Texas car accident claims: deadlines, fault rules and insurance, explained
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The most common claim there is, and the one every other type is measured against: what decides fault, what coverage sits behind it, and the two deadlines that end it.
The short answer
Two years to file, nothing at all if you are found more than 50 percent responsible, and a minimum policy of 30/60/25 behind the average at-fault driver. Most Texas car claims are decided not by the law but by which version of the collision the evidence supports.
In this guide
Where fault starts
No Texas statute says who is at fault in a given collision. What the crash type does is set where the argument begins, and how much work the other side has to do to move it.
The following driver is expected to keep an assured clear distance, so fault usually starts with them. It moves where the lead vehicle stopped without cause, reversed, had no working brake lights, or cut in with no room to stop.
Turns on right of way and light phase. More often decided by an independent witness or camera footage than by either driver’s account, because both accounts are usually sincere and incompatible.
The changing driver must be able to make the move safely. Damage geometry carries real weight here — the position and direction of the scrape often tells a clearer story than either driver does.
Usually turns on which vehicle left its lane and why. Road design, weather and any medical event are all live questions.
Fault is not automatically the driver’s. A road defect, debris, a phantom vehicle or a component failure can all shift it, and uninsured motorist coverage may respond where another driver caused it but was never identified.
Report it to law enforcement immediately. Where the other driver is never identified, uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy is usually the only route to a recovery.
What the evidence decides
An officer who investigates a collision involving injury, death, or apparent damage of $1,000 or more to any one person must make a written report, and must file it with the department within ten days. It is not the last word on fault, but it is usually the first document an adjuster reads.
Texas drivers no longer file their own crash report — that requirement was repealed in 2017. What replaces it is what you gather yourself at the scene: photographs of position before the vehicles move, the other driver’s details, and the names of anyone who stopped.
The single most valuable thing at an intersection crash, and the thing most often lost. A name and number taken at the scene is worth more than a detailed account given six months later.
A gap between the collision and the first medical visit is the argument an insurer reaches for most readily. It is not proof of anything, but it is cheap to avoid and expensive to explain.
Tex. Transp. Code § 550.062(a)–(c). The driver’s own report requirement, former § 550.061, was repealed effective 1 September 2017.
The coverage behind the claim
The at-fault driver’s policy limit, not the size of your injury, is usually what caps an ordinary Texas car claim.
A Texas policy must carry at least $30,000 for the injury or death of one person, $60,000 where two or more people are hurt in the same collision, and $25,000 for property damage. A serious injury exhausts $30,000 quickly.
Your own insurer must offer UM/UIM coverage and can only leave it off if you rejected it in writing. Where you did not, it is frequently the difference between a partial and a full recovery.
Once your insurer has notice it has 15 days to acknowledge and begin investigating, and 15 business days after receiving everything it asked for to accept or reject in writing.
An insurer that misses those deadlines owes 18 percent a year on the claim as damages, plus reasonable attorney’s fees. That is a flat statutory rate, not a formula.
Tex. Transp. Code § 601.072(a-1); Tex. Ins. Code § 1952.101(b)–(c), §§ 542.055–542.060.
The deadlines
A Texas personal injury suit must be brought within two years of the day the claim accrues. Damages are then reduced by your share of responsibility, and if that share is greater than 50 percent you recover nothing at all. Those two rules apply to every crash type on this site.
Claims against a governmental unit run on much shorter notice periods and are governed separately.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a), § 33.001, § 33.012.
Free case check
Nine questions about what happened, and a plain view of what usually comes next. No account, and nothing owed.
Common questions
No. It is a strong starting presumption, not a rule. It shifts where the lead vehicle stopped without cause, reversed, had no working brake lights, or moved into the gap with no room.
No. The driver’s written report requirement was repealed effective 1 September 2017. The investigating officer files the report where the collision caused injury, death, or apparent damage of $1,000 or more to any one person.
Then $30,000 per person is the ceiling on that policy, and underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy is usually the only way past it. Whether you have it depends on whether you ever rejected it in writing.
Fifteen days to acknowledge and start investigating, 15 business days after it has everything it asked for to accept or reject, and five business days to pay once it says it will.
Only above 50 percent. At or below that, your damages are reduced by your percentage rather than barred.
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.
Editorial information
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Next steps
Answer nine questions and see how the Texas rules apply to what happened. 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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