Car accident injuries can be minor, significant, or even life-altering. These types of injuries almost always impact the injury victim’s economic situation and cause pain, anguish, and sometimes temporary or permanent disabilities. According to Texas’ comparative negligence laws, it matters who caused a car accident. The party at fault in the accident is responsible for paying property and personal injury damages, typically through an insurance policy.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident and someone else was at fault, or mostly at fault for the accident, you deserve compensation for your economic and non-economic damages. But before you take on a legal challenge, you may ask, “How much can I get for a car accident settlement in Texas?”
Common Damages to Claim After a Car Accident
The amount of money you can gain after an accident depends on the amount you pay in damages, plus an amount for non-economic damages like pain and suffering. The courts typically look at the medical expenses your injury requires as a means of calculating the pain and suffering that such an injury would cause. In most car accident claims, injury victims recover the following damages:
- Property damage
- Medical bills and future medical expenses should you require ongoing care
- Lost income and future lost wages
- Lowered earning ability if you’ve become disabled due to the accident
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional anguish, PTSD, Anxiety, and other non-economic damages like loss of consortium and loss of enjoyment of life
Besides the above damages, the terms of the liable party’s insurance also impact the amount of money you can recover after an accident.
While monetary compensation can’t erase your pain and suffering it can open doors to better medical care and relieve financial distress so you can focus on maximizing your physical recovery after an accident.
What to Do After a Car Accident to Increase Your Likelihood of Recovering Damages
The turbulent aftermath of a car accident is frightening and chaotic. Knowing what to do after an accident ahead of time will help you when you’re in the middle of it. If you’ve sustained severe injuries, you may be able to do very little except wait for emergency services to provide help. If you are able to move safely, it’s best to move to the shoulder of the road and use your phone to call 911 to report the accident. While waiting for help to arrive, you can use your phone—or ask an able-bodied person to use your phone—to take the following steps to protect your physical health and financial future:
- Take photos of the involved vehicles
- Photograph the scene of the accident including any relevant factors like traffic signals, signs, intersections, and road hazards
- Collect the contact information of involved drivers and eyewitnesses
Once you’ve been taken to the hospital, undergo a complete medical evaluation and tell the doctor about every symptom. Then take the following further steps for recovering damages:
- Ask for a detailed medical report with information about your injuries, treatment recommendations, and prognosis
- Follow all your doctor’s recommendations, make every appointment, and fill all prescriptions
- Ask for a copy of the accident report
- Refrain from posting on social media
- Call a Texas personal injury lawyer before you speak to insurance representatives
Understanding Liability in Car Accidents
The amount of money you are able to gain from a successful car accident claim depends on the damages you suffered and proving the liability of the person at fault. This means showing that the person committed an act of negligence or recklessness that led to the accident and that you’ve suffered real damages from the injuries you endured. An experienced and diligent car accident attorney can help you to recover the maximum amount for your damages by investigating the case and proving liability in order to negotiate an out-of-court settlement from a position of strength. While the vast majority of car accident claims settle out of court, a skilled attorney is more than willing to litigate the matter in court to represent your best interests.