Can you recover compensation if you were partially at fault for an accident in Texas?
Potentially. Under Texas proportionate-responsibility law, a claimant generally may recover when the claimant’s percentage of responsibility is 50 percent or less, but recoverable damages are reduced according to that percentage. If the claimant is found more than 50 percent responsible, Chapter 33 generally bars recovery.
How Does Texas Comparative Fault Work?
Texas calls its system proportionate responsibility. Responsibility can be allocated among people and entities whose conduct is legally relevant to the harm at issue.
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 33.001 establishes the threshold: a claimant may not recover damages if the claimant’s percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent.
How Does Partial Fault Reduce Compensation?
When Chapter 33 applies and a claimant is permitted to recover, the amount of recoverable damages is generally reduced by the claimant’s percentage of responsibility.
For a simplified example, if recoverable damages were determined to be $100,000 and the claimant were assigned 20 percent responsibility, a 20 percent reduction would produce $80,000. This example illustrates the concept only; actual cases can involve additional legal and factual issues.
What If You Are Exactly 50 Percent Responsible?
The statutory bar applies when the claimant’s responsibility is greater than 50 percent. Accordingly, 50 percent is different from 51 percent under the statutory threshold. Other legal issues may still affect the amount actually recoverable.
Why Do Fault Percentages Become Disputed?
Insurers and parties may disagree about speed, following distance, right of way, lane position, traffic signals, distraction and whether a person’s conduct contributed to the collision.
An initial accusation of fault is not necessarily the final allocation of legal responsibility.
What Evidence Can Affect a Fault Determination?
- Police crash information
- Scene and vehicle photographs
- Dash-camera or surveillance video
- Witness statements
- Vehicle electronic data when available
- Cell-phone or other records when legally obtainable and relevant
- Measurements and physical evidence from the scene
- Expert analysis in appropriate cases
Do Not Assume You Have No Claim Because You May Have Made a Mistake
Accidents sometimes involve conduct by more than one person. Before assuming partial fault eliminates a claim, the evidence should be evaluated and the applicable Texas law considered.
Learn more through the firm’s Dallas personal injury and Fort Worth personal injury resources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I recover if I am 20 percent at fault in Texas?
If Chapter 33 applies and the claimant is found 20 percent responsible, that percentage does not exceed the statutory bar, but recoverable damages generally are reduced by the claimant’s percentage of responsibility.
Can I recover if I am 51 percent responsible?
Under Section 33.001, a claimant may not recover damages if the claimant’s percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent.
Does the insurance adjuster decide the final percentage of fault?
An adjuster’s position is part of the claims process, but it is not necessarily the final legal determination if the parties dispute responsibility.
Disputed Fault in a Texas Accident?
The Piri Law Firm can review the available evidence and evaluate how Texas proportionate-responsibility law may affect an injury claim.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Chapter 33 contains applicability rules and exceptions, and individual claims should be evaluated based on their specific facts.
