Navigating Insurance Claims After a Midland Commercial Crash

Midland, Texas, remains a prominent location in the Permian Basin, producing over 14% of the oil consumed in the U.S. At the same time, its economy continues to build on the foundation already in place. Still, the robust economy gives rise to increased road safety risks, mainly resulting from the high number of commercial vehicles on the road, such as 18-wheelers and oilfield haulers. We still have a low but ongoing level of accidents. As of July 2025, the Midland Police Department had logged 1,511 total crashes, a 2% decrease from 2024. With that being said, the Department still considers commercial vehicle crashes as a part of the danger. TxDOT has reported that energy areas (the Permian) contribute to almost 50% of traffic deaths in Texas. In 2024, Texas reported 38,909 trucks involved in accidents, with 465 resulting in fatalities. These numbers alone illustrate the uphill battle a victim faces in securing fair compensation. At A2X Law, our nationwide law team concentrates on catastrophic and personal injury-related cases and policies for Midland residents facing ongoing claims related to commercial vehicle accidents. Call us today at (361) 452-1279 to learn more about how we represent you.  

Texas's Modified Comparative Fault System: How Fault Affects Your Claim 

Texas follows a modified comparative fault statute, a crucial framework for determining legal liability and damages in commercial truck accidents. Unlike pure comparative fault states, Texas completely bars recovery if you are found to be at 51% or more fault for the crash. You can still recover damages if you are found to be at 50% or less fault; the damage award is simply reduced based on your percentage of the fault. For example, if the damages total $100,000 and you are deemed 3% at fault, your compensation drops to $30,000. This allows for shared liability, for example, when a car suddenly merges into truck traffic, and will complicate any claims. Trucking companies will often apply this to push more liability onto victims and reduce their payouts. It becomes essential for you as a victim to get an understanding of how much fault you share early on, from police reports and witness statements, if you want to protect your recovery. In the high-traffic environment of an oil boom, thousands of rigs travel routes like U.S. 285 daily, which may lead to minor errors from drivers drastically adjusting their routes, potentially increasing liability. TxDOT’s 2025 safety initiatives in Midland and Ector counties aim to set stricter thresholds for investigating major roadway faults, with the expectation that the resulting data will provide valuable insights. Still, crash victims must act as their own first responders by gathering evidence to challenge insurance company arguments.

Dealing with Trucking Insurers: Tactics and Strategies to Counter Them 

Commercial crashes will find you facing deep pockets, with trucking insurers that are aggressive in their efforts to limit or deny claims. Oilfield giants often support trucking companies and prioritize profits over policyholders, shielding themselves by sharing liability and exploiting modified comparative fault through a dual standard of interpretation.

Common strategies include: 

• Lowball Offers: Insurers quickly propose settlements far below actual damages, pressuring victims with urgent "take-it-or-leave-it" deals before complete injury assessments are made. 
• Stalling and Delays: They drag out investigations by requesting endless documentation, exploiting the oil boom's chaos, such as overwhelmed medical facilities, to let claims expire under statutes of limitations. 
• Blame-shifting: Adjusters highlight the victim's fault (e.g., "failure to yield") to inflate your percentage, even in clear cases of truck negligence, such as improper lane changes. 
• Denial Through Technicalities: Claims are rejected, citing federal FMCSA violations or pre-existing conditions, while ignoring evidence such as black box data from the rig. 
• Surveillance and Undermining: Private investigators may follow you to dispute injury severity, especially if you're an oil worker returning to light duty amid labor shortages. 

To counter these, document everything: Retain crash reports, medical records, and expert reconstructions. Avoid recorded statements without counsel, as they can twist your words to assign more fault. In Texas's at-fault system, persistence pays off because victims commonly recover full value after fighting initial denials.  

Compensation Available:  Texas law entitles crash victims to economic and non-economic damages, provided fault doesn't exceed 50%. Economic damages cover tangible losses, while non-economic damages address intangible harms. Trucking policies often carry high limits, with a minimum federally mandated limit of $750,000, making substantial recovery possible against negligent carriers. 

Key compensation types include: 

• Medical Expenses: Past and future bills for treatments, rehab, and therapies. 
• Lost Wages and Earning Capacity: In Midland's oil business, you want reimbursement for time off from work and lost overtime, bonuses, and commissions. When median annual incomes in the oil industry exceed $80,000 per year, reimbursement for missed work is critical. Given the extreme labor demands of the boom, it is likely to take some time to return to high-risk jobs, such as working on a rig, which will further exacerbate the long-term loss of earning potential while you are unable to work.  
• Property Damage: Vehicle repairs or totals. 
• Pain and Suffering: Reimbursement for pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, etc. (typically the most significant portion of your claim).  
• Punitive Damages: Rare, but awarded for gross negligence, like fatigued driving. 

Lost wages deserve special attention amid Permian delays. Due to the complex medical care required for an oilfield incident and the employer's reluctance to reassign during busy drilling, the worker can expect to be off work for several months. In these situations, refer the injured worker to obtain accident-related materials, such as pay stubs and tax returns, and consider consulting a expert at A2X Law to project future earnings and losses if the incident ends a high-paying career. In most instances, workers' compensation will begin to pay benefits while waiting for the third-party trucking case to be resolved. Workers' compensation will provide benefits, but it will not refill any fault barriers related to your claim against the trucking company for the contract year you were injured. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Navigating Your Claim 

• Seek Immediate Medical Care: Document injuries thoroughly, even "minor" ones, as they can worsen, strengthening your case. 
• File the Police Report: Ensure TxDOT involvement in commercial crashes to capture truck details, such as manifests. 
• Notify Insurers Promptly: Report to your policy and the trucker's, but consult an attorney first to avoid pitfalls. 
• Gather Evidence: Photos, witness contacts, and ELD data from the truck to prove fault. 
• Submit Your Demand Package: Detail damages with bills and wage proofs; negotiate firmly against low offers. 
• Consider Litigation: If stalled, file suit within Texas's two-year statute; courts often favor prepared plaintiffs. 

When to Partner with Our Experienced Advocates 

The intricacies of commercial claims, multi-party liability, federal regs, and insurer games demand expertise. Evidence may lose significance due to oil boom-related delays, such as overcrowded emergency rooms or a shortage of experts. Our specialty at A2X Law is oilfield-related collisions, where we analyze fault distributions and counter-strategies to maximize compensation. To ensure Midland victims aren't taken advantage of, our staff thoroughly investigates every possibility, from pay estimates to potential punitive claims.