Deadlines

At the scene and the first days

Transportation Code Chapter 550 sets duties to stop, give information, render aid, and give immediate notice in the situations it covers. The first hour page summarizes them. These are immediate duties, not deadlines measured in days.

Your own policy likely requires prompt notice of an accident. TDI’s auto guide says to tell your company about the accident as soon as possible and notes that most companies have deadlines for filing claims. Check your policy’s conditions section.

Officer crash reports are not instant. TxDOT’s purchase guide says a report can take up to 14 days to appear in search, and HPD’s request form tells requesters to wait at least 10 days. See crash reports.

Claims on your own policy

TDI’s guide describes deadlines Texas law sets for a company handling a claim on your own policy. It says the company must:

• tell you it got your claim within 15 days of getting notice;
• accept or reject the claim within 15 business days of getting all the information it needs, or take up to 45 days if it needs more time and tells you why;
• explain a denial in writing; and
• send payment within five business days after agreeing to pay.

TDI notes that these prompt payment deadlines do not apply when another driver’s company is paying, and the auto Consumer Bill of Rights mentions a catastrophe extension. Your duties also run in the other direction: send requested documents promptly, because the 15-business-day clock starts when the company has what it needs.

Rentals when the car is totaled

TDI says that if a company totals your car, it might stop paying for a rental a few days after telling you. That is not a statutory deadline, but it is a short window. See rental car.

Claims against a government unit: notice

If a city, county, state agency, or other governmental unit’s vehicle was involved, the Texas Tort Claims Act may apply. Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 101.101 says a governmental unit is entitled to notice of a claim not later than six months after the day of the incident, and the notice must reasonably describe the damage or injury, the time and place, and the incident. The same section ratifies city charter and ordinance provisions requiring notice within a charter period permitted by law, so a city’s own period may be shorter. It also says the notice requirement does not apply if the governmental unit has actual notice of a death, an injury, or property damage. See government vehicles.

Filing a personal-injury lawsuit

Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003 sets a general two-year limitations period for many personal-injury suits, measured from the day the cause of action accrues, and names exceptions within the section. Other kinds of claims, such as property damage or claims under an insurance contract, can have different periods. Some circumstances pause or change the clock. Treat two years as a reason to act early, not as a guaranteed window.

Solicitation timing

Penal Code § 38.12 makes it an offense for a lawyer or certain licensed providers to send written solicitations concerning a personal-injury claim from an accident before the 31st day after the accident, among other prohibited contacts. That is a limit on them, not a deadline for you. See calls and letters after a crash.

Hospital and EMS liens

Under Property Code Chapter 55, a hospital lien attaches only if the person was admitted within 72 hours after the accident, and an EMS lien only if services were received within 72 hours. See hospital and EMS liens.

A simple date log

• Date and time of the crash, and the agency that responded.
• Date you notified your insurer, and claim number.
• Date the other driver’s insurer was notified, and claim number.
• Dates documents were requested and sent.
• Date of any written notice to a governmental unit.
• Date six months after the crash, and the date two years after it, marked as reminders to check, not as conclusions.

TDI’s Consumer Help Line is 800-252-3439.