If you’re a passenger in a car accident, you have just as much right as the driver to claim compensation — no need to sit quietly in the backseat.
Compensation can range wildly, from as little as $1,000 to (in rare cases) well over $1 million, all depending on the accident circumstances, the injuries you suffered, lost income, and other factors. But settlements are typically higher with an experienced personal injury law firm on the case.
At No Bull Law, we know the ins and outs of maximizing settlements for passengers like you.
While this article will guide you through the average settlement amounts and the factors that may affect your claim, remember that the figures mentioned may not apply to the specifics of your personal injury case.
The best thing you can do to get an assessment of your case is to book a free consultation with a car accident lawyer from No Bull Law.
This Article Contains:
- How Much Money Can a Passenger In a Car Accident Get in Texas?
- Factors Affecting the Value of a Settlement a Passenger in a Car Accident Can Get
- How a Personal Injury Lawyer Helps You Get a Higher Settlement Amount
- Why Hiring Lawyers from No Bull Law Will Get You the Compensation You Deserve
- 5 FAQs for Passengers in Car Accidents in Texas
Generally speaking, these are the typical ranges a passenger in a car accident might get, depending on the severity of your injury:
- No injuries ($1K to $10K)
- Minor ($10K to $25K)
- Major ($50K to $175K)
- Severe or catastrophic ($100K to $1M+)
However, it’s not just injury severity that determines your settlement amount. To better gauge how much money you could get in your auto accident claim, you must understand all the factors that affect settlements.
Typically, when a lawyer assesses your auto accident case before making a claim, they will look at several factors. The combination of these factors, which we’ll cover below, will determine the amount they will ask for in the settlement.
It is paramount that you get legal assistance for this, as you are far more likely to make an accurate claim and get a higher payout.
1. The Types of Damages You Can Claim
As a passenger in a car accident, your compensation will depend on the types and extent of damages incurred. There are three types of damages for driving accidents:
- Economic Damages: These have a specific dollar value you can tally up.some text
- Medical expenses like your medical bills, medications, rehabilitation, equipment, and future care
- Lost wages and loss of earning capacity
- Legal expenses
- Transportation (E.g., to medical appointments)
- Household and childcare services
- Costs associated with accommodating a disability (E.g., modifying the home)
- Non-economic Damages: These don’t have a financial cost but are assigned costs based on severity.some text
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of quality of life (E.g., General difficulties or impaired ability to engage with hobbies, friends, and family)
- Chronic pain and disability
- Punitive Damages: In rare cases involving criminal negligence, recklessness, or malice, you may be entitled to punitive compensation. Such cases can get a higher settlement for car accident victims. However, Texas caps punitive damages except in the case of felony offenses.
2. Injury Severity
Passenger injuries ranging from severe to catastrophic injuries get more compensation. This includes injuries to the head, neck, brain, spine, bones, internal organs, severely scarred or burned skin, amputations, and injuries requiring surgery.
Severe and catastrophic injuries are costly to treat, and you may need medical care for the rest of your life. Additionally, they can bring about lost wages, affecting your ability to work and earn an income long-term.
In the unfortunate event of a fatal car accident, the family of the accident victim may be entitled to sizable compensation from a wrongful death case.
On the other hand, minor car crash injuries like bruising, cuts, scrapes, and soft tissue damage (muscles, ligaments, tendons, etc.) are typically less expensive to treat and time-consuming to heal, so they settle for less.
3. Insurance Coverage
Texas is an at-fault state. That means you must first claim from the at-fault party’s insurance company if you’re a passenger in a car accident.
Accordion to the Texas Department of Insurance, all drivers must have car insurance that covers, at a minimum:
- $25,000 for property damage
- $30,000 per person
- $60,000 per accident
Insurance companies do not pay out more than the at-fault driver’s policy allows. For example, if the driver has the minimum coverage, a single claimant can’t get more than $30,000.
What’s more, insurance companies may try to undervalue or undermine your claim to save money.
However, you have several options if you can’t get fair compensation through the at-fault party’s insurance. For instance, you can claim from your own insurance policies, like Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage (UI/UIM).
A skilled personal injury attorney (like those at No Bull Law) can walk you through your best options for just compensation.
4. Your Legal Representation
Without legal representation, insurance companies are more likely to lowball your settlement offer. That’s why people who settle without a lawyer generally receive a far lower payout.
In fact, a study by the Insurance Research Council showed you can get (on average) 3 to 3.5 times higher compensation if you have a personal injury lawyer. (We’ll soon explore exactly how a lawyer can help you win a higher settlement.)
5. Comparative Negligence
In Texas law, a passenger can be assigned a portion of the blame for an accident. Your settlement can be reduced accordingly.
For example, say you knowingly got into a car with a drunk driver. You then get into a DUI accident. An insurance company might say you’re 20% responsible for your own damages and reduce your settlement by 20%.
6. Number of People At Fault
In some cases, there are many people involved in an accident. This can complicate determining who was at fault and to what degree, making it harder to claim compensation.
However, the ability to claim from multiple parties may make it more likely to cover your damages through insurance.
If only one party is at fault, claiming compensation is simpler, but their insurance policy limits how much you can get.
7. Other Factors
Additional factors that can increase the value of your claim include:
- The at-fault violated traffic laws — E.g., in the case of a drunk driver, driving without a license, speeding, running lights, etc.
- The at-fault driver was in a company vehicle covered by the employer’s insurance, which tends to have more coverage.
- The accident was caused by infrastructural failures on the part of a government entity.
- You build a strong personal injury case with plenty of evidence and documentation.
All these complexities highlight why you need legal representation — You don’t have to do it alone.
Insurance companies have a financial incentive to get you to accept a lower settlement offer than you deserve.
Meanwhile, personal injury lawyers have a financial incentive to fight for justice on your behalf. You see, a personal injury lawyer gets paid only if you win. You pay a percentage (33% to 40% in Texas) of your settlement amount.
This means your lawyers earn more if your case settles for more. But, even after lawyer fees, you’ll still walk away with an average settlement of 3 to 3.5 times more than if you didn’t have a personal injury attorney.
Let’s take a look at how an experienced lawyer can help you with the settlement process:
- Investigating the Accident: Your lawyers and experts in their network can examine the accident scene and collect evidence, witness statements, and documentation to prove your case.
- Calculating your Damages: They’ll help you make an accurate car accident claim based on your economic damages, pain and suffering, etc. This protects your credibility and ensures a fair settlement.
- Communicating with Insurance Companies: Lawyers can help you navigate all the legal procedures, so you don’t miss anything. This includes filing paperwork on time and communicating with the insurance adjuster, giving you more time and freedom to focus on recovery.
- Evaluating and Negotiating Settlement Offers: Insurance companies take your claim more seriously when you have a car accident attorney with a track record of winning cases. Personal injury lawyers are experts in evaluating offers so you don’t take a lowball settlement and know when an offer is good enough.
- Helping you Understand your Options: Lawyers provide guidance in navigating auto insurance policies, whether at-fault parties can afford to compensate you, and your best options for getting full compensation.
- Going to Trial if Needed: Armed with a complete understanding of your case from the time of the accident, lawyers can represent you in court to get a fair settlement if one can’t be reached through insurance.
At No Bull Law, we believe in handling every case with a fierce passion for justice, giving every client personal attention. Our specialized personal injury lawyers provide expert guidance throughout the settlement process and can represent you in court. You only pay if we win.
Here’s how it works:
- You contact us for a free case consultation (also available in Spanish — También disponible en español).
- We will start investigating your claim.
- If we take up your case, we’ll fight to win the settlement you’re entitled to.
Our Texas law firm offers legal services for any kind of motor vehicle accident claim, including:
- A car crash
- Truck accident
- Bus accident
- Motorcycle accident
- Bicycle accident
- Pedestrian accident
Besides driving accidents, we also provide a wide range of other personal injury law services. From a slip and fall accident to a construction accident, workplace injury, or medical malpractice case, we’ve got your back!
Here are some answers to questions you may have about navigating the car accident settlement process as a passenger:
1. What Should You Do if You’re a Passenger in a Car Accident?
Car accident victims are protected by certain rights. As a passenger, your best course of action is as follows:
- If possible, gather evidence at the accident scene, such as photos and videos of the vehicles involved and your injuries. Collect contact and insurance information. However, your health and safety are most important. The police or a loved one can help you gather information if you cannot.
- Seek medical attention.
- Get a copy of the police report.
- Report the accident to your auto insurance provider.
- Track all your expenses related to the accident.
- File a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company.
- Cooperate with the insurance adjuster and negotiate your settlement offer. We highly recommend having legal representation here. You have a right to decline to talk to insurance without a lawyer.
- File a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault party should you not be able to reach a fair settlement agreement through insurance.
Alternatively, you can seek compensation through other insurance policies you have, such as personal injury protection (PIP), collision coverage, or health insurance.
Getting a fair settlement is not as easy as it sounds, and filing a personal injury lawsuit can be overwhelming — but not if you hire an expert car accident lawyer from No Bull Law.
2. Who Pays for an Injured Passenger’s Medical Expenses After a Texas Car Accident?
In Texas, an at-fault state, an injured passenger can claim compensation for medical expenses from the at-fault party’s insurance company.
The at-fault party could be:
- The driver of the car you were in
- The driver of another car
- Both or multiple drivers
- The employer of a driver if they were working or in a company vehicle at the time
- A manufacturer of a vehicle or car part if a malfunction occurred
- A government entity in the event of road hazards
It can take a long time to reach a settlement with one or more of these parties. While you work on your personal injury claim, medical providers may place a lien on your future settlement. Alternatively, your health insurance may cover your medical bills and request reimbursement (subrogation) from your settlement.
3. Who Gets More Money in a Car Accident Settlement — The Driver or the Passenger?
It depends on the injuries sustained, economic losses, non-economic damages, and who was at fault. If your injuries are more severe, your settlement might be higher.
However, if the driver wasn’t at fault, they may get a bigger settlement because they often have property damages in addition to injuries.
In any case, you should still get fair compensation for your damages regardless of what the driver gets.
4. What if You Personally Know the At-Fault Driver?
It can be difficult or uncomfortable to pursue maximum compensation if you have a personal relationship with the at-fault driver. But it shouldn’t stop you from getting fair compensation through insurance.
Drivers have to be insured for a reason — so injured parties can cover their damages. The point of the settlement process is to get the at-fault driver’s insurance company to pay up, not to take money away from the driver.
It’s very beneficial to have a compassionate car accident attorney who can explain the settlement process clearly to both parties. They can also help you explore options to get fair compensation without financially burdening a loved one, such as claiming from other policies (like personal injury protection) or suing an at-fault third party.
5. If I Was Not Wearing A Seatbelt, Would It Affect My Case Results as an Injured Passenger in Texas?
Yes. In Texas, it is a legal requirement for all drivers and passengers (over 15 years old) to wear seatbelts while traveling. Note that the driver is responsible for ensuring passengers under 17 years old wear seatbelts.
If you are injured in a Texas car accident while not wearing a seatbelt, it can be considered in the comparative negligence assessment.
For example, if you could have avoided 40% of your injuries by wearing a seatbelt, your settlement can be decreased by 40%.
Navigating Your Car Accident Claim with Confidence
Getting maximum compensation as a passenger in a car accident is no simple task—insurance companies play hardball, and the process can be confusing.
That’s why having a seasoned personal injury lawyer by your side is a game-changer. At No Bull Law, we’re passionate about cutting through the legal clutter and fighting for every dollar you're owed.
Ready to tackle your personal injury claim?
Reach out to us for a free consultation and no-nonsense guidance. You’ve been through enough; let us handle the rest.
