San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyers

San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyers FAQS

How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Texas?

In Texas, you generally have two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit in civil court. This deadline, known as the statute of limitations, is established under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003. If you miss this deadline, the court will almost certainly dismiss your case, and you will permanently lose your right to seek compensation.

That said, certain exceptions can either shorten or toll (pause/extend) the two-year window:

• The Discovery Rule: If your injury wasn’t immediately apparent and couldn’t have been discovered through reasonable diligence, the clock may not start running on the date of the incident. Instead, it begins when you discovered (or reasonably should have discovered) that you were injured. This often comes up in cases involving latent illnesses, toxic exposure, or medical complications that surface long after the fact.
• Minor Victims (Under 18): If the injured person was under 18 years old at the time of the incident, the statute of limitations is tolled until they turn 18. From that birthday, they have two years, meaning they could potentially have until their 20th birthday to file.
• Legal Incapacity or Mental Incompetence: If the injured party is of unsound mind or legally incapacitated at the time of the injury, the limitations period is paused for the duration of the incapacity. Once the person regains legal capacity, the two-year countdown begins.
• Fraudulent Concealment: If the defendant actively concealed their wrongdoing, the court may toll the statute of limitations for the period of concealment. The clock restarts once you discovered, or should have discovered, the fraud.
• Defendant Leaves Texas: If the person who caused your injury leaves the state of Texas after the incident, the time they are absent may not count toward the two-year limitation period.

If your injury was caused by a Texas state agency, city, county, or other government body, the Texas Tort Claims Act imposes a shorter deadline. You normally must file a formal notice of claim within six months of the incident (some municipalities require notice in as little as 45–90 days).

Can I Settle My Personal Injury Claim Without Going to Court?

The short answer is yes, and in fact, the vast majority of personal injury claims are resolved outside of court. Litigation is expensive, time-consuming, and unpredictable, so both sides have strong incentives to reach a settlement before (or even after) a lawsuit is filed.

That said, there are pros and cons to settling out of court, which are highlighted below:

How Is Fault Determined in a Personal Injury Case in Texas?

Most personal injury cases in Texas are built on the legal theory of negligence. To establish that someone else is at fault, you must prove all four of the following elements:

Duty of Care

The defendant had a legal obligation to act reasonably toward you. For example:

• Drivers have a duty to operate their vehicles safely
• Property owners have a duty to maintain reasonably safe premises
• Doctors have a duty to meet the accepted standard of medical care

Breach of Duty

The defendant failed to meet that standard of care. This is where fault begins to take shape. You must show they did something a reasonably prudent person would not have done (or failed to do something they should have done).

Causation

The breach of duty must have directly caused your injury. Texas courts apply two causation tests:

• Actual cause (“but-for” causation): But for the defendant’s actions, would you have been injured?
• Proximate cause: Was the injury a foreseeable result of the defendant’s conduct?

Damages

You must have suffered actual, measurable damages, such as physical injury, financial loss, emotional distress, etc. You can’t sue for negligence if you suffered no real damages, even if the defendant acted carelessly.

What Is the Average Texas Personal Injury Settlement?

There is no single “average” settlement figure that applies across the board. Settlement amounts in Texas vary based on the type of injury, who was at fault, available insurance coverage, and how persuasive the evidence is. That said, the following factors push settlements up or down:

• Medical Expenses: Your total medical bills (past and projected future costs) are the foundation of most settlement calculations. The higher and more documentable your medical costs, the stronger the starting point for settlement negotiations.
• Lost Income and Earning Capacity: If your injury kept you out of work or permanently limits your ability to earn, those losses are calculated and added to your claim. A young person with decades of earning potential ahead may recover far more than someone close to retirement.
• Pain and Suffering: Texas allows recovery for non-economic damages like pain, emotional distress, and reduced quality of life. These losses are harder to quantify, so negotiation plays the biggest role here. Insurers may use a multiplier (typically 1.5x to 5x your medical bills) as a starting calculation, but there is no fixed formula.
• Insurance Policy Limits: Even a rock-solid case is capped by the at-fault party’s insurance policy. If the defendant carries only $30,000 in liability coverage, collecting beyond that amount requires going after personal assets, which can be complicated.
• Evidence of Fault: When the fault is clear-cut and well-documented, settlements tend to go higher. When liability is disputed, insurers push back hard, and the final number tends to drop.

You will see figures like “$52,000” or “$75,000” cited online as average personal injury settlements. These numbers are unreliable for several reasons:

• They lump minor fender-benders together with catastrophic injury cases
• Most settlement figures are never made public
• They don’t account for attorney fees (typically 33–40% in contingency arrangements), medical liens, or other deductions from the gross amount
• Texas verdicts and settlements can skew heavily depending on defendant type and injury category

A more useful approach is to calculate your actual damages and treat that as your baseline.

What If I Don’t Know Who Injured Me in Texas?

Being injured by an unknown party, such as a hit-and-run driver, an unmarked vehicle, or an unidentified property owner, doesn’t automatically eliminate your right to compensation. Texas law and insurance policy provisions provide several avenues for recovery even when the at-fault party can’t be identified or located.

Uninsured Motorist (UM) Coverage

This is the most direct route to compensation after a hit-and-run. If you carry Uninsured Motorist coverage on your own auto insurance policy, you can file a claim against your own insurer as if the unknown driver were an uninsured motorist.

UM coverage can pay for:

• Medical bills
• Lost wages
• Pain and suffering
• Property damage (if you also carry Uninsured Motorist Property Damage coverage)

Important: In Texas, insurers are required to offer UM coverage, but drivers are allowed to reject it in writing. If you waived this coverage when you purchased your policy, it won’t be available to you now. Check your policy declarations page immediately after an accident to confirm your coverage.

Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Coverage

If the at-fault driver is eventually identified but carries insufficient insurance to cover your damages, UIM coverage bridges the gap between their policy limits and your actual losses. This applies once the at-fault driver is known, but it is worth noting alongside UM coverage since both are purchased together.

MedPay Coverage

Medical Payments coverage, if included in your policy, pays your medical bills regardless of fault and regardless of who caused the accident. It’s not a full substitute for UM coverage, but it provides a faster, simpler payout for immediate medical costs.

Texas UM Coverage Rules You Need to Know

• Texas insurers must offer UM/UIM coverage in amounts equal to your liability limits.
• You may reject it, but only in writing.
• If you did not sign a written rejection, your insurer may be required to provide UM coverage even if it does not appear on your declarations page.
• UM claims are filed against your own insurance company, but that does not mean the process is easy: your insurer still has a financial incentive to minimize the payout.