There is no meaningful average. Settlements track the injury, the fault evidence, and the insurance available, from a few thousand dollars for a soft-tissue claim against a minimum policy to seven figures for a permanent injury against a commercial carrier.
Averages published online are marketing numbers, not data. Texas does not report settlement amounts, and the cases that make up any average range from a bruised knee against a 30/60/25 policy to a spinal injury against a trucking company. The number that matters is the one your facts support.
Three things drive it. First, the injury: its severity, whether it is permanent, and what treatment it needs now and later. Second, fault: Texas proportionate responsibility under Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code reduces recovery by your share of fault and bars it at 51 percent. Third, insurance: Texas requires only $30,000 per person in liability coverage under Transportation Code section 601.072, so the at-fault driver’s policy is often the ceiling unless your own underinsured motorist coverage or another policy applies.
What Texas law lets you recover is broad: medical expenses past and future, lost wages and earning capacity, physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment, and disfigurement. Documentation decides how much of that a jury or an adjuster will credit.
The honest way to learn what your case is worth is a free consultation where a lawyer reviews the crash report, the medical picture so far, and every policy in play. Owsley Law Firm does that at no charge and takes cases on contingency, so there is no fee unless it wins.
Several Texas rules change what a settlement is actually worth once the headline number is set. Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 41.0105 limits recovery of medical expenses to the amounts actually paid or incurred, so a hospital's full billed charge is not the number a jury sees when the bill was reduced by health insurance. That is why two people with identical bills can have different medical damages, and why how the treatment was paid for matters early.
The gross figure is also not what reaches the client. Hospital liens under Property Code Chapter 55 attach to a recovery, and health plans and Medicare may claim reimbursement from it. A good settlement accounts for those claims before it is accepted, because a large number with large liens can leave less than a smaller, cleaner one. Personal physical injury damages are generally not treated as taxable income federally, but punitive amounts are, and a tax adviser should confirm how a specific settlement is treated.
Interest can also matter in a case that goes to judgment. Texas Finance Code section 304.104 allows prejudgment interest that begins accruing on the earlier of 180 days after the defendant receives written notice of the claim or the date suit is filed. That is one reason the timing of a written demand is not a formality.
Finally, the ceiling is often the policy. A Texas driver can lawfully carry only 30/60/25 limits, and the injured person cannot collect more than the insurance and assets allow. Identifying every policy, including an employer's, a vehicle owner's, and your own underinsured motorist coverage, is what moves a case above the minimum.
Mistakes that cost people money
- Accepting a first offer before the treating doctors say what future care will be needed.
- Treating the total of the medical bills as the value of the case, when only paid or incurred amounts count and liens come out of the recovery.
- Comparing your case to an online average instead of to its own injury, fault, and insurance facts.
- Signing a release that covers claims you did not know you had, such as later surgery.
Related questions
Are Texas settlements taxable?
Compensation for physical injuries is generally not taxable income federally, though punitive damages and interest usually are. Because a settlement can mix categories, confirm the treatment of your own case with a tax adviser before you rely on it.
Do medical bills get paid out of my settlement?
Often yes. Hospital liens under Property Code Chapter 55 and reimbursement claims from health plans or Medicare are typically resolved from the recovery. A lawyer can negotiate many of them down, which affects what you actually take home.
Can a settlement be reopened if I get worse?
Generally no. A signed release ends the claim, including for complications you did not anticipate. That is why a settlement should follow, not precede, an understanding of your long-term medical needs.
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