When you are injured in a car accident, you can typically sue for numerous damages. One common form of damages you can claim in a lawsuit is for emotional distress.
Car accidents often result in physical injuries. However, we all know that physical injuries commonly give rise to emotional injuries. As such, you are usually entitled to be compensated for the emotional harm your injuries have caused. Our attorneys can help you assess and prove emotional distress, which can be challenging. In most cases, we can use your medical and mental health records to justify your claims. If you suffer from anxiety, depression, or other psychological harm from your accident, you deserve compensation. If we cannot secure these damages in your settlement, we will argue for them in front of the judge and jury.
Call The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. today at (817) 476-1797 for a free case analysis with our Texas car accident attorneys.
Can I Get Compensation for Emotional Distress After a Car Accident in Texas?
Like most answers in the law, whether you can sue for emotional distress depends. If you are pursuing compensation for emotional distress alone, then the answer is no. Unlike other states, Texas does not allow car accident victims to sue for just emotional distress. Texas used to allow victims to file what was known as “negligent infliction of emotional distress” lawsuits. These claims would allow victims to recover damages for emotional distress even if they were not physically injured.
Now, you must have suffered a physical injury of some kind that led to your emotional distress to sue for negligent infliction of emotional distress. Emotional distress claims are not a distinct tort like negligence. Thus, our Texas car accident attorneys will file a negligence lawsuit for you and add your claims of emotional distress to it. This way, you can recover compensation for both your physical and emotional losses in a single lawsuit.
Even minor car accidents can cause severe and long-term injuries. However, you can still sue for emotional distress if your injuries are not too serious. It is common for victims to experience some emotional harm following a car accident. It is enough that you were physically injured, and the injury caused emotional turmoil. Our team will help you get the evidence that ties your injuries to the psychological challenges you have suffered.
What Are the Steps to Recovering Compensation for Emotional Distress from a Car Accident in Texas?
There will be a few steps before you can recover compensation for your emotional distress in Texas. First, our attorneys will want to assess your claims of emotional distress to see if they will stand up to legal challenges. Once we have determined you are the victim of emotional distress, we can file your lawsuit. The next step will be proving your emotional distress in court and the damages they have caused.
Assess Your Claim
Before suing for emotional distress, our lawyer will assess your claim. Without a proper assessment, you risk losing the case. Our lawyers can determine if the other driver can be held liable and whether it is worth seeking a settlement before going to court.
In general, we will assess your physical injuries from the crash to determine what your emotional distress might be. We will often review pictures of your injuries and the accident scene to determine their severity. We will also comb through your medical records and evaluations from your mental health providers to determine what compensation would be adequate for your emotional losses.
Clients deserve maximum compensation for their emotional distress, but sometimes, they want more than is reasonable. This makes sense as emotional harm is so personally felt. However, our team will help you calculate a number for your emotional distress that is likely to be awarded by the court. Remember, though, that your injuries do not have to be serious to file a claim. The best thing to do is to have our team decide if emotional damages should be claimed so you do not lose out on compensation.
File Your Lawsuit
Once we have assessed your injuries and your emotional harm, we will be ready to file your lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit will also help us to gather additional evidence to prove your emotional distress and negotiate with the other side.
You might already have medical and mental health records in your possession. This will be a great start to your case, but it is not necessary for you to have all your copies. Our lawyers work for you, and part of that job is obtaining all the records relevant to your case on your behalf. This means we will reach out to each provider you have visited that shows your injuries and their psychological impact. We will then use these records to formulate our arguments for your emotional compensation.
Prove Your Claims
While it might seem obvious from the severity of the car accident that the victim has emotional distress, you will still need to prove it. As mentioned, your medical records will help, but they might not be enough.
In most cases, we will have you testify as to how your injuries have impacted your life. Only you can really explain the subjective effects your accident has had. You might discuss how you have not been able to sleep well since the accident or have not been able to participate in sports you commonly play.
We will also want you to explain how your injuries have affected your family life. If you have not been able to spend time with your children or suffered a loss of intimacy with your spouse because of your injuries, it would likely be a great source of emotional distress for the court to hear. We can also call friends and family to testify to what they have observed in your behavior since the accident.
Our goal is to make your claims of emotional distress as hard to argue against as possible. The more evidence we have, the easier it is to prove these damages. If your emotional distress is clear, a case might settle before a trial is needed.
What are Some Examples of Emotional Distress from a Car Accident in Texas?
Numerous conditions could qualify as emotional distress in a lawsuit. One of the most common examples after a car accident is Post-traumatic stress disorder. This can lead to panic attacks and anxiety about getting back behind the wheel.
Depression is another common form of emotional distress. In more serious cases, you might have developed an eating disorder or even a substance abuse problem. Regardless, you deserve to be compensated for emotional damage you did not cause.
Our Texas Car Accident Attorneys Can Help Get the Damages You Deserve
For a free case assessment with our Texas car accident lawyers, contact The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. at (817) 476-1797.