Automobile accident lawyers in Houston. We know how the policy reads.

When an automobile claim reaches our Houston office, we start where the other side starts: with the paperwork. Who was driving, who owned each vehicle, which policies cover them, and what the officer wrote. The answers decide who is asked to pay and in what order.

An officer who investigates a crash with injury, death or apparent property damage of $1,000 or more must file a written report with TxDOT within 10 days, under Transportation Code 550.062. The people involved, their representatives and their insurers can buy a copy. We read it line by line, because an adjuster will too.

We also look at the calendar. A personal injury suit in Texas generally must be filed within two years under Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.003, and a claim against a government unit needs written notice within six months. Those dates set the pace of the file. For a step-by-step look at our work, read about our auto accident lawyer in Houston page.

Texas follows proportionate responsibility. You can recover if your share of responsibility is 50 percent or less, and your recovery is reduced by that share (CPRC 33.001 and 33.012). A defendant found more than 50 percent responsible is jointly and severally liable.

That is why the first conversation with an adjuster often turns to small details: your speed, a lane change, a glance at a phone. Each detail moves a percentage. We collect the photographs, witness names and vehicle data that put those details in context.

Texting at the wheel is itself an offense in Texas (Transportation Code 545.4251). When the other driver was reading or sending messages, the proof of it can shift the percentages a long way, which is why we move quickly to preserve it.

If the claim has to go further, an auto accident attorney in Houston from our office can take it to court. To see how the firm itself is set up, read about our automobile accident law firm in Houston.

A company van, a city bus or an 18-wheeler brings its own rules. Commercial motor vehicles follow federal safety rules that Texas adopts by reference (Transportation Code 644.051), including hours of service and electronic logs that carriers keep for at least six months. Early letters asking that those records be kept matter.

Our vehicle accident lawyer in Houston page walks through each class of vehicle, and our bus accident lawyer in Houston page covers the six-month notice that applies when a government unit owns the bus.

Many Houston drivers carry more protection than they realize. Personal injury protection and UM/UIM coverage are part of every Texas auto policy unless a named insured turned them down in writing, so the first question we ask about your own policy is whether anyone signed that rejection.

PIP pays without regard to fault, and the insurer must pay within 30 days once it has satisfactory proof of the claim. UM/UIM steps in when the driver who hit you had no insurance or too little for the harm done. Claims on your own policy are still claims: your carrier will want records, and its adjuster will read them closely.

We handle those claims alongside the claim against the driver at fault, so each insurer gets the same proof and nothing said to one carrier undercuts what is asked of another. Our article on an uninsured driver claim in Texas goes further.