What Are My Options if Insurance Did Not Cover My Full Car Accident Losses?
After a serious car crash in Texas, if you were injured, your first step toward obtaining compensation will likely be to file an insurance claim. When another driver caused the accident, you will often be able to file a third-party claim through the at-fault motorist’s insurance company. Depending on the amount of your losses, this type of third-party claim may be sufficient to compensate you for your total losses, and you may not need to look toward other options. However, what happens more often than not is that the insurance payout is insufficient to cover your full losses.
If your insurance claim was not enough, what are your options to seek compensation? Usually, you can move forward with a civil lawsuit with assistance from a Texas auto injury attorney. Consider the following information, and get in touch with our firm to begin working on your case.
Why Third-Party Insurance Payouts May Be Insufficient to Cover an Injured Person’s Losses
Why are many third-party auto insurance claim payouts insufficient? While insurance companies can try to lowball you, even if your attorney negotiates a strong payout amount, the payout will need to be within the total amount of coverage that the at-fault driver has. Under Texas law, you can drive with minimum coverage of $30,000 for injuries per person, $60,000 for injuries per accident (whether it is two or many more people), and $25,000 of property damage coverage. Texas describes this as 30/60/25 coverage, and it is what many drivers on the road have.
If your losses alone total more than the at-fault driver’s coverage, you will only be able to obtain a payout up to their coverage limits. In addition, you may be one among many injury victims in a collision, and $60,000 total per accident may be substantially insufficient to compensate all injured persons for their losses.
Moving Forward with a Car Accident Lawsuit in Texas
The best way to obtain compensation after an insurance payout is insufficient is to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver and any other parties who may be liable under Texas law.
You will have only two years from the date of the accident before the statute of limitations runs out, so it is essential to seek legal advice about filing a civil lawsuit as quickly as possible.
Contact Our Texas Car Accident Attorney for Help Seeking Compensation through a Civil Lawsuit
Most often, as we discussed above, injury victims in car crashes will initially want to consider a third-party auto insurance claim in order to seek a payout from the at-fault driver’s insurance company, which our firm can help you to negotiate. Yet when an auto insurance claim cannot provide you with compensation that fully covers your losses, then it is typically beneficial to move forward with a civil lawsuit against the negligent driver and any other parties who may be partially liable. Our experienced Texas car accident lawyers at John Reed, Attorney at Law can discuss the details of your case with you today and can begin working with you on your civil lawsuit. It is important to get started as soon as possible before valuable evidence is lost and the statute of limitations runs out. Contact our firm today for help moving forward with your case.
Source:
codes.findlaw.com/tx/civil-practice-and-remedies-code/civ-prac-rem-sect-16-003.html
