Attorney Brian Romero Secures $150,000 Settlement After Driver Loses Control and Crosses Into Client’s Lane

Angel Reyes & Associates Recovers Three Times the Insurer’s Highest Pre-Litigation Offer

Attorney Brian Romero of Angel Reyes & Associates has secured a $150,000 settlement for a client whose vehicle was struck by a driver who lost control and swerved into their lane. Our client was making their way around traffic backed up near a school when the other vehicle came across into their lane and hit them.

The impact pushed our client’s car into another vehicle, resulting in several damaged cars as well as injuries. However, despite clear liability, the at-fault driver’s insurance company’s highest offer was only $50,000.

Where the Insurer Thought It Had an Opening

Two things about this car accident gave the other side something to work with. Our client was in the middle of going around stopped traffic when they were hit, and when the collision was over, our client’s vehicle had struck another car. Neither of those facts changes who lost control, but both of them give an adjuster a story to tell.

How Texas handles shared fault means that story is worth real money to an insurer. Under the state’s proportionate responsibility rules, a recovery is reduced by whatever percentage of blame gets assigned to the injured person, and anyone found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing at all.

An insurance company has a financial reason to argue about fault even when the facts do not support the argument. Shaving off percentage points is some of the cheapest work an adjuster does.

That is the context for a $50,000 offer in a case where liability was clear. It was not a valuation of what our client went through, but rather a number built on the assumption that some of the blame would stick.

From $50,000 to $150,000

Attorney Romero, working with pre-litigation paralegal Karina Gordon and litigation paralegal Elizabeth Rodriguez, kept the focus where it belonged: on the driver who lost control of their vehicle and crossed into the lane where our client had every right to be. Everything that followed, including the second impact and the damage to other cars, came out of that single failure.

After aggressive negotiating and countering fault assignments with indisputable facts, the insurer’s offer jumped. We successfully recovered $150,000 for our client, three times the value of the highest initial offer.

What a First Offer Is Worth

To an insurance company, this claim was worth $50,000. To our client, it was so much more than that. The insurer thought they could write off their liability to a minimum and move on while protecting their bottom line.

An insurer’s first offer is rarely reflective of what a case is truly worth, no matter how they might try to make it sound when talking to you. That’s one of the best reasons to have a lawyer on your side after you have been injured in a crash: having someone who can provide a fair evaluation of your case without trying to minimize costs.

This is how we approach every case at Angel Reyes & Associates, whether the crash involved two vehicles or five.

If another driver lost control and you are the one paying for it, you do not have to accept the first number an insurance company puts in front of you. Contact Angel Reyes & Associates today for a free consultation. We will review the facts, explain where you stand, and fight for the full value of your claim.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is unique and must be evaluated on its own facts and circumstances.