The First 30 Days After a Wreck: What to Do and What to Avoid

You have two years to file a Texas injury claim. Almost nothing that decides the claim happens in year two.

Days one to three

1. Be seen by a doctor, even if you can walk away. Soft-tissue and head injuries commonly present a day or two later, and a gap between the crash and the first visit is the first thing an adjuster points at.
2. Get the crash report number. In San Antonio the report is usually available within a few days.
3. Photograph everything while it exists: both vehicles from several angles, the scene, the road, and your visible injuries.
4. Notify your own insurer. This is a separate obligation from any claim against the other driver, and it is what opens your PIP and UM/UIM.

The first two weeks

This is when evidence quietly disappears. Business and doorbell cameras overwrite on cycles measured in days. Vehicles get repaired or sold for salvage, taking any onboard crash data with them. Witnesses move.

• Ask nearby businesses for footage now, not later.
• Do not authorize repairs or salvage on your vehicle until the damage has been documented properly.
• Follow the treatment plan exactly. Attend every appointment.
• Keep a short daily note of pain, sleep, and what you could not do. Written at the time, this carries weight that a recollection eighteen months later does not.

What to avoid

• A recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. You are not required to give one.
• Social media. A photograph of you at a family barbecue becomes evidence you were fine, whatever the context.
• Signing anything, especially a medical authorization broad enough to open your entire history, or a release attached to a quick check.
• Gaps in treatment. If you have to miss an appointment, reschedule it rather than skipping it.
• Guessing. To police, to doctors, to adjusters: “I don’t know” is accurate and safe.

Weeks three and four

By now the shape of the injury is becoming clear and the first offer may arrive. It will be framed as a quick resolution to help with immediate bills.

It is almost always low, and not because the adjuster is being unreasonable. It is early, and early means nobody yet knows what your treatment will involve. A release is permanent.

If the other driver was uninsured, if the vehicle was commercial, if a governmental body was involved, or if anyone was seriously hurt, get advice inside the first month. Those are the situations where waiting costs the most.