What to do after a car accident in Texas

The minutes after a wreck are the worst possible time to be working out what you're supposed to do. Some of it is genuinely law — Texas puts specific duties on you at the scene, with criminal penalties attached — and some of it is just insurance process that nobody explains until you're in it. The two get blurred together, which is how people end up doing the legally required things badly and the optional things anxiously.

Here's what we'll cover: what Texas law actually requires of you before you leave the scene, who files the crash report now that drivers no longer do, what to collect and why one item protects a hit-and-run claim, which policy to claim on when the other driver is at fault, the deadlines your own insurer has to meet, how fault gets split under Texas law, and what happens to your car.

At the scene: the part that's actually the law

Texas Transportation Code Chapter 550 sets out duties following a collision, and they are not advisory.

If anyone might be hurt. Section 550.021 applies to a collision "that results or is reasonably likely to result in injury to or death of a person." The operator must "immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the collision or as close to the scene as possible," must "immediately determine whether a person is involved in the collision, and if a person is involved in the collision, whether that person requires aid," and must "remain at the scene of the collision" until the information-and-aid duties are met. Leaving is a criminal offense — a second-degree felony where the collision results in death, a third-degree felony for serious bodily injury.

If it's damage only. Section 550.022 requires the same stop-and-remain for a collision "resulting only in damage to a vehicle that is driven or attended by a person." Failing to stop is a Class C misdemeanor under $200 of total vehicle damage and a Class B misdemeanor at $200 or more.

The freeway exception people get wrong. Under Section 550.022(b), if a collision happens on "a main lane, ramp, shoulder, median, or adjacent area of a freeway in a metropolitan area and each vehicle involved can be normally and safely driven," each operator "shall move the operator's vehicle as soon as possible" to a collision investigation site, the frontage road, or the nearest suitable cross street. On a Texas urban freeway, staying put in the travel lane is the violation, not moving. The statute defines the test: a vehicle can be normally and safely driven only if it "does not require towing" and "can be operated under its own power and in its usual manner, without additional damage or hazard."

What you have to hand over. Section 550.023 is the information duty, and it lists exactly four things: your name and address, "the registration number of the vehicle the operator was driving," and "the name of the operator's motor vehicle liability insurer," plus your driver's license "if requested and available." The same section requires you to "provide any person injured in the collision reasonable assistance," including arranging transport for medical treatment "if it is apparent that treatment is necessary, or if the injured person requests the transportation."

If you hit a parked car or a fence. Sections 550.024 and 550.025 cover unattended vehicles and roadside property. For a parked car you must locate the owner, or "leave in a conspicuous place in, or securely attach in a plainly visible way to, the unattended vehicle a written notice" with your name, address, and the circumstances. A note under the wiper is the statute's own remedy — walking away is the offense.

When you must call it in. Section 550.026 requires immediate notice to police "by the quickest means of communication" where the collision results in injury or death, or damage to a vehicle "to the extent that it cannot be normally and safely driven" — to the local police department inside a municipality, or the sheriff's office or nearest Department of Public Safety office otherwise.

Who files the crash report — and it isn't you

This is the single most out-of-date piece of advice still circulating. Texas drivers used to have to file their own crash report. That requirement lived in Section 550.061, and it was repealed effective September 1, 2017 — the chapter now refers to it only as "former Section 550.061 or 601.004 before September 1, 2017."

What remains is the officer's report. Under Section 550.062, a law enforcement officer who investigates a collision in the regular course of duty "shall make a written report of the collision if the collision resulted in injury to or the death of a person or damage to the property of any one person to the apparent extent of $1,000 or more," and must file it electronically "not later than the 10th day after the date of the collision." That report can be made from the scene or "afterwards by interviewing those involved in the collision or witnesses."

Two things follow for you. First, if no officer investigates, there may be no crash report at all — which is why what you collect yourself matters. Second, you can get a copy. Section 550.065 makes the report confidential but requires release, on written request and payment of the fee, to "any person directly concerned in the collision or having a proper interest therein," a list that expressly includes any person involved, "the owner of a vehicle or property damaged in the collision," and "an insurance company that issued an insurance policy covering a vehicle involved in the collision." The fee is set in the statute: "The fee for a copy of the collision report is $6," with certification an additional $2.

What to collect, and the one item that protects a claim

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) publishes a scene checklist. Its version:

"Collect the other driver's information. Take a picture of their insurance card and driver's license. If they don't have an insurance card, ask for their name, phone number, insurance company name, and policy number."

Plus: "Take pictures. Get pictures of the other cars involved, including license plates and damages. Also get pictures of street signs and road angles." "Talk to witnesses. Ask for names and phone numbers." "Write down details. Include the location, time of the wreck, weather conditions, and what happened."

Witnesses are worth more than people expect. TDI's auto guide is blunt about why: "Independent witnesses can help prove fault if you were in an accident caused by another driver. If you don't have witnesses and the other driver denies fault, his or her insurance company might deny your claim."

And then the item that is genuinely a money question rather than a tidiness question. TDI: "Call the police if you were hit by a driver who left the scene. Your uninsured motorist coverage won't pay for a hit-and-run accident if you didn't report it to police." A hit-and-run is exactly the situation where your own uninsured motorist coverage is supposed to step in, and the police report is what keeps that door open. It takes one phone call, and skipping it is the costliest omission on this page.

TDI also has a driver-refuses case: "If the other driver refuses to tell you the name of his or her insurance company, call the police."

Which insurance to claim on

If the other driver was at fault, TDI's position is that you have a choice: "If you think the other driver caused the accident, you can report the wreck to the other driver's insurance company. Their insurance should pay for your car repair, medical bills, and a rental car."

But "should" is doing real work in that sentence, and TDI says so on its dedicated page. The other driver's insurer might "Say their driver wasn't at fault and refuse to pay you," might "Say both drivers were at fault and want you to pay some of your costs," might "Say their driver doesn't have enough insurance to pay all your costs," or might simply "Not return your calls or emails." TDI's explanation of why is the part worth holding onto:

"You don't have a contract with the other driver's insurance, so you don't have the same options you would with your own company."

That contract asymmetry is the reason to notify your own insurer even when you're confident the other driver was at fault. TDI's fallback: "If the other insurance company won't pay the full amount or refuses to pay, file a claim with your company. Your insurance company will try to recover the money, including your deductible, from the other driver's insurance and give your deductible back."

If the other driver had no insurance, or drove away, the coverages on your own policy are what's left. TDI: "Most auto policies include collision coverage that will pay for your car repairs. Your auto policy might have medical payments and personal injury protection coverages that will pay medical bills. If you have uninsured/underinsured coverage in your auto policy, it will pay for your car repairs, a rental car, and pain and suffering. The deductible is usually lower than your collision deductible."

Whether you have that coverage is worth checking before you need it — it's on your policy by default in Texas unless you turned it down in writing, which is covered in detail on uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in Texas.

If the other driver's limits ran out, both policies can be in play. TDI: "If the other driver's policy limits aren't high enough to pay for all your car repairs, file a claim with your insurance company. Your collision or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage should pay the difference."

Also worth saying plainly: reporting an accident is not the same act as filing a claim, and the distinction is protected by Texas law when you're only asking questions. That boundary is set out in do car insurance claims follow you in Texas.

The deadlines that bind your insurer

Texas sets prompt-payment deadlines, and TDI states them as requirements. A company must:

"Tell you it got your claim within 15 days of getting notice."

"Accept or reject your claim within 15 business days of getting all the information it needs from you. A company that needs more time can take 45 days to decide whether to pay your claim. It must tell you the reason for the delay. If it denies your claim, it must tell you why in writing."

"Send you a check within five business days after it agrees to pay your claim."

There is a limit on where those deadlines reach, and it's the one to know: "The prompt payment law doesn't apply if another driver's insurance company is paying the claim." Filing with the at-fault driver's insurer buys you no clock. TDI adds that the company "must act in good faith and try to settle your claim quickly and fairly," but that is a standard, not a stopwatch.

Two more clocks matter. If your policy has personal injury protection, Insurance Code Section 1952.156 requires the insurer to pay benefits "periodically as claims for those benefits arise, but not later than the 30th day after the date the insurer receives satisfactory proof of a claim" — and the policy may set a proof-of-loss window of "not less than six months after the date of an accident." Separately, Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003 gives two years to bring suit for personal injury or for injury to property, running from when the cause of action accrues. Insurance claims and lawsuits are different tracks, but the second one is a hard outer edge, and TDI's own advice is to report to your company "as soon as possible" because "most companies have deadlines for filing claims."

How fault gets split in Texas

The other driver's insurer saying "both drivers were at fault" isn't a bluff — it reflects how Texas allocates responsibility. Under Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 33.001, "a claimant may not recover damages if his percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent." Below that line, Section 33.012(a) requires a court to "reduce the amount of damages to be recovered by the claimant with respect to a cause of action by a percentage equal to the claimant's percentage of responsibility."

So there are two distinct outcomes people collapse into one. Being partly responsible reduces what you recover, in proportion. Being more than half responsible bars recovery entirely. That 51% edge is why an insurer's early fault percentage is worth taking seriously rather than shrugging at, and why the scene evidence — photographs, witnesses, an officer's report — is what argues about it later.

Repairs, totals, and rentals

Your shop, your choice. TDI: "Your insurance company might give you a list of body shops, but you can take your car to any shop you choose." And in the auto guide: "Some companies might give you a list of preferred repair shops, but they can't require you to use a shop on its list." Insurance Code Section 1952.305 backs this with a notice duty — when a vehicle is presented in connection with a repair claim, the insurer or adjuster "shall provide to the beneficiary or third-party claimant notice of the provisions of this subchapter."

Estimates can move. TDI: "Your insurance company will give you a repair estimate. If it costs more to repair your car, the body shop will give your insurance company a new estimate. Your company will pay for the extra repairs if it agrees with the estimate." On parts, "The insurance company is only required to pay for parts of like kind and quality to those that were damaged. It doesn't have to pay for original parts from the manufacturer."

If it's totaled, payment is actual cash value — "the cost to replace your car, minus depreciation." TDI's example is unsentimental: "if your car is 10 years old, the company will pay you the value of a 10-year-old used car." It also flags the loan gap: "If you still owe money on your car, the amount the company will pay you if it totals your car might not be enough to pay off your loan."

Rentals depend on who's paying. If the other driver caused it, their insurer pays "for the time the company believes is reasonable for your car to be repaired." On your own policy, TDI lists rental as payable if you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and the at-fault driver was uninsured, underinsured, or a hit-and-run; if you have rental reimbursement coverage; or under comprehensive if the car was stolen.

If you disagree on the amount, TDI describes appraisal: you and the insurer each hire an appraiser, the two choose a third as umpire, and "the umpire's decision is binding on both you and the insurance company." Note its boundary — "You can use appraisal only for disputes with your insurance company. You can't use it to resolve disputes with another person's insurance company."

What to do with this

• Before you leave the scene, meet the four-item information duty in Section 550.023 and get the same back — name, address, vehicle registration number, and the name of their liability insurer.
• On an urban freeway with drivable cars, move first, then exchange. Section 550.022(b) makes that the requirement, not a courtesy.
• Call the police if anyone is hurt, if a car can't be driven, if the other driver leaves, or if they won't name their insurer. The hit-and-run case is the one where the call directly protects a coverage claim.
• Photograph more than the damage — license plates, street signs, road angles, weather, and the other driver's insurance card and licence.
• Get witness names and numbers. Without them, a denial by the other driver is harder to argue against.
• Order the crash report once it's filed — $6 under Section 550.065, $2 more to certify — and send it to whichever insurer is handling the claim.
• Tell your own insurer even if you're claiming against the other driver. The prompt-payment clock only runs against your own company.
• Get the reason in writing if an insurer says no. TDI's line for the other driver's insurer: "ask for their reason in detail and in writing."
• Check your Declarations page now for uninsured/underinsured motorist, PIP, medical payments, collision, and rental coverage — after a wreck, that page decides what's available to you.

Key facts

• Stopping and exchanging information is a criminal duty, not etiquette. Leaving an injury collision is a second-degree felony where it results in death and a third-degree felony for serious bodily injury (Transportation Code Section 550.021); leaving a damage-only collision is a Class C or Class B misdemeanor depending on whether total vehicle damage reaches $200 (Section 550.022).
• The required disclosure is four items: name, address, vehicle registration number, and the name of your motor vehicle liability insurer, plus your driver's license if requested and available (Section 550.023).
• On a metropolitan freeway, drivable vehicles must be moved before completing the exchange (Section 550.022(b)).
• Drivers no longer file their own crash report — the requirement in Section 550.061 was repealed effective September 1, 2017. The officer's report is required where there is injury, death, or apparent property damage of $1,000 or more, and must be filed electronically within 10 days (Section 550.062).
• A copy of the report costs $6, plus $2 for certification, and people involved in the collision and their insurers are entitled to request it (Section 550.065).
• A hit-and-run needs a police report. TDI: "Your uninsured motorist coverage won't pay for a hit-and-run accident if you didn't report it to police."
• Prompt-payment deadlines apply to your own insurer only: acknowledge within 15 days, accept or reject within 15 business days (extendable to 45 with a stated reason), pay within five business days of agreeing. "The prompt payment law doesn't apply if another driver's insurance company is paying the claim."
• PIP benefits are due no later than 30 days after satisfactory proof of claim (Insurance Code Section 1952.156).
• Fault is proportionate, with a hard edge: damages are reduced by your percentage of responsibility, and recovery is barred entirely above 50 percent (Civil Practice and Remedies Code Sections 33.012(a) and 33.001).
• Suit for personal injury or property damage must be brought within two years of when the cause of action accrues (Section 16.003).
• You choose the repair shop, and insurers "can't require you to use a shop on its list" (TDI); a totaled car is paid at actual cash value, after depreciation.

Sources: Texas Transportation Code Chapter 550 — Sections 550.021, 550.022, 550.023, 550.024, 550.025, 550.026, 550.062, and 550.065. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003 and Chapter 33, Sections 33.001 and 33.012. Texas Insurance Code Chapter 1952, Sections 1952.156 and 1952.305. Texas Department of Insurance — Were you in a wreck? Tips for auto insurance claims, Accident not your fault? Here's how to deal with the other driver's insurance, and the Auto insurance guide. TDI's Help Line is 800-252-3439. This page is general information, not legal advice; what a specific policy pays depends on that policy's terms, and criminal and civil questions arising from a collision are matters for a lawyer.

Take the next step

Most of what goes wrong after a Texas wreck goes wrong in the first hour, and it isn't dramatic — a scene left without a phone number, a hit-and-run never reported to police, a claim filed only with the other driver's insurer and then left to drift with no deadline attached to it. None of those are recoverable later. Knowing which duties are statutory, which clock runs against whom, and what's actually on your own policy turns the aftermath into a process rather than an argument you're losing.

Credify is a licensed insurance agency in Texas, and we compare coverage across multiple licensed Texas carriers in one short form, with no obligation; each insurer remains responsible for its own products. If reading this made you unsure what your own policy would do, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in Texas covers the coverage that pays when the other driver can't, how a car insurance claim works in Texas walks the claim itself end to end, what car insurance is required in Texas sets out the minimums the other driver was supposed to carry, and what counts as proof of insurance in Texas covers what you need to be able to show at the scene. 📞 Talk to Credify 24/7.