Common Insurance Company Defenses in Texas Car Accident Cases
The Reality After a Car Wreck
The moments after a car wreck are often a blur of pain, fear, and confusion. You are worried about your health, your family, your car, and how this is going to affect your life. While you are trying to catch your breath, the insurance company is already at work. Its adjusters and lawyers are trained to protect the company’s money, not your future. They use a set of common defenses to limit what they pay or to deny claims entirely. When you do not know what those defenses are or how they work, it can feel like the deck is stacked against you.
Standing Up to Insurance Company Tactics
At Parker Law Firm, we believe that knowledge gives you some control back. I am Brad Parker, the attorney you want but hope you never need. My team and I know you are more than a claim number. You are a real person who has had your normal life taken from you in an instant. Insurance companies often forget that. They may dig through your medical history, question your driving, and even look at your social media to find anything they can use against you. Our job is to stand between you and those tactics. We fight tirelessly for you, and we take pride in seeking justice for people who have been hurt by someone else’s carelessness.
Comparative Negligence in Texas Car Accident Cases
One of the most common defenses in Texas car accident cases is comparative negligence. This means the insurance company will argue that you were partly or mostly at fault for the crash. Texas follows a modified comparative negligence rule, which allows recovery in many cases even if you share some blame, but reduces compensation based on your percentage of fault.
If the other side convinces a jury that you were more responsible than the other driver, you may not recover at all. For this reason, insurers often claim you were speeding, distracted, or not paying attention. We push back by closely examining the evidence, speaking with witnesses, and using experts when needed to present an accurate and honest account of how the crash occurred.
Assumption of Risk Arguments
Another defense you might hear about is called assumption of risk. This is when the other side claims you knew something was dangerous and got involved anyway, so they should not be held responsible. In some situations, such as contact sports or certain recreational activities, that argument may come up. Defense lawyers sometimes try to stretch this idea into car accident cases.
For example, they may argue that if you rode with a driver you knew had been drinking, or you chose to drive in severe weather, you accepted the risk of being hurt. That kind of argument can feel like an attack on your judgment and character. The truth is that driving is part of daily life in Texas. Getting in a car does not mean you agree to be hit by a careless driver or to lose your health and your income because someone else chose to break the rules of the road. We work to show the difference between the ordinary risks of living your life and the unfair burden of someone else’s negligence.
Using Medical History Against Injury Claims
Insurance companies also focus heavily on your medical history. This is where things can feel especially personal. They often argue that your pain, limited movement, or need for treatment is not from the crash at all, but from a pre-existing injury or condition. Maybe you had some back pain years ago or an old sports injury. They will point to those records and say, “This was already there.” What the law generally recognizes, however, is that a negligent driver must take the injured person as they find them.
If you were more easily hurt because of a condition you already had, or if the crash turned a manageable issue into a life-changing problem, the at-fault party can still be held responsible for the additional harm. We spend a lot of time with your doctors and medical experts to explain how the wreck made things worse, changed your daily life, or caused new injuries that did not exist before. Your history is part of who you are. It should not be twisted into an excuse to walk away from the damage the crash caused.
Statutes of Limitations and Delay Tactics
Timing is another tool the defense uses. Injury cases are controlled by legal deadlines known as statutes of limitations. In Texas, those deadlines can be short, and they can change depending on who was involved, such as a government entity or a minor child. If your lawsuit is not filed in time, your claim can be lost even if liability seems clear. Insurance companies know this.
Sometimes they act friendly and seem to be working with you, all while time quietly passes. That is why it is so important to talk with a Texas personal injury lawyer as soon as you can after a crash. Our firm tracks deadlines carefully, and we work to protect your ability to file suit while we deal with the insurance company. Waiting too long to get legal help can give the defense a powerful advantage.
Proving Negligence Despite Defense Strategies
To overcome these defenses, we focus on the basic building blocks of a negligence claim: duty, breach, causation, and damages. In simple terms, we have to show that the other driver had a duty to drive safely, that they failed to do so, that their choices caused the wreck, and that you were actually hurt and suffered losses as a result. Defense lawyers know that if they can attack the “causation” and “damages” parts of your case, they may be able to pay less or nothing at all.
They may admit their driver caused a minor bump but deny that the impact was strong enough to cause a serious back or neck injury. They may say your problems are all from age or prior wear and tear. That is why we treat every case as if it might go before a jury. When the other side sees that we have gathered strong evidence, talked to the right experts, and can clearly connect what happened in the crash to what is happening in your body and your life, their standard defenses often lose power.
Using Experts to Tell the Full Story
Proving negligence is not just about pointing fingers. It is about telling a clear, honest story that is supported by facts. We may work with accident reconstruction experts who can look at skid marks, vehicle damage, and traffic patterns to explain how the crash happened. We may talk with your doctors or use medical experts who understand how the forces in a rear-end impact, a side collision, or a high-speed crash can cause specific injuries like herniated discs, concussions, or ligament damage. The goal is to separate what the insurance company calls “degenerative” or “pre-existing” from what is actually new, different, and directly tied to the wreck. When we do this well, juries and adjusters have a much harder time buying into the defense story.
Evidence That Strengthens Your Claim
The evidence you gather can make a significant difference in how strong your case is. Certain types of evidence help clearly show how the crash happened and who was responsible.
- A police report can document what the responding officer observed, who was cited, and how the scene appeared immediately after the collision.
- Witness statements can support your version of events if someone saw the other driver run a light, follow too closely, or swerve into your lane.
Your medical records are often the foundation of your injury claim. Seeing a doctor quickly and continuing recommended care helps establish a clear link between the crash and your symptoms.
- Gaps in treatment or ignoring medical advice can give the defense an opportunity to argue that your injuries are minor or caused by something else.
We help our clients organize and understand this paperwork because we know how overwhelming it can be when you are in pain and trying to manage everyday life.
Failure to Mitigate Damages Defense
Another defense the insurance company may raise is called failure to mitigate damages. That means they will argue that you did not do what a reasonable person would do to keep your injuries from getting worse or to reduce your financial losses. If you skip appointments, ignore medical advice, refuse recommended treatment without a good reason, or go back to heavy work against your doctor’s instructions, the defense will say you made your own situation worse and they should not have to pay for those added problems. This is one reason we spend time talking with our clients about their recovery, not just their legal file. Following medical advice does more than support your health. It also strengthens your injury claim.
Surveillance, Social Media, and Data Tools
Insurance companies also use modern tools that most people never think about. Many large insurers use computer programs and algorithms to help set settlement offers. These programs look at data from thousands of old cases, but they do not see your personal story, your pain, or what you have lost. Adjusters then feed the software information from your file. If the defense can pull social media photos of you smiling at an event or taking a short trip, they may suggest you are not really in pain, even if you paid for that outing with days of increased symptoms afterward.
Investigators sometimes watch claimants in public or online looking for small moments they can twist. We often advise clients to be very careful about what they post and who they talk to after a wreck. You should not have to live in fear of being watched, but you should know that anything you say or share can be taken out of context and used as a defense.
Defenses in Multi-Vehicle Accidents
Multi-vehicle crashes bring their own set of defenses. In a pileup or chain reaction collision, it is common for each driver’s insurance company to blame someone else. They might argue that a driver who left the scene is really responsible, or that another car in the middle caused the worst of the damage. This is sometimes called the “empty chair” approach, because the defense points to someone who is not even in the courtroom.
In these complex wrecks, we look closely at vehicle positions, timing, damage patterns, and witness statements to build a clear timeline. The goal is to identify who started the chain of events and which choices reasonably led to your injuries. That way, the responsibility does not get lost in a cloud of finger-pointing.
Steps That Can Help Protect Your Claim
While all of this may sound technical, there are some simple steps you can take after a crash in Texas that often help protect your claim against these defenses. If you are physically able to do so safely, try to take photos or short videos of the vehicles, your visible injuries, the road conditions, and anything unusual at the scene. Get names and contact information for any witnesses.
Be careful about what you say at the scene. A quick “I’m sorry” that you intend as basic politeness can later be twisted into an admission of fault. See a doctor as soon as you can, even if you think you will “walk it off.” Many serious injuries do not fully show themselves right away, and having that early record helps link your symptoms to the wreck.
Do You Need a Lawyer After a Car Accident
Many people wonder if they really need a lawyer after a wreck. Some try to handle the claim on their own at first. In minor crashes with no injuries, that might be enough. But when you are dealing with real injuries, time away from work, and medical bills, you are facing an insurance company that handles these cases every day.
Their adjusters and lawyers know the defenses, the legal rules, and the pressure points. You should have someone on your side who knows those same things and who cares about you, not the bottom line. At Parker Law Firm, we treat you like family. We explain what is happening, we answer your questions, and we keep you informed instead of leaving you in the dark. We handle the calls, letters, and legal issues so you can focus on healing.
Trial Experience and Fee Structure
I am Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, which means I have tried many cases and met rigorous standards set by the State of Texas. That certification is not a guarantee of a specific outcome in your case, and no honest lawyer can promise results.
But it does mean that when an insurance company sees our name on a file, they know we are prepared to go the distance if that is what it takes. We do not charge any attorney’s fees unless we make a recovery for you. You may have heard the phrase “no fee unless we win.” That is how we operate, and we are always upfront about costs and expectations.
Legal Information and Next Steps
Every car wreck and every person is different. The defenses that may come up in your case depend on the facts, the injuries, and who is involved. The information here is meant to help you understand the general strategies insurance companies use in Texas car accident claims, not to give you specific legal advice. This information is for general purposes only and does not create an attorney–client relationship. To understand how the law applies to your situation, you should talk directly with a licensed Texas attorney.
If you or someone you care about has been hurt in a crash anywhere in the Bedford or Fort Worth area, you do not have to try to face the insurance company alone. We are here to listen, to answer your questions, and to help you decide what makes sense for you and your family. When you are ready to talk about what happened and what comes next, reach out. We will sit down with you, explain your options in plain language, and stand by you while we pursue fair compensation and continue seeking justice on your behalf.
