How Do Car Accident Settlements Work?

Personal injury law allows car accident victims from the driver to their passengers to recover compensation for the financial losses they’ve incurred through a settlement. However, it is important to understand the process for a car accident settlement first, as well as the factors that could affect the settlement amount you receive.

Understanding the Car Accident Settlement Process

After a car accident, victims are usually shaken up and confused. During this time, it is important to call the police to report the accident and have officers assess the scene. They will create a police report and will likely summon emergency medical responders to the scene to treat injuries.

At this point, victims of a car accident should make sure they get the medical care they need, even if they feel fine. Both the police report and the medical records from medical treatments will be important pieces of documentation. Additionally, having photos, videos, and witness statements can be helpful items as you prepare to file your claim. Once you have these items, you can begin the next steps in the car accident settlement process.

File the Insurance Claim

The process of obtaining a car accident settlement begins with filing a claim with the insurance company. Since Texas is an at-fault state, you would file this claim with the insurance company representing the driver who caused the crash. In a no-fault state, you’d file this claim with your own auto insurer.

Determination of Fault

Naturally, there will likely be disagreements about who is at fault. Your insurance company and the insurer for the other party will investigate the accident. They will each determine who is at fault.

Texas uses a modified comparative negligence rule that allows for you to be up to 50% at fault for your own injuries in an accident. You may be assigned some percentage of the fault in the crash, and as long as it is 50% or less, you can still recover your settlement. However, this amount will be reduced by any percentage of fault you may bear. 

Negotiations

When liability has been determined, an offer will be made for the settlement based on the damages. As the injured party, you have the option to accept or reject the offer. If you haven’t already obtained legal representation, you should not proceed without having a personal injury attorney review the offer. This offer is likely much lower than the financial losses you’ve incurred, and it helps to have someone with legal knowledge step in and negotiate for what is fair.

Signing the Settlement Agreement

If you can get the settlement amount to a sufficient level and your attorney believes it to be a full and fair sum, you can then sign a settlement agreement. By signing, you release the other party and their insurer from any potential future claims related to this accident.

This is exactly why it’s so important to have a lawyer look things over. You may have thought about the medical bills you’ve already received that keep piling up. What you may not have considered is that your injuries will require additional surgeries or that you will be unable to work for longer than you expected. Once you sign this document, you can’t go back and ask for more money, and you’ll be stuck with the remainder of the bills from your accident expenses. 

How Much Can You Get for Your Car Accident Settlement?

The amount you receive for your car accident can vary widely and will hinge on several crucial factors.

Type and Severity of Injury

If you’re in a car accident and only experience minor injuries, you should consider yourself lucky. While you won’t get a large settlement, you’ll still have your health. However, if you suffered a spinal cord injury that caused you partial paralysis, impeding you from working in your former capacity, you will likely be awarded a higher settlement.

How the Injury Affects Your Ability to Work

Some injuries, such as a clean fracture, will heal nicely after proper rest and recovery. Other car accident victims may experience crushed bones in a major highway wreck. Even with numerous surgeries, they may never be restored to the condition they were in before the accident.

If they had a job that required them to lift heavy objects or use their hands, they may no longer be capable of these actions. In this scenario, the driver would get a larger settlement to cover occupational therapy and bridge the gap of their lower earnings to support their family.

Need for Future Medical Care

When a car accident causes such severe injuries that ongoing medical care is required, settlements will always be higher. If you didn’t cause the accident, you shouldn’t be stuck paying for someone else’s negligent mistakes.

Your Own Level of Fault

Your car accident settlement is also impacted by any fault you may have. If you were in a car accident while your children were in your car, investigations may reveal that your child was sitting in the front seat when they weren’t at the required height for that seat. Child safety in cars is something that every parent should monitor. While you hope that you’ll never get into an accident, with so many vehicles on the road, you have a greater chance of that occurring.

When parents don’t buckle their kids into a child safety seat or let little ones sit up front, they put them in danger. In this case, the insurance company may put some of the blame on you for their injuries because they should have been sitting in the back.

Before you get to the point of filing your claim, contact a personal injury lawyer to fully calculate the extent of your expenses, assess the evidence, and determine what your case is worth to have the best chance at a higher settlement.