Texas car accident settlement calculator

What to enter in a Texas car accident worksheet

Start with amounts you can document. Medical expenses may include bills for emergency care, follow-up visits, therapy, or medication. Lost income is easier to discuss when you have pay records or employer documentation. Keep vehicle repairs and other property loss separate from medical costs, and check whether an insurer has already paid an item so you do not count it twice. Future treatment, disputed charges, and work capacity usually need more than a quick estimate.

The optional noneconomic field is an amount you choose to test the arithmetic. The worksheet does not determine pain and suffering. Our pain and suffering scenario explorer shows why different assumptions can produce very different numbers.

A worked example—not a predicted settlement

Suppose someone enters $20,000 in medical expenses, $5,000 in lost wages, $3,000 in property loss, and $2,000 in other documented costs. Those economic inputs total $30,000. If they add a hypothetical $10,000 noneconomic amount, the combined inputs become $40,000. Selecting 20% responsibility produces $32,000 in simple arithmetic ($40,000 × 80%). It does not mean an insurer will offer $32,000 or that every entered item is legally recoverable.

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 33 addresses proportionate responsibility in actions to which it applies. Under §33.001, a claimant whose responsibility is greater than 50% may not recover damages under that chapter. A percentage typed into this tool is only a hypothetical assumption; fault must be evaluated from the evidence and applicable law. Do not rely on the arithmetic result when the scenario exceeds that threshold.

Pure vs. modified comparative fault, and why the 50% line matters

Not every state applies the same rule when more than one party shares fault. In a handful of states that use “pure” comparative fault, a claimant can recover something even if they were, say, 90% responsible — the recovery is simply reduced accordingly, with no cutoff point. Texas does not follow that model. Under Chapter 33, once a claimant’s responsibility exceeds 50%, the statute generally bars recovery entirely rather than merely reducing it. This is why the percentage field above stops producing a scenario amount past that threshold — it reflects the statute, not a display limit.

Because this line has real consequences, how responsibility gets assigned — and by whom — is often a central dispute in a Texas claim, separate from how much any individual loss is worth.

The filing deadline that applies alongside Chapter 33

Texas generally requires a personal injury lawsuit, including one arising from a car accident, to be filed within two years of the incident under Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003. Some circumstances — a claim involving a government vehicle or entity, for example — can shorten the practical window well below two years through separate notice requirements. This deadline is independent of the settlement negotiation itself; missing it can end the ability to recover regardless of how strong the underlying facts are. For a closer look at your own dates, see the Texas filing deadline calculator.

Why an actual offer may differ

A real claim can involve disputes over liability, causation, the necessity of treatment, available insurance, medical reimbursement claims, and the terms of any release. Property damage can also be handled separately. Before accepting an offer, ask for a written breakdown of what it covers and whether anything remains owed. For more context, read when an attorney may help after a car accident, uninsured motorist coverage, and insurance subrogation.

If you want to model how a hypothetical recovery might be distributed after a lawyer's fee, case expenses, and liens, use the attorney fee worksheet. It is a separate calculation and still cannot predict a final check.

Common questions