McAllen Boat Accident Attorneys

Types of Boating Accident Injuries

Boat accidents can cause serious injuries. Even a minor collision can cause major damage due to a limited amount of safety procedures while boating. For example, most of the time you are not going to be wearing a seatbelt like you would if you were injured in a car accident.

The most common injuries from a boat accident include:

• Nerve damage
• Head, neck, and back injuries
• Concussions and contusions
• Cracked ribs
• Spinal cord injury
• Paralysis
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Broken and fractured bones

If you have been seriously injured in a boat accident, you should tend to your injuries immediately.  Do not wait to see if the pain goes away. Usually, you won’t feel the full extent of the injuries until the following day. Our suggestion is to get medical attention immediately. If you do not, you could make your injuries worse and the insurance company will look at that gap in treatment and try to reduce or eliminate the amount of compensation they owe you by saying you weren’t badly injured enough to receive immediate medical care or that your injuries came from something else.

Do Not Talk to the Liable Party’s Insurance Company

The worst thing you can do after your accident is agreeing to give the liable party’s insurance company a recorded statement. They will call you shortly after your accident, but they try to back you into a corner and get you to say something that can ruin your case.

Remember you have no legal obligation to give them any statement of any kind. We suggest you retain and attorney take over communication for you.  Keep in mind you do not pay our personal injury attorneys unless they recover damages.

Our boat accident attorneys know how to communicate with the insurance companies. We will ensure you are compensated properly, instead of your compensation being reduced or eliminated.

Texas Statute of Limitations

Starting from the date of the accident, you will have exactly two years to bring your claim or settle it in civil court. If you are late to this deadline, you will be barred from receiving any compensation. Two years may seem like a long time, but time flies!

Keep in mind that representing victims of personal injury cases also takes time. For example we need time to collect and protect your evidence, as well as talk to your witnesses before they forget the fine details of your case.

Hire an attorney as soon as possible!

How Compensation Works

Texas law for compensation states that you can receive compensation even if you are partially responsible for causing the accident. For a boat accident, it is unlikely that you could have caused the accident if you were a passenger on the boat.

If you were operating the boat when you got hurt, then it would be more likely that the laws of comparative negligence apply to you. If you are found by the insurance company to be more than 50 percent at fault for the accident, then you would be barred from compensation, but if you are 50 percent or less at fault for the accident, then you will be able to receive compensation but it will be reduced by the amount of fault you bear. For example, a $10,000 compensation reward would turn into $9,000 if you were 10 percent at fault.

Frequently Asked Boat Accident Questions

What should I do after being injured in a boat accident?

There are several things that need to be done after a boating accident to make sure you have a strong personal injury claim. First, you need to notify the local government agency. This may be the police department or the coastguard, depending on where it happened. This is why it’s important to hire a lawyer with experience in boating accidents.

You also need an experienced lawyer to properly investigate the details of the case. It’s not only important that a proper investigation be done but it needs to be done timely.

Experts may be hired to examine the area where the boating accident happened, including what type of boats were involved.

There may be other departments of the government that need to get involved.

An experienced lawyer can help you with all this. If you have any questions, we are here to help you.

What mistakes should I avoid after a boat accident?

Some of the typical mistakes that we see people make after being involved or injured in a boating accident is that they don’t report it. Reporting is essential to your claim in order to have documentation and a record of what happened.

Another mistake that we typically see is that people don’t seek medical attention right away. That can be damaging to your case later on and it’s also damaging to your health, which is why we strongly recommend you get your injuries checked out.

We also see people do not seek legal advice immediately or they do not select attorneys who specialize in boating accidents or personal injury. An attorney that has experience is better equipped to handle your claims and to fight for compensation. Especially when insurance companies get involved, they know the reputation of trial attorney, which will bring better offers. They know there is a risk that an experienced and skilled attorneys may be willing to take the case to trial.

How do I pick the best attorney for my boat accident claim?

There are four things that you should consider in selecting the best lawyer to handle that case.

• Does the lawyer specializes in personal injury. You do not want an attorney that dabbles in all areas of practice.
• Are they trial lawyers. A trial lawyer will handle the case from beginning to end. This means that they will go to trial and try to obtain a verdict for you and your family from a judge or a jury.
• Do they have success in this area of law, and do they have proof.
• Are they Board-certified by Texas state in this area of law. In other words, they have specialized knowledge and expertise. Only 3% of the personal injury lawyers in Texas have that certification.

Should I speak with insurance companies after a boat accident?

After being injured in a boating accident, you may receive calls from an insurance company asking for you to give a recorded statement about the accident. Never answer insurance companies request for statements.  They’re not on your side. A personal injury attorney from our law firm knows how to speak with these insurance companies ensuring you do not lose any compensation.

How long do I have to file a boat accident injury claim?

There is a two-year statute of limitations, which means that your injury claim has to be filed — if it is going to go to court — within two years.

What damages can be recovered in a boat accident claim?

You can recover damages due to pain and suffering, mental anguish damages,  lost earning damages or lost wage damages. You’re also entitled to any medical expenses that have been incurred in the past and future as a result of the accident.

How long will my boat accident case take?

A boating accident in the State of Texas takes a fair amount of time to resolve. There are a many safety rules that have been in place and must be followed by all who use boats. You’re going to want to hire investigators to look at what safety rules apply, how long had they been enforced, who is supposed to enforce them, and if they were violated. You also want to determine if there was alcohol involved.

This takes time, especially if there is a serious injury. If there was no serious injury, then the case may resolve pretty quickly.

How much is my boat accident claim worth?

There are several things that we need to look at when determining the value of a boat accident claim. We need to figure out how the accident happened, and the regulations on the body of water you were boating upon.

The second thing we’re going to look at is what type of boat was involved in the accident. Was there a defect with the boat that they were in? Was there any kind of recall in the type of boat they you were on or that hit you? Was it a fishing boat? Was it a commercial boat? Was it a boat owned by the U.S. Government? All these are factors need to be looked at.

The last thing we’re going to look at is the amount of insurance that’s involved.

All these factors are going to determine the value of the case. It’s important to have an experienced lawyer who’s familiar with the regulations that apply to boating accidents. If you have any questions whatsoever, we’re here to help.

Call Us Today And Speak With An Attorney That Specializes In Boating Accident Injuries.

Please call our McAllen attorneys right away to set up a free case evaluation. We will review the details of your case with you, and explain your options. We will do everything possible to get you the best chance at full and fair compensation. You are a priority and we will be sure to treat as such.