Getting Help Is Easy
To begin the process of pursuing compensation after your car accident, contact us today for a free consultation. It only takes a call or a click, so you don’t have to leave the house!
You Have a Right to Compensation
When you’ve been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you have the right to seek damages for your injury. We work hard to protect that right and get you the settlement you may be entitled to.
You Pay Nothing Unless We Win
We offer compassionate and competent legal representation to our Texas neighbors without charging any upfront fees. You only pay if we win!
Table of Contents
How We Move a Car Accident Claim Forward
One phone call moves a car accident claim off your to-do list and onto ours. Robert White and Greta Braker take those calls themselves, and their past auto accident results include a $1,129,236 recovery. Both grew up in Texas and try cases in the courts that serve this region.
Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
Once you hire us, the work shifts to our side of the table:
- Pull the crash report and push for corrections when the codes are wrong
- Identify every driver, owner, or employer who may share responsibility
- Take adjuster calls, recorded statement requests, and paperwork off your phone
- Deal with the body shop, the rental desk, and the total loss adjuster on your behalf
- Line up doctors who will treat you while the claim stays open
- Advance the case expenses, with our fee tied to what we recover
Odessa car accident cases and Midland car accident claims move through that same process, built around what your records actually show. More than 235 Google reviews at a 4.6 rating come from people who watched it work. Walk us through the wreck, and our auto accident lawyer team will tell you what your claim looks like from here, no strings attached.
What Does Texas Require Drivers to Carry?
Less than most people assume, and the gap shows up fast after a serious car wreck. Under Texas Transportation Code § 601.072, a driver must carry at a minimum of $30,000 for injuries to one person, $60,000 for injuries to everyone in one crash, and $25,000 for property damage.
Those figures have not moved in years, and hospital charges have. A single minimum policy runs dry against costs like these:
- Emergency transport and the first hospital bill
- A single hospital stay, which arrives as separate bills from several providers rather than one
- Months of follow-up care after the hospital discharges you
- Missed shifts, lost overtime, and time off for appointments
- Out-of-network charges nobody warned you about
When the at-fault policy cannot cover what you owe, we look for every other source of payment before anyone signs a release. Our car accident attorney team starts that search the week you call.
What Happens When Another Driver Has No Insurance?
You may already own the coverage that solves the problem. Most Texas drivers carry uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) without realizing it, and it pays when the at-fault driver has nothing or not enough. Checking for it is one of the first things we do.
Insurers in Texas cannot issue an auto policy without including that coverage unless you turned it down in writing, under Texas Insurance Code § 1952.101. Plenty of drivers do not remember signing a rejection, and some rejections do not hold up when someone actually reads the file. We pull your declarations page, the one-page summary at the front of your policy that lists what you are covered for, and check.
Send us the policy and let us read it. Reviews cost nothing, and it takes very little time to find out what coverage you already paid for.
What Insurance Adjusters Do After a Car Accident
Insurance claims move through a standard sequence, and knowing the sequence takes the sting out of it. None of the steps below is improper, and every one of them shapes what a claim is worth:
- The early call: An adjuster may reach you within days of the crash, often before you have finished seeing anyone about your injuries.
- The recorded statement: A few casual questions can lock in a version of events written down before you know the full picture.
- The quick offer: A check arrives while you are still under care, sized to the bills you have now rather than the ones coming.
- The broad authorization: A signed medical release can open years of unrelated records that have nothing to do with the collision.
- The gap in care: Any stretch where you stop attending appointments becomes a reason to argue you had already recovered.
None of that means anyone acted in bad faith, and all of it means you benefit from someone answering on your behalf. Our auto accident lawyer team takes the file, so those calls stop reaching your phone. Get a free review before you sign anything an insurer sends you.
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What if Your Own Insurer Drags Its Feet?
Texas puts a clock on your own insurer. Once you file a first-party claim, meaning a claim on your own policy rather than the other driver's, Texas Insurance Code § 542.058 generally gives the carrier 60 days to pay after it receives everything it asked for. A company that runs past that window without a valid reason can owe interest and attorney fees on top of the benefits.
Most drivers never realize these deadlines exist, leaving claims stalled while they wait for updates that never come. We track every document the insurance company requests and when it receives each one, making it easier to identify unnecessary delays once the required paperwork is complete.
If your claim has stopped moving, bring us the letters and emails you've received. We will review the status of your claim and explain where things stand during a free consultation.
Who Decides How Much Blame Falls on You?
A jury does not, not the adjuster on the phone. An opinion that you were 40% at fault is an opening position, and it carries no legal weight until someone with authority decides otherwise.
Texas assigns responsibility by percentage, and under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.003, the trier of fact, meaning the jury or the judge when there is no jury, sets that percentage for each person involved in the wreck. You can still recover as long as your share stays at 50% or below, and your award drops by whatever percentage lands on you.
Specifically, that makes every percentage point worth arguing about. Our West Texas car accident lawyer team answers those arguments with scene photographs, damage patterns, and statements taken while the details are still fresh. Do not let one phone call settle the fault question.
Where Your Vehicle Damage Claim Fits In
Property damage claims are handled separately from injury claims and often resolve much sooner. If your car is totaled, the insurance company generally pays its actual cash value, which reflects the vehicle's market value immediately before the collision, not the remaining balance on your loan.
Several factors influence the value of a total loss settlement:
- Comparable sale prices for the same year, trim, and mileage in this market
- Recent tires, batteries, and major repairs backed by receipts
- Aftermarket equipment was installed before the collision
- Rental coverage for the days the claim stays open
- Storage fees are charged while the vehicle sits at the yard
- Sales tax and title fees on the replacement vehicle
Gap coverage matters here, too, since it pays the difference when the loan runs higher than the value. Our car accident lawyer in Odessa and Midland handles the vehicle side alongside the injury side, so one does not stall the other. Call us before you accept a total loss figure.
Putting a Number on Your Car Accident Injuries
Your claim is worth what you can prove, plus what your doctors expect is still coming. We build that number from records instead of a formula that an insurer applies to every file. A complete demand accounts for losses like these:
- Emergency care and hospital charges
- Care that your physicians expect you will still need after the claim closes
- Ongoing outpatient care and the travel it takes to get there
- Lost paychecks, lost overtime, and reduced earning ability
- Out-of-pocket costs your household absorbed while the claim was running
- Pain, lost sleep, and the parts of daily life that the injury took
Some claims look small in the earliest records and grow substantially once the full course of care is known, which is exactly why early offers land where they do. Our car accident attorney team waits for the medical picture to settle before talking numbers. Ask what a complete claim looks like for an injury like yours.
Do Children Injured in a Crash Have a Different Deadline?
Yes, and that surprises most parents. Adults generally have two years from the date of the collision to file suit in Texas, while Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.001 does not count the years of childhood against the limitations period. For a hurt child, the clock effectively starts at 18.
Waiting is still the wrong call. Medical records get harder to gather, witnesses leave the Permian Basin for the next job, and damaged vehicles get repaired or crushed. Bring the question to us early, even when the deadline sits years out.
Where a suit gets filed matters as well, smaller injury cases in Ector County can land in a county court at law rather than the district court, and those two dockets do not move at the same speed.
FAQs: West Texas Car Accident Lawyer
Drivers regularly ask us these questions once they decide to do something about the crash.
Do I Already Have Personal Injury Protection Coverage?
Probably, unless you rejected it in writing, personal injury protection, or PIP, pays a set amount toward medical bills and lost wages no matter who caused the wreck, and it pays quickly. Check your declarations page, or send it over, and we will read it in a few minutes.
Will My Health Insurer Want Money Back From My Settlement?
Sometimes. The term for it is subrogation, which means your health plan asks to be repaid out of your recovery. Whether it applies depends on the kind of plan you have, and we deal with those claims directly and work to reduce what gets paid back.
Can I Still Recover if I Was Not Wearing a Seat Belt?
Yes, though Texas allows the other side to raise it. Under the Texas Supreme Court's decision in Nabors Well Services, Ltd. v. Romero, seat belt evidence can factor into how a jury splits responsibility. Not wearing one does not bar a claim, and the other side still has to show the belt would have changed your injuries.
Is a Minor Fender Bender Worth Calling You About?
Sometimes the honest answer is no. If you walked away without treatment and the insurer is paying for the bumper, you may not need us at all. Call anyway if you end up seeing a doctor in the days that follow, because a claim you have already closed is difficult to reopen.
Can I Switch Firms if I Already Hired Someone Else?
Yes, and it happens more often than people expect. You can change representation at any point in a case, and the fee question typically gets worked out between the firms rather than doubling what comes out of your recovery. Send us whatever you signed, and we will explain how a switch works before you decide anything.
Can You Take My Case if I Live in Big Spring or Pecos?
Yes. Our office sits in Odessa, and we handle claims across Ward County, Andrews County, and the smaller towns between them. Distance has never been the reason we turned down a file.
What Happens if My Passenger Was Hurt Too?
Passengers usually have claims of their own, and sometimes against more than one driver. A passenger can often reach coverage from both vehicles involved, which changes the money available. Bring your passenger to the same consultation, and we will explain how each claim works.
Start Your West Texas Car Accident Claim With Braker White
Claims go better when someone else is answering the insurer's calls, and that is our work every day. Braker White will handle the paperwork, the records, and the deadlines, and our West Texas car accident lawyer team will keep you posted as the claim moves. Call 432-580-5421 for a 100% free consultation, and we will get started today.