When you’re injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, the thought of dealing with insurance companies can be too much. You’re already worried about medical bills piling up, missing work, and wondering how you’ll get back to normal life; taking calls from insurance adjusters only adds to your overall stress, especially when you know that they’re really trying to reduce your payout.
Fortunately, that’s what a Texas personal injury lawyer is for. At the Texas Law Guns, Injury & Accident Lawyers, we have negotiated thousands of settlements over the years and secured millions in compensation for injured clients. In this guide, we’ll explain how personal injury settlements are negotiated in Texas and how an experienced lawyer can help you get the best results.
Texas Personal Injury Settlements: The Basics
A personal injury settlement is an agreement between you and the at-fault party’s insurance company to resolve your accident claim for a specific dollar amount. Once you accept a settlement, you usually can’t go back and ask for more money, even if your physical injuries turn out to be worse than expected. This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to work with an experienced attorney; they know how to calculate your future as well as current medical and financial needs, and make sure that your settlement takes all of them into account.
In Texas, settlements can cover various types of damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property damage. The goal is to make you “whole” again by compensating you for all the losses you’ve experienced due to the accident. However, insurance adjusters rarely offer fair settlements right away; they often start with lowball offers and hope that you’ll accept less than your personal injury claim is worth.
When Should You Start Settlement Negotiations?
Timing plays a big role in successful settlement negotiations. Starting too early can hurt your case because you might not know the full extent of your financial damages yet. Many injuries, especially soft tissue damage or concussions, don’t show their true impact for days or weeks after an accident, and you might end up settling for less than what you’re going to need.
Texas personal injury attorneys usually begin settlement negotiations after you’ve reached what doctors call “maximum medical improvement,” or MMI. This means that you’ve recovered as much as your doctor believes you ever will, even if you’re still in physical pain or have a lasting disability. At this point, your legal team will know if you need ongoing treatment, physical therapy, or if you’ll have permanent limitations that affect your work or daily life.
How Your Accident Attorney Gathers Evidence for Negotiation
The more proof your legal counsel has of your injuries, expenses, and how the accident happened, the harder it becomes for insurance adjusters to deny or undervalue your claim. This is why strong evidence has such an impact on your settlement amount or jury award.
Once you hire a Texas personal injury lawyer, they will collect all your medical records, bills, and treatment plans. This includes emergency room visits, follow-up appointments, physical therapy sessions, prescription medications, and any medical equipment you need. They’ll also document transportation costs to medical appointments and any home modifications you had to make because of your injuries.
Next, they will gather evidence about the accident itself. This might include police reports, witness statements, photographs of the accident scene, vehicle damage, and any video footage from security cameras or dash cams. The stronger your proof that the other party was at fault, the more pressure insurance companies will feel to offer a fair settlement.
Finally, your lawyer will document how the injury has affected your daily life. They might ask you to keep a journal of your pain levels, activities you can’t do anymore, and how the injury has impacted your work, relationships, and overall quality of life. This information helps them support your claim for pain and suffering damages.
How Settlement Demands Are Calculated in Texas
Before starting negotiations, your accident attorney needs to know what your case is worth overall. This involves adding up all your economic damages (the bills and receipts) and estimating your non-economic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life).
- Economic damages are relatively straightforward to calculate. Your lawyer will add up all your medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and any other out-of-pocket expenses related to the accident. They will also calculate future medical costs if your doctors say you’ll need ongoing treatment.
- Non-economic damages are trickier to value, but they’re often the largest part of a settlement. Insurance companies sometimes use a multiplier method, where they multiply your medical expenses by a number between 1.5 and 5, depending on the severity of your injuries. Severe injuries that cause permanent disability or chronic pain typically receive higher multipliers.
Once your lawyer has a total, they’ll begin negotiations, usually with a higher demand amount. Settlement discussions usually involve some back-and-forth, and starting high gives your counsel room to come down while still reaching a fair amount.
How Personal Injury Settlements Are Negotiated
Your personal injury lawyer’s first communication with the insurance company sets the tone for the entire negotiation. This is usually done through a demand letter that outlines your case, explains why their insured is at fault, and requests a particular settlement amount.
A good demand letter tells the story of your accident and injuries in a clear, organized manner. It will start with a summary of what happened, and then explain the extent of your injuries and all past and ongoing medical treatment. Your attorney will also include copies of important documents like medical records, bills, and the police report, and explain how the accident has affected your life and work. Then they will state the settlement demand and wait for the insurance carrier to come back with a counteroffer.
How Your Attorney Negotiates on Your Behalf
Settlement negotiations often involve several rounds of offers and counteroffers, as each side tries to move the other closer to their position. Your lawyer will explain why they’re rejecting the insurance company’s proposal and provide additional evidence to support your position. For example, if they’re questioning your medical expenses, your attorney will provide detailed records from your doctors. If they’re disputing your lost wages, your lawyer will send them employment records and tax returns.
Good negotiations take time, and rushing to accept an offer often means leaving money on the table. However, your lawyer won’t drag out negotiations unnecessarily either. If the insurance company is negotiating in good faith and moving toward a reasonable settlement, your attorney will work with them to reach an agreement.
Common Negotiation Tactics Used by Insurers
Claims adjusters use various tactics to try to reduce settlement amounts. Your attorney is aware of these strategies and knows how to avoid falling into their traps. Some of the most common tactics include:
- Quick Settlement Offers: Insurance company representatives might contact you soon after the accident with a settlement offer, hoping you’ll accept it before you hire a lawyer and before you know the full extent of your injuries. These early offers are almost always far less than what your case is worth.
- Questioning Medical Treatment: The insurance carrier might claim that you received too much treatment, waited too long to see a doctor, or that your injuries aren’t as serious as you claim. They might also try to blame pre-existing conditions for your current problems.
- Using Your Words Against You: Insurance companies tend to record phone conversations or point to social media posts that seem to contradict your injury claims. This is why your attorney will advise you to limit what you say to adjusters and be careful about what you post online while your case is pending.
When Should You Accept a Settlement Offer?
Deciding when to accept a settlement offer is one of the hardest parts of the negotiation. Your attorney will advise you to accept an offer if it covers all your medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage and provides fair compensation for your pain and suffering. They’ll also think about the strength of your case; for example, if there are questions about who was at fault, your lawyer might recommend accepting a reasonable offer rather than risking a trial.
On the other hand, they won’t recommend accepting an offer that doesn’t cover your current and projected financial damages. So if the insurance company is making unreasonably low offers or refusing to budge, your lawyer might recommend filing a lawsuit and letting a jury decide your case.
How Often Do Personal Injury Lawsuits Go to Trial?
In Texas and across the United States, most personal injury claims are resolved before they ever reach a courtroom. Studies and government data consistently show that only a small fraction (roughly 3 to 5 percent) of personal injury cases go all the way to trial, meaning that 95 – 97 percent settle during the pre-trial phase.
These low trial rates apply to most types of negligence claims, from automobile accidents to slip-and-falls. There are a few reasons why so few cases go to verdict:
- Trials can take months or years to schedule and usually involve high legal fees, expert witness costs, and court expenses.
- Both plaintiffs and defendants often prefer the certainty of a negotiated settlement over the uncertain outcome of a jury or bench trial.
- When liability and damages are clear (through medical records, accident reports, or expert testimony), insurers are more inclined to settle rather than risk an adverse verdict.
Certain types of cases, such as medical malpractice, product liability claims, and accidents involving permanent injuries, tend to involve higher settlement demands, which is why they account for a disproportionate share of claims that do proceed to trial. Even then, however, most of those cases still settle before a hearing.
In practical terms, if you’re involved in a typical car accident or slip and fall insurance claim, you should plan on negotiating an acceptable settlement rather than preparing for a full trial. Your attorney’s negotiation skills, the thoroughness of your evidence, and the strength of any expert input will be far more important to your ultimate recovery than courtroom advocacy.
Let the Texas Law Guns Negotiate the Personal Injury Settlement You Deserve
At the Texas Law Guns, Injury & Accident Lawyers, we’ve handled thousands of accident settlement negotiations across Texas. Our team knows how insurance companies operate and what strategies they use to minimize payouts. We don’t back down when negotiations get tough, and we’re prepared to take a case to trial when the insurer won’t offer a fair settlement.
When you call us, you’ll speak directly with someone who knows what you’re going through. We’ll review your case immediately, explain your options in clear language, and, if you hire us, get to work right away. For more information or to schedule a free initial consultation, please call (210) 800-0000 or fill out our online contact form today.
Alexander Begum has tried over 50 trials to verdict and tried or settled over $500 million in cases. Alex is a founding shareholder of the Texas Law Gun, Injury and Accident Lawyers.