An injury claim is about the injury. The crash or the fall explains who is responsible, but your treatment, your records and the way the injury changes your life decide what the claim covers. This page is about that side of a Dallas claim.
Injury Claim Lawyer Dallas is a website of LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC, and this page is written by our Dallas office. It is general information, not medical or legal advice for your situation. If you are hurt, the first thing to do is get medical care; the claim can wait a day, your health cannot.
Get checked, even if you feel all right
Some injuries show up hours or days after a crash. Soreness in the neck or back, headaches, numbness and dizziness are common, and adrenaline can hide them at first. Getting examined protects your health and creates a record made close to the time of the crash, which is the kind of record an insurer has the hardest time arguing with.
Dallas has several hospitals designated by the Texas Department of State Health Services as Level I trauma facilities, the highest level: Parkland Memorial Hospital, Baylor University Medical Center and Methodist Dallas Medical Center, with Children’s Medical Center of Dallas for children and Medical City Plano to the north. If an ambulance took you to one of them, its records are the start of your medical file.
Follow the plan and keep the appointments
Adjusters look for gaps in treatment. A missed physical therapy session or a month without a visit becomes an argument that you were better, or that something else caused your pain. If you cannot make an appointment because of work, cost or transportation, tell your doctor and tell us, so the reason is on the record.
Be honest with your doctors about what hurts and about any earlier injuries. An old back problem does not end a claim; a crash that makes it worse can be part of the claim. What causes trouble is an earlier injury that comes out later and looks hidden.
Paying medical bills while the claim is open
Medical bills arrive long before any claim is resolved. Several sources may help in the meantime:
- Personal injury protection (PIP). Every Texas auto policy includes PIP unless a named insured rejected it in writing (Insurance Code section 1952.152). It pays regardless of who caused the crash (section 1952.155), and the insurer must pay within 30 days of satisfactory proof of the claim (section 1952.156). The law does not require more than 2,500 dollars per person (section 1952.153), though some policies carry more.
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Also included unless rejected in writing (section 1952.101), it can apply when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough.
- Your health insurance. It may pay for treatment while the claim is open. Tell us what it has paid, so the file shows every payment.
We help you open the right claims with your own insurer, which is a separate conversation from the claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer.
Bills piling up after a Dallas crash? Call us to sort out which coverage applies.
The records that prove the injury
The insurer will not take your word for how badly you are hurt. It will read the records. We collect and organize them, but it helps to keep your own copies and notes:
| Record | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Ambulance and emergency room records | Made within hours of the crash; show the first complaints and findings. |
| Imaging (X-ray, CT, MRI) and the radiologist’s report | Objective findings the other side has trouble disputing. |
| Doctor and follow-up visit notes | Diagnosis, treatment plan, restrictions and how the injury is expected to progress. |
| Therapy and rehabilitation records | Show the work of recovery and how long it took. |
| Bills and explanations of benefits | The cost of care, and who has paid what. |
| Pay records and notes from your employer | Time missed and income lost. |
| Your own journal and photos | Pain, sleep, help you needed at home and the activities you could not do. |
Injuries we see in Dallas claims
Our Dallas office handles claims for many kinds of injuries. Some are visible right away, such as broken bones, cuts and burns. Others take time to understand: neck and back injuries, herniated discs, head injuries and concussions, shoulder and knee damage that needs surgery, and the anxiety and lost sleep that can follow a serious crash. Each needs its own kind of proof, from imaging to a treating physician’s opinion to the account of the people who live with you.
Head injuries deserve a special word. A person with a concussion may not realize anything is wrong, and the signs, such as trouble concentrating, headaches, irritability or sensitivity to light, can be mistaken for stress. If you or someone close to you notices these changes after a crash or fall, tell your doctor.
Keep a recovery journal
A few lines a day make a difference months later. Write down how you slept, where it hurt, what you could not do, who helped you and which days of work or school you missed. Note the drives to appointments and the costs you paid out of pocket. Insurers discount what they cannot see; a journal makes the ordinary cost of an injury visible.
What a Texas injury claim can include
Depending on the facts, Texas law allows a claim for the medical care you have received and the care you will need, the earnings you lost and the earning capacity the injury takes away, physical pain and mental anguish, physical impairment, disfigurement, and damage to your property. In a death case, the surviving spouse, children and parents may bring a wrongful death claim (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 71.004), and the injured person’s own claim survives for the estate (section 71.021).
We never quote what an injury is worth from a phone call, and we never publish past settlement amounts. The value of a claim depends on the injury, the treatment, the proof, the fault picture and the insurance available. What we can tell you early is which records and facts will matter most.
How fault affects an injury claim
Texas reduces a recovery by the injured person’s own share of responsibility and bars it when that share is greater than 50 percent (sections 33.001 and 33.012). Insurers sometimes use injury details to argue fault: a rider without a helmet, a passenger without a seat belt, a pedestrian outside a crosswalk. Those facts can be argued, but they do not automatically end a claim. For motorcyclists, Texas lets a rider at least 21 ride without a helmet if they completed an approved safety course or have health insurance that covers motorcycle crash injuries (Transportation Code section 661.003).
Children and injuries
When a child is hurt, the two-year period to file suit is generally not counted while the child is under 18 (section 16.001). That does not mean waiting is wise. Evidence and witnesses fade, and the child’s medical bills are usually the parents’ to pay now. We handle the claim with the parents and make sure the child’s care is documented.
How our Dallas team handles the injury side
Joseph Massey, one of our Dallas attorneys, worked as a workers’ compensation adjuster and manager before law school. He knows how a claims department reads medical records: which gaps get flagged, which phrases in a doctor’s note get quoted back, which bills get questioned. Michael Uvalle saw the same process at several of the largest insurance companies in Texas. We organize your records with that reader in mind.
No Fees or Costs Unless We Win: the firm advances case costs, and you owe no attorney’s fee and no case costs unless money is recovered for you.
For the rest of the claim, see our pages on a personal injury lawyer in Dallas, an accident lawyer in Dallas and the Texas statutes in our Texas injury law guide.
Questions people ask
Should I see a doctor if I feel fine after a crash?
Yes. Some injuries appear hours or days later, and an early exam protects both your health and the record of your injury.
Can I still claim if I had an old injury?
Yes. A crash that makes an earlier condition worse can be part of a claim. Tell your doctors and us about the earlier injury so it is handled openly.
Who pays my medical bills before the claim is resolved?
Often your own PIP coverage first, then health insurance; the at-fault driver’s insurer pays only when the claim is resolved. We help you open the right claims.
What if I cannot afford treatment?
Tell us and your doctor. We can talk through the coverage that may apply, such as PIP, and why a record of the reason for any gap matters.