Frequently Asked Questions

Lawyers are like doctors in that we do not have a crystal ball to see the future. Our sincere hope is that you make a full recovery from your car accident as quickly as possible. Sadly, that is often not the case. Whether and how well you recover after a car wreck can depend on so many factors, here are just a few:

• Whether you had injured that part of your body before

• Whether you ever had pain in the area that is now hurting before

• How fast the car or truck that hit you was traveling when it hit your vehicle

• Which part of your car the other car or truck hit

• Whether you were rear-ended, involved in a head-on collision, or t-boned

These factors, and many others, will likely play a role in how quickly you recover, or whether you fully recover at all.

Thankfully, Texas law gives the ability to recover in situations where car accident victims never fully get better. Innocent car wreck victims can recover for things like future pain and suffering, future medical bills, and future lost wages (also called loss of earning capacity), for example. In this sense “future” means after the settlement or jury verdict is reached.

The unknown future is a major reason it is important to hire an experienced car wreck attorney as soon as possible.

Answer: “TORT REFORM”

Its extremely frustrating, isn’t it?

Many of our clients at Richards Penn Bonner come to us surprised to learn that after they were innocent victims in a car wreck, their own doctor refused to treat them and they could not get any medical treatment from anyone. Its shocking. And it happens every.single.day.

One reason doctors may not treat you after a car wreck is because insurance companies have made it miserable for doctors to treat car wreck victims. The insurance companies essentially have made it such that doctors must sit for hours in depositions in their offices or at the courthouse during jury trials where the doctors are cross- examined about and required to justify every bit of treatment they provided to a car wreck victim, and the cost of the treatment. By treating a car wreck victim, the doctor now must take time away from their medical practice and treating other patients to participate in litigation. Doctors would rather be practicing medicine, not sitting in a courtroom. We would ALL rather our doctors be practicing medicine, not sitting in a courtroom. But in our opinion, insurance companies have lobbied the Texas Legislature so effectively that evidence rules in a courtroom require too much time and effort of doctors. We believe the goal of these insurance companies was to drive doctors away from treating innocent car wreck victims. And it seems to have worked.

There are some doctors who will still treat car wreck victims but they are becoming rarer since “TORT REFORM” became a popular rallying cry. Reach out to Ricky, Jill, or Ben and they can tell you all about Tort Reform and how that was really just a way for insurance companies to refuse to pay out valid claims to innocent victims and has little to do with frivolous litigation.

Our experienced attorneys at Richards Penn Bonner know how to navigate the process, represent you in court, and help you receive the compensation you are entitled to. If you or someone you know has been involved in a car accident, call us as soon as possible at 903-586-2544, chat with us on the website, email us, or text us at 903-403-2013, so we can help lessen your stress and worry.

Answer: Great and important question. And again, it depends!

Lawyers love to answer questions with “it depends.” The truth is, an answer to any legal question really does “depend” on certain factors. By way of example, there are a few answers to the above question: “How much medical treatment will I need after a car wreck and who will pay for it?” For a discussion about how much medical treatment you will need, visit [link].

As for who will pay for my medical treatment? The answer…it depends.

But Jill, I don’t have health insurance. No problem. At Richards Penn Bonner, we have relationships with several healthcare professionals. These providers allow you to seek treatment with a written promise from our firm and you that they will be paid once any money comes in from either a settlement or a jury verdict. So a second way that your bills may be paid is through this relationship that Richards Penn Bonner has with various doctors.

A third option is that your own insurance may have what is called med-pay or PIP (personal injury protection). This is a more in depth answer and to learn more about med-pay or PIP, click here. [link to med pay/pip]

You may experience the situation where your doctor or healthcare provider will not see or treat you after a wreck. We have you covered. Reach out to our attorneys at Richards Penn Bonner for assistance in how to proceed. [link] Why won’t my doctor (or any doctor) treat me after a car accident?

Our experienced attorneys at Richards Penn Bonner know how to navigate the process, represent you in court, and help you receive the compensation you are entitled to. If you or someone you know has been involved in a car accident, call us as soon as possible at 903-586-2544, chat with us on the website, email us, or text us at 903-403-2013, so we can help lessen your stress and worry.

Answer: Crash records and medical liens are public record and some attorneys and law firms pay other companies to search through the public records to locate victims of car wrecks and send those victims advertisements directly through the mail.

There are numerous companies out there whose sole job is to scour through the public record, the internet, newspaper reports, facebook, and similar digital and other public records to find out everything they can about car wrecks and give that information to lawyers who pay those companies for the information. Our attorneys at Richards Penn Bonner do not engage in this practice but if you receive a letter, email, or other communication from a lawyer or from one of these solicitation services, know that they found out about your wreck from one of the many online or public resources available.

You are not required to talk to these people or deal with them. If you have questions about receiving such a letter or how someone got your information, call us as soon as possible at 903-586-2544, chat with us on the website, email us, or text us at 903-403- 2013, so we can help lessen your stress and worry.

Answer: Call us at 903-586-2544, chat with us on the website, 903-586-2544 , or text us at 903-403-2013.

Hospital emergency rooms and EMS/ambulance providers are known for filing liens where medical services are rendered or where a patient who was a victim of a car wreck lives. Occasionally, hospital emergency rooms and EMS departments would prefer to put a lien against your personal injury case rather than bill your health insurance, if you have it. The reason is simple: hospital emergency room and EMS billing departments feel like they will recover more money if they bill your personal injury case directly than they would recover if they are reimbursed from your health insurance.

It is not an uncommon practice for an emergency room, EMS, or doctor’s office to put a lien against your case, but it is extremely uncommon to our clients who occasionally receive letters in the mail – whether from lawyers or other solicitation providers – notifying our clients that these attorneys or other companies can help to remove the lien.

Worry not. Handling medical liens is something that the lawyers at Richards Penn Bonner handle on a daily basis. You do not need to reach out to a lawyer or solicitation company who sends you a letter notifying you that you have a lien against you, especially if you already have an attorney. Our lawyers at Richards Penn Bonner have had situations where clients bring us letters from other law firms that our clients received in the mail notifying our clients of medical liens. While we disagree with this advertising practice that some attorneys use, it is a common way to reach out to car wreck victims to advertise lawyer services. Rest assured that your lawyers at Richards Penn Bonner know how to deal with these liens and how to ensure that they are resolved.

If you get a letter like this call us as soon as possible at 903-586-2544, chat with us on the website, email us, or text us at 903-403-2013, so we can help lessen your stress and worry.

Answer: NO!

Commercial Motor Vehicle (18-wheeler/tractor-trailer) drivers and companies are subjected to very strict regulations set forth by the Federal Government and the States in which they drive.

When an 80,000+ pound vehicle hits you when it is traveling 70 miles per hour, the damages are almost always catastrophic, and often fatal.

In addition to the serious injuries that occur when 18-wheelers crash into you and the regulations that drivers and their companies (called motor carriers) are supposed to follow, insurance companies treat these cases very differently from car wrecks involving passenger vehicles.

In fact, if you suspect that the insurance companies have a full team heading out immediately after a wreck to obtain evidence that helps their case all while ignoring evidence that would help your case, you are right! Don’t let the insurance companies beat you to the punch.

18-wheeler drivers are usually given a phone number to call when they are in a wreck. In almost every case, the insurance company for those 18-wheeler drivers and trucking companies sends out a team with investigators to get all of the evidence after the wreck or accident that they believe will help them.

You need someone who is actually on your side doing the same thing. That is where our lawyers and team at Richards Penn Bonner come in. Our lawyers have over 50 years of experience in these types of cases. We have a team of investigators who are ready at a moment’s notice to head out to the scene of a crash to investigate, take pictures, talk to witnesses, and preserve evidence.

If for some reason, you are not able to reach us very quickly, you should take or have someone else take as many pictures as possible while you or your car or truck is at the scene of the car accident or wreck to preserve the images. You can rest assured that the other side’s insurance company or driver is doing so.

For a few representative cases that we have handled regarding commercial motor vehicles, click here [link]

You should be able to reach us, however, any hour of the day or night by calling us as soon as possible at 903-586-2544. You can also chat with us on the website, email us at receptionist@richardspenn.com , or text us at 903-403-2013

This is the Million Dollar Question.

The question of how much a personal injury case is worth is a complex one. Valuations can range from zero to tens of millions of dollars, and even higher in catastrophic situations. The value of your case depends on numerous factors, with the extent of your injuries being the most significant factor, followed by the facts of the accident.

It is important to note that the severity of an accident does not always correspond to the extent of injuries sustained. Even in minor car accidents, serious injuries can occur, while people involved in violent accidents can sometimes walk away unscathed. Therefore, it is challenging to determine the value of your case soon after the accident. However, hiring a competent attorney who will work diligently on your case and ensure you receive the best medical care possible is crucial.

Unfortunately, some attorneys spend more time advertising than working on their clients' cases, settling them for smaller amounts with little effort. This business model can benefit the attorney but is not ideal for the client. Your case's value depends heavily on the attorney's skillset and mindset in handling the case. At Richards/Penn/Bonner, we approach all our cases with the same intention - to maximize our client's recovery. We believe this is the right way to practice law in East Texas.

The vast majority of the general public doesn’t know whether they have Underinsured/Uninsured Motorist Coverage (UM Coverage), nor do they fully understand what UM coverage is, other than what would seem self-explanatory. UM coverage is coverage through your own insurance that will pay for injuries you sustain as a result of the negligence of another who does not have enough insurance coverage, or who has no insurance at all.

UM coverage is very important for motorists on Texas highways, and is often underutilized given its necessity. In fact, the Texas legislature agrees, to the point that it is Texas law that UM coverage be provided to all insureds unless they specifically reject this coverage in writing. A considerable number of motorists do, in fact, reject this coverage in an attempt to reduce their insurance premiums so that their overall insurance costs are less. This is not a good decision!

Texas requires all drivers to maintain at least $30k in insurance coverage for bodily injury to a single third party, and $60k for all third-parties who are injured in an accident. However, do not find comfort in the mere existence of this statutory requirement. There is no mechanism to actually prevent a person from driving a car after they failed to pay their insurance premiums, and coverage has been revoked. The fear of a traffic citation for failure to maintain liability insurance is not an effective deterrent for motorist who have failed to act responsibly by maintaining the required coverage.

Texas highways are heavily travelled by just such irresponsible offenders, and some researchers estimate that 1-2 of every 10 drivers in Texas have no coverage. However, as abundant as the Uninsured Motorist population may be, it is the Underinsured Motorists that likely cause more unjust consequences as a result of their negligence. The majority of Texas drivers maintain the minimum coverage limits of $30k to a single injured third-party. This is due to the fact that carrying more coverage costs the insured more in monthly premiums.

As insurance shoppers increasingly gravitate to the internet for their insurance needs, the purchase of minimum-low coverage policies also increases, as the lower price is not only sought out by the shopper without the benefit of good advice from an insurance agent, but subtly suggested by the insurance carrier’s online shopping experience so that the carrier appears competitive in the marketplace, especially to the most hasty shoppers who do not take the time to consider the ramifications of opting for the cheapest insurance money can buy.

This trend in drivers who maintain the minimum coverage coupled with the fact that healthcare costs in the United States remains exorbitant, produces the unfortunate result that a majority of negligent drivers who cause car accidents are, in fact, underinsured. Victims of car accidents who only experience minimal symptoms, but make the reasonable decision to get an examination by a healthcare provider can often exhaust the vast majority, if not all of the insurance coverage that the at-fault driver maintained.

With such a large number of Texans being judgment proof (no assets that can be garnished as a result of a judgment) this leaves the innocent and injured with no avenue to recover for their intangible damages (e.g. pain and suffering, and mental anguish) unless the injured person has UM coverage. Not to mention, if a person is seriously injured the medical expenses will likely greatly exceed the coverage available under the negligent driver’s policy, leaving the injured with crippling medical debt through no fault of their own.

The large number of uninsured/underinsured motorists travelling Texas streets and highways makes having UM coverage a must for anyone interested in protecting themselves and their loved ones from the negligence of irresponsible drivers who travel amongst us. When choosing insurance coverage for yourself, it is important to not only obtain adequate coverage for your own potential liability, but perhaps of even greater importance to you is to purchase coverage that will cover you and your passengers from the negligence of others.