Collinsville Car Accident Lawyers

Be Careful About Speaking to Insurance Adjusters After a Wreck

Speaking to an insurance adjuster after a wreck deserves caution, since the adjuster works for a company that benefits from paying less. The other driver’s insurer may call within days, sound sympathetic, and ask for a recorded statement to “get the facts straight.”

Statements given early, when injuries are still unclear, can be used later against an injured person. Saying “I feel fine” before a back injury shows up on an MRI, or guessing about speed or fault, can give the insurer room to argue that the claim is exaggerated or that the injured person was partly to blame. A broad medical release is another request to approach carefully, since it may give the insurer access to old records unrelated to the wreck.

A safer approach is to share basic contact and vehicle details, decline a recorded statement, and send any further questions to an attorney. Your own insurer has duties of its own, and giving it truthful basic information is generally appropriate.

Filing a Claim Against an Uber or Lyft Driver in Collinsville

Filing a claim against an Uber or Lyft driver in Collinsville is more complicated than a typical wreck claim because several insurance policies may apply depending on what the driver was doing. A driver who has the app on but has not accepted a ride may be covered differently from a driver who is on the way to a pickup or a driver with a passenger in the car.

Passengers, other motorists, and pedestrians hurt by a rideshare vehicle can each have a claim. Rideshare companies often point out that drivers are independent contractors and push responsibility back to the individual, so the details of the trip matter. App records, trip logs, and phone data can show whether the driver was on a ride, headed to one, or simply logged in.

An early investigation helps determine which policy applies and whether the company itself may share responsibility.

What Damages Can You Be Paid for After a Car Wreck in Texas?

Damages after a car wreck in Texas fall into economic losses, non-economic losses, and, in rare cases, punitive damages. Economic damages cover costs that can be documented, including ambulance and hospital bills, surgery, physical therapy, prescriptions, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and vehicle repair or replacement. Future medical care and future lost income count too, which is important when an injury will affect a person for years.

Non-economic damages compensate for harm that does not arrive as a bill. Physical pain, mental anguish, scarring, physical impairment, and the loss of activities a person used to enjoy all belong here, and they can make up a large share of a serious claim.

Punitive damages, which Texas calls exemplary damages, are reserved for conduct like gross negligence or malice and are capped by law. They punish unusually bad behavior rather than repay a specific loss.

Our Successes in Car Accident Cases

One of our notable case results involved a $755,135 recovery for a client who was struck in a rear-end wreck. The collision left the client needing extensive medical treatment, and the settlement accounted for that full course of care rather than only the bills that existed when the claim began.

Results like that are part of a larger record. Burress Injury Law has recovered more than half a billion dollars in compensation for injured clients and has maintained a case success rate of over 99.9 percent. Each claim depends on its own facts, and a past result cannot predict the outcome of another case, but we bring the same commitment to detail to each and every claim.

Burress Injury Law and Community Involvement

Supporting the neighborhoods we serve is a regular part of the work we do at Burress Injury Law. The Underdog Scholarship provides funding several times annually to students who are pursuing a degree while managing financial strain, work schedules, or family responsibilities.

We also host an annual charity picnic where neighbors, small business owners, and local non-profit organizations come together for food, games, and conversation. Our attorneys and staff join in, and it is a day we look forward to.

How We Handle Billing for Car Accidents

Our billing for car accident cases is designed so that nobody has to pay a lawyer while they are still recovering from a wreck. Burress Injury Law works on a contingency fee basis, which means our fee is a percentage of the compensation we recover and is paid from a settlement or verdict. If there is no recovery, there is no attorney fee, and clients pay nothing up front.

Local Court Information for Car Accident Lawsuits in Collinsville

Collinsville is located in Grayson County, and a lawsuit over a car wreck there is generally handled by the courts in Sherman, the county seat. Many claims settle before anyone steps into a courtroom, but filing suit becomes necessary when an insurer denies fault or offers far less than a claim is worth. The Grayson County Courthouse is located at: