Car accident lawyer in Houston. We know their playbook.

A car accident claim starts the moment the crash happens, long before anyone files a lawsuit. The other driver’s insurer usually opens a file within days, and what goes into that file early often shapes what it offers later. Our job as your car accident lawyer in Houston is to make sure your side of the file is built just as fast.

In the first days we confirm who was involved and which policies may apply, ask for the Texas crash report, collect photographs and witness names, and send letters asking that video and vehicle data be kept. We also tell you what to avoid: posting about the crash, guessing about your injuries, or signing a release before you know what your treatment will cost.

If you have already given a statement or spoken with an adjuster, that is not the end of the claim. Tell us what was said and we will work from there. For the detail of what an attorney does at each stage, read our page on hiring a car accident attorney in Houston, and to see who works your file, read about our car accident law firm in Houston.

Texas law sets out what every driver in a crash must do. A driver in a crash that injures or kills someone must stop, check whether anyone needs help and stay to give information (Transportation Code section 550.021). Drivers must exchange their name, address, vehicle registration number and the name of their liability insurer, and show a driver’s license if asked (section 550.023). A crash with injury, death or a car that cannot be driven must be reported at once to the police in a city, or to the sheriff outside one (section 550.026).

After that, a few steps protect your claim. Get medical care, even if you feel shaken more than hurt, because some injuries show up later. Photograph the cars, the road and your injuries. Write down what you remember while it is fresh. Keep every bill and receipt, and note the days of work you miss. If the other driver’s insurer calls, you can take their name and number and tell them your attorney will be in touch. You do not have to answer questions about the crash or your injuries on that first call.

An officer who investigates a crash with injury, death or apparent damage of $1,000 or more files a written report, the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report, with TxDOT within 10 days (section 550.062). The people involved and their representatives can buy a copy through TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System for a small fee. We request it for our clients, and we read it closely: the officer’s diagram, the contributing factors and the witness list often shape the first offer.

The deadline. A personal injury lawsuit in Texas generally must be filed within two years of the crash (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003). A claim against a city, county or other government unit, such as a crash with a city vehicle, needs written notice within six months, and a city charter may set a shorter time (section 101.101).

Shared fault. You can recover if your share of responsibility is 50 percent or less, and what you recover is reduced by your share (sections 33.001 and 33.012). This is why insurers argue over percentages, and why evidence of how the crash happened matters so much.

Insurance minimums. Texas drivers must carry at least $30,000 of liability coverage for injury to one person, $60,000 for two or more and $25,000 for property damage (Transportation Code section 601.072). These are legal minimums, not a measure of what any claim is worth, and a serious injury can go past them.

Your own policy. Every Texas auto policy includes uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and personal injury protection unless a named insured rejected them in writing (Insurance Code sections 1952.101 and 1952.152). PIP is paid without regard to who caused the crash, and it must be paid within 30 days of satisfactory proof of the claim (sections 1952.155 and 1952.156).

Texas requires a driver in a crash that injures or kills someone to stop, check whether anyone needs help and stay to give their information (Transportation Code section 550.021). When the other driver leaves, the claim often turns to your own coverage. Our page for a hit and run lawyer in Houston explains what to do in the first hours and which policies we look at.

Crashes involving a rideshare car raise their own questions: whether the driver was logged in to the app, whether a trip was under way, and whose policy answers for what. If you were hurt as a rider, as a rideshare driver or in another car, read our page for an Uber accident lawyer in Houston.

We also take claims from across the Houston area. For crashes north of the city in Montgomery County, see our page for a car accident attorney in The Woodlands. Clients from Sugar Land, League City and the other towns we serve talk with the same Houston attorneys, by phone or at our office on Memorial Drive.