Getting injured due to another party’s carelessness, recklessness, or negligence is when unjust and costly. Fortunately, there is a way to get financial recovery for your injuries or property damage.
In Texas, you can seek financial recovery for your losses. You can work with a personal injury lawyer serving San Angelo from D. Miller & Associates, PLLC®. We can handle your case while you focus on your health.
Understanding Personal Injury and Negligence
It is a common misconception that simply having visible injuries gives you the right to seek financial recovery from a third party. On the contrary, a personal injury claim becomes actionable if you can demonstrate the other party’s undeniable contribution to the accident that harmed you.
Negligence is the most widely used legal basis for establishing liability in a personal injury case. A person’s responsibility in the accident was due to their negligent actions—they failed to act similar to how a reasonably prudent person would in the same situations. For example, a party is negligent if they violated traffic laws, behaved carelessly in giving diagnoses, or failed to maintain premises.
Our personal injury practice areas include:
- Vehicular accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Defective products
- Dog bites
Persons who acted negligently never intended to harm others. However, their thoughtless or careless conduct resulted in actual consequences, such as physical injuries and destroyed property. The law holds them accountable for such repercussions by mandating them to assume the financial costs of your accident-related losses.
Seeking Recovery in a Personal Injury Claim
You can seek recovery for a variety of losses:
Economic Losses
The financial losses you have incurred because of the accident may warrant recovery. If the other party had not been negligent, you would not have to pay or face these costs:
- Medical bills, including treatment, medications, therapy sessions, hospitalization, and doctor visits
- Lost income
- Repairs or full replacement of damaged property
- Other actual out-of-pocket expenses like hiring a caregiver or retrofitting a home due to limited mobility
Economic losses warranting recovery may also include future costs, such as loss of future earnings due to reduced capacity to work or disability, additional treatments for your full recovery, and long-term or lifetime medications.
Non-Economic Losses
Not all losses are financial. Non-economic losses refer to how the accident negatively affected your life. They can include:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Disfigurement or scarring
- Inconvenience
- Decreased quality of life
How Much Is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
As an injured victim, you wonder what your claim is worth. Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules on evaluating the financial recovery you may be entitled to.
Insurance companies will not settle the amount you ask for; instead, they may give you a low figure and pressure you into accepting an unfair offer. Many victims get short-changed because they do not know how much they can recover financially.
Calculate the value of your damages based on receipts or bills of incurred expenses, previous pay slips for lost earnings or future losses, and estimates of long-term costs for your injuries. If the accident has significantly altered your quality or way of life, account for the costs of those changes.
If the insurance company repeatedly gives a low offer without justifying it, consider having a personal injury attorney serving San Angelo on board during and behind negotiations. They have the experience and knowledge of the potential value of claims that can help with your case, especially when settling out of court.
Shared Fault in Personal Injury Case
When evaluating a personal injury claim, insurance companies may look for ways to deny or offer a low payout by blaming you. If you have acted negligently, that does not automatically mean you have no right to seek recovery for your injuries.
Texas follows a modified comparative negligence rule, also known as proportionate responsibility. Under Texas law, you still have the legal right to recovery; however, your degree of fault will reduce the compensatory damages. For example, if you were 30 percent at fault for the accident, you could only recover the remaining 70 percent from the agreed settlement.
The issue of shared fault always comes up during negotiations. Our legal team can protect your rights when negotiating with insurers.
Beware of the Deadline to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit
It is your legal right to seek recovery for injuries due to another party’s negligent actions or misconduct, even if you share fault for the accident. But no matter how strong your evidence is in demonstrating their liability, you have a deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit. Texas law generally sets a two-year deadline, so do not delay taking legal action.
Our Personal Injury Attorney Serving San Angelo Can Help
We can help you seek financial recovery after an accident. You just focus on your health. Call us now for a free case evaluation.
