What to do after a car wreck in Houston, day by day

This is the recovery track from our homepage in long form: what to do at each point after a Houston car wreck, with the Texas rule behind it.

At the scene

Call 911 if anyone is hurt. Texas law requires a driver in a crash that injures or kills someone to stop, return to the scene if needed, check whether anyone needs aid and stay to give information (Transportation Code 550.021). The information is your name, address, vehicle registration number and liability insurer, and a driver’s license if asked (section 550.023).

A crash with an injury, a death or a car that cannot be driven must be reported at once to the local police inside a city, or to the sheriff outside one (section 550.026). If you can, photograph the cars where they stopped, the road, the traffic signals, and the other driver’s license plate and insurance card.

The first day

See a doctor even if you feel fine. Some injuries, such as concussions and disc injuries, take hours or days to show. Point out every spot that hurts. The record of that first visit is often the most important document in the claim, because it ties the injury to the wreck.

The first week

The other driver’s insurer may call and ask for a recorded statement. No law makes you give one. Report the wreck to your own insurer as your policy requires, and ask whether you have personal injury protection. PIP pays without regard to fault, and the insurer must pay within 30 days of satisfactory proof of the claim.

The officer who investigated files the crash report with TxDOT within 10 days (section 550.062). Copies are sold through TxDOT’s crash report system to the people involved and their representatives.

The first months

Keep every appointment, or write down why you missed one. Save every bill, receipt and letter, and keep a short note of how you feel and what you cannot do. Stay off social media about the wreck. Do not sign a release or cash a check from the other driver’s insurer before you understand what it ends.

Paying for treatment in the meantime

Bills often arrive before any claim is settled. PIP on your own policy, health insurance and sometimes medical payments coverage can pay while the claim is open. Keep track of which one paid what, and send us copies, so the full cost of your care is part of the claim later.

The demand and the negotiation

When your doctors can describe what the injury needs, the claim is ready to be put together: who was at fault, the medical records and bills, lost pay and how the injury has changed your life. The insurer answers, and the negotiation begins. Every offer is yours to accept or refuse.

The deadline

A Texas injury lawsuit generally has to be filed within two years of the wreck (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.003). For a child, the time generally does not start until the child turns 18 (section 16.001). A claim against a government unit needs written notice much sooner, generally within six months (section 101.101).

For how a lawyer handles each step, read our pages on a car wreck lawyer in Houston and a car wreck attorney in Houston. No Fees or Costs Unless We Win: the firm advances the costs of your case, and you pay no attorney’s fee and no case costs unless we recover money for you.