Texas car accident claims: deadlines, fault rules and insurance, explained
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The statutory deadlines, fault thresholds, coverage minimums and reporting duties that apply to a Texas motor vehicle claim, each with the code section it comes from.
The short answer
Four numbers carry most Texas claims: two years to file suit, a 50% fault ceiling above which you recover nothing, 30/60/25 minimum liability limits, and a $1,000 property-damage threshold that triggers a peace officer’s crash report.
In this guide
Deadlines
| Claim | Deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury | 2 years | Runs from the day the cause of action accrues |
| Wrongful death | 2 years | The cause of action accrues on the death of the injured person |
| Property damage | 2 years | Same limitation period |
| Against a governmental unit | Much shorter | Governed separately by the Texas Tort Claims Act, with short formal notice periods |
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a), (b).
Fault
Texas uses a modified comparative system. The statute is short and absolute: a claimant may not recover damages if his percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent.
| Your share of fault | Result on $100,000 of damages |
|---|---|
| 0% | $100,000 |
| 25% | $75,000 |
| 50% | $50,000 |
| 51% | Nothing |
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001, § 33.012(a), (b). Damages are reduced by your percentage, then reduced again by the dollar amount of any settlements already taken.
Minimum insurance
These are minimums, not typical limits, and a single serious injury frequently exhausts them. That is the moment your own underinsured motorist coverage becomes the real question.
| Coverage | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury, per person | $30,000 |
| Bodily injury, per accident | $60,000 |
| Property damage | $25,000 |
Tex. Transp. Code § 601.072. In effect since 1 January 2011.
Reporting a crash
Immediately give notice to law enforcement by the quickest means of communication where the crash caused injury, death, or damage that made a vehicle unable to be driven normally and safely. No dollar threshold applies to this duty.
A peace officer must investigate and file a report where the crash results in injury or death, or apparent damage of $1,000 or more to any one person’s property.
The officer must file the CR-3 electronically not later than the tenth day after the crash.
Driver self-reporting to the state was eliminated effective 1 September 2017. TxDOT no longer accepts or keeps CR-2 “blue forms”, and all retained CR-2 records were destroyed in 2019.
Tex. Transp. Code § 550.026, § 550.062(a), (b); former § 550.061, repealed 2017.
Getting the report
Crash reports are sold by TxDOT through its online purchase system. There is no statutory deadline to request one, but TxDOT retains crash records for roughly ten years plus the current year before they are destroyed.
Texas is an at-fault state. There is no no-fault regime here, which is why the fault percentage and the available policy limits drive the outcome of most claims.
Tex. Transp. Code § 550.065(d); Tex. Transp. Code ch. 601.
Common questions
No. Texas is an at-fault state. The driver responsible for the crash, through their liability insurer, is responsible for the damages. Personal injury protection exists in Texas but it sits alongside the fault system rather than replacing it.
You still recover, reduced by half. The bar applies only above 50 percent. That single percentage point is why fault arguments in Texas are contested so hard.
Frequently not. $30,000 per injured person is exhausted quickly by hospital treatment alone, which is why underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy often determines what is actually recoverable.
Certain circumstances affect accrual, and claims against governmental units are governed separately with much shorter notice requirements. Whether a different rule applies to a particular situation is a legal question for an attorney licensed in Texas.
All of them are published free by the Texas Legislative Council at statutes.capitol.texas.gov. Every rule on this page names its section so you can look it up directly.
Sources
Every Texas rule stated here is taken from the primary source named below. The Texas statutes are published free by the Texas Legislative Council.
Keep reading
The first hour, the first week, and what Texas law requires at the scene.
Which policy responds, and the deadlines your own insurer must meet.
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Next steps
Read the Texas rules that apply, or see how a request for attorney review works. General information only, not legal advice.
Texas-specific information on crash deadlines, fault rules and insurance, with the statute cited on every page. Operated by National Claim Network. Not a law firm, insurer, or government agency.
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