losses. But what about your damages that your insurance didn’t cover? Does that mean you’re paying those out of pocket? The answer might be yes – or it might be no.
You can sue the driver in civil court, but that doesn’t mean you will get paid even if you win. Since you are suing the other driver, it is that driver who is on the hook to pay expenses if you win your lawsuit. If the other driver can’t pay, then you might be out of luck.
Comparative Negligence Can Impact Your Accident Claim
Texas is an at-fault state, but it also operates under the rubric of comparative negligence, which entails when more than one human is responsible for an accident (see above if you don’t know what comparative negligence is).
For example, if you are executing an illegal turn, and the other driver drives through the solid red light, they both contributed to causing the collision – so how does this affect your claim for payment of car-accident damage?
Well, if you could be more than 50 per cent at fault, the claim would be denied. But you can still file a claim with this driver’s auto insurance company. General Practitioners or Specialists?
End Note
Who is to blame here? Cops and insurance companies are telling the person that hit her that she has somewhere between 42 to 49 per cent of the fault. But if you think that’s wrong, you can go to court in front of a judge or jury and get it professionally determined.
Your recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault, so, if you have a settlement for $100,000 and you take 25 per cent of the fault, your recovery would be $75,000. Because the process of a claim after a traffic accident is complicated, you should consult an attorney about your rights.
