Even the safest drivers sometimes get into car accidents. You could be totally innocent of any wrongdoing, but someone else’s mistakes or misjudgment behind the wheel could cause you serious injuries that require medical care and cause lost wages and pain and suffering.
Getting your damages can be an uphill battle if you come across difficult insurance companies or defendants who refuse to pay for what they did. Our attorneys can take even the most complicated cases, negotiate for a fair settlement, and even fight your case at trial if needed.
Call the car accident attorneys at Cap City Injury Attorneys today at (512) 612-3110 for a free review of your potential case.
Do You Need a Lawyer for a Car Accident Case in Austin, TX?
Many people expect that their car insurance will be able to help them after a crash, and that a lawyer is really not necessary. This is often a mistake that can leave you without the compensation you need to deal with serious injuries.
The Role of Insurance Companies
In a car accident, you are usually relying on the defendant’s insurance to pay your damages, not your own. While you may have some first-party benefits on your own policy, such as medical payment coverage and collision coverage, it usually will not cover pain and suffering or deductibles.
For the rest of your damages, Texas uses an at-fault system where the at-fault driver’s insurance pays for damages.
Why You Need a Lawyer
This means that you cannot get paid in full until the other driver’s insurance offers you a fair settlement or we win your case at trial. Insurance companies might make very low offers to try to end cases quickly, often leaving you with far less than you need.
Our car accident lawyers can fight for you in negotiations or take the case to court, whichever is needed, to maximize your payout.
What is the Process in a Car Accident Case?
When you need damages after a car accident, the case involves four potential stages:
Evidence Collection
Before you file your insurance claim, talk to your lawyer about medical records and other evidence you can collect. Your lawyers can gather most of this evidence for you, but there may be additional information you can provide them.
This will allow your lawyers to prepare the case for filing.
Insurance Claims
Your lawyer can help you file an insurance claim. If the insurance company accepts the claim and pays full damages, there is no need to do anything else.
However, most insurance companies will offer a low-dollar settlement at first.
Negotiations
If they do, we can negotiate with them on your behalf. This can potentially result in a fair settlement that we feel comfortable advising you to accept. If they refuse to settle for a fair value, we can go to court.
Trial
If the insurance company or defendant will not pay, we can take them to court. There, we can go before a judge and jury at trial to prove your case and seek the damages you deserve.
What is My Case Worth?
We cannot put a fair value on your case without taking a look at the details. Each case is unique, and the bills, medical costs, lost earnings, and pain and suffering in your specific case will define how much your case is worth.
How Insurance Companies Value Claims
However, insurance companies often try to put a value on your case without taking the specifics into account. Instead, they will try to settle for whatever they think they can get away with paying you to push you to end the case quickly.
What Your Settlement Should Cover
If you accept their settlement offer, your case is over. Never take their money without having a lawyer review your case and help you come up with a fair value that accounts for
- Medical care you already paid for
- Medical care you will need going forward
- Lost wages you already faced
- Ongoing lost earnings
- Lost abilities and activities
- Emotional distress
- Physical pain.
What Evidence Do You Need to Prove a Car Accident Case in Austin?
The evidence available in your specific case will vary, but our attorneys often look for the following to help build your case and show the jury how the accident happened and why the defendant is at fault:
- Your own testimony
- Other eyewitness testimony
- Expert testimony from medical professionals, accident reconstruction experts, and any other experts we might need
- Medical records and reports
- Photos of the accident scene
- Dash cam footage
- Security camera video of the crash
- Police reports detailing what the scene looked liked and who was involved
- The position of traffic signs and signals.
On top of that, we also need evidence proving what damages you suffered and what they cost you. Most of these will be bills and financial statements, though your testimony is also essential in proving “non-economic” damages. These are things like emotional distress and your experience of the accident, which are often very personal and do not have values found in bills or financial records.
Who Can You Sue for a Car Accident?
In most cases, the person driving will be responsible. Their insurance company answers for them by providing them with a lawyer and paying their damages, but the driver is still the person you sue.
There are cases where other parties could be liable, such as the owner of the vehicle (if that is different from the driver). Some cases also involve commercial drivers, delivery drivers, or other drivers who were working when they crashed. In these cases, their employer might share liability as the owner of the vehicle or take liability in their place as the employer.
Rarely, car accident cases can involve lawsuits against manufacturers for auto defects or lawsuits against the government for dangerous road conditions.
When Will You Get Paid?
Our car accident lawyers can help you file insurance claims and discuss a settlement with the at-fault driver’s insurance quite quickly. If they are going to settle, they often will within the first few months.
How Long Do Insurance Investigations Take?
The insurance company may need to perform its own investigation before it can authorize a settlement, but the sooner you call us and start your claim, the quicker we can get to that stage.
However, insurance companies have many ways of delaying claims while they investigate. While their investigation is still ongoing, they might not even get back to your attorneys about the case, potentially dragging things out.
How Long Do Lawsuits Take?
If your case has to go to court, it can take much longer. Lawsuits must be filed within 2 years in most cases, but it can take even longer to resolve the claim.
If the insurance company refuses to settle, then we can take them to trial. Along the way, we can depose witnesses, get additional evidence from them in discovery, and prepare for trial.
Trial itself often takes only a few days, perhaps a week. But getting to that stage can take months or even over a year.
What Should You Do After a Car Accident?
When you are involved in an accident, your first priority is getting to safety. Pull over and wait in a safe location, then call 911.
Report the Accident
You need to report the accident to the police if there were any injuries, and you should also request an ambulance to treat your injuries at the scene or take you to the hospital for additional care. Follow through with all care you need.
Gather Evidence
Some of the evidence we discussed above can be found at the accident scene if you are well enough to stay there. You should collect as much of this as you can, plus the name and contact info for any witnesses or drivers, along with the other driver’s insurance information.
Call a Lawyer
After you are safe and have any evidence you could collect, call our lawyers.
FAQs for Car Accidents in Austin
Whose Insurance Covers My Accident?
In Texas, the at-fault driver’s insurance typically covers crashes. Your own insurance might have additional coverages like Medpay to cover medical costs and underinsured motorist coverage to pay when the other driver’s insurance is too low.
Otherwise, everything should come under the at-fault driver’s insurance.
Is Texas an At-Fault or No-Fault Insurance State?
Texas is an at-fault state, not a no-fault state. This means that you need to prove the other driver was at fault before their insurance has to pay.
In a no-fault state, your insurance would cover you regardless of fault, but your right to sue would be limited.
How Much is My Case Worth?
Our Austin car accident lawyers cannot determine the value of your case without examining the specific details and damages. However, you can estimate damages by looking at medical bills, lost wages, other bills and expenses from the accident, and thinking about how much your pain and suffering might be worth.
How is Pain and Suffering Calculated?
Insurance companies and lawyers often use a few shortcut methods to calculate pain and suffering. The “multiplier method” picks a multiplier based on the severity of your injuries and applies it to the economic damages to find a pain and suffering value. The “per diem” method finds a per-day value for your pain and suffering based on your daily wages.
We can adjust our demand up or down from there.
How Long Do I Have to Sue?
Car accident lawsuits typically have a 2-year statute of limitations in Texas. This only tells you how long you have to file, not how long until your case has to be finished.
How Long Does a Car Accident Claim Take?
Insurance claims can be settled somewhat quickly, typically within a few weeks or months. However, if the defendant or their insurance company refuses to settle, we may have to take them to court. This can take months or even years to settle, let alone to go to trial.
How is Fault Determined?
Courts and insurance companies determine fault by looking at which driver committed a violation and whether that actually caused the accident. A driver who did nothing wrong cannot be held at fault. However, multiple drivers can share fault if they each did something wrong to contribute to the crash.
What if the Other Driver is Uninsured?
If the other driver does not have insurance, you may still be able to sue them directly. If they are unable to pay out of pocket, you will not be able to collect on the judgment. However, your insurance policy may have uninsured motorist coverage that can cover your accident instead.
Should I Settle or Go to Trial?
Many claims can be settled fairly if the insurance company understands the damages they have to pay and the evidence against them. However, there are many reasons an insurance company might refuse to settle, leaving a lawsuit as your only route to recovery.
Can I Reopen a Settlement?
Once you settle, your case is over, and you cannot get more money. Never accept money or sign anything without having a lawyer check it first, since you typically cannot undo or reopen settlements.
Who Can You Sue for a Crash?
Most cases are filed against drivers, but you can also potentially sue auto manufacturers for auto defects, governments for defective roadways, and a driver’s employer for negligent hiring and retention of drivers. The owner of the vehicle might also be liable if negligent upkeep caused the crash.
Do I Need a Police Report?
Our lawyers can look up the police report for your crash. This report can help us locate witnesses and drivers involved in the crash, especially if you were unable to stay at the scene of the crash and collect information.
How Much Does a Lawyer Cost?
Our car accident lawyers are typically paid out of the winnings of your case with no up-front costs. You pay nothing unless and until we win.
We can discuss more specific terms about cost in a free case evaluation.
What if I’m Partially at Fault?
Texas law allows courts to hold victims partially liable and reduce their damages according to their percentage of fault. This does not block your ability to sue unless you are more than 50% at fault.
Call Our Austin Car Accident Attorneys Today
For your free case evaluation with our car accident lawyers directly, call Cap City Injury Attorneys at (512) 612-3110.