A car crash during work can give you two claims at once: a workers’ compensation claim, paid without regard to fault if your employer has coverage, and a negligence claim against the driver who caused the crash. Texas expressly allows both (Labor Code § 417.001(a)). Which claims you have depends on whether you were in the course and scope of your job and on whether your employer carries compensation insurance.
The short version
- Compensation does not depend on fault. If you were covered and hurt in the course and scope of your job, the carrier pays regardless of who caused the crash (§ 406.031(a)).
- Coverage is elective for private employers. Texas allows a private employer to go without compensation insurance (§ 406.002(a)).
- You can sue the other driver as well. The carrier is repaid out of that recovery, and you keep the remainder (§ 417.001(b)).
- Commuting is usually excluded. Travel to and from work counts only in the exceptions listed in § 401.011(12)(A).
- The deadlines differ. Notice to the employer is due in 30 days, a compensation claim in one year, and a suit against the other driver in two years.
This article covers crashes on the road while working. For injuries at a worksite that do not involve a vehicle, our Sugar Land article on workplace accidents covers workers’ compensation and non-subscriber claims, and our Houston workplace injury page covers the injury side. The same person can have both kinds of injury, so the two articles work together.
| Claim | Who pays or is liable | What has to be shown | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workers’ compensation | The employer’s compensation carrier | An injury in the course and scope of a covered job; fault is not required | Labor Code § 406.031(a) |
| Claim against the other driver | The at-fault driver and that driver’s insurer | That driver’s negligence caused the crash; your own share of fault reduces the recovery | Labor Code § 417.001(a); Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001 |
| Negligence claim against a non-subscriber | An employer that carries no compensation coverage | The employer or its agent was negligent; three common defenses are not available | Labor Code § 406.033(a), (d) |
Source: Labor Code ch. 406 and ch. 417, read October 16, 2026.
Can I get workers’ compensation and sue the other driver for the same crash?
Yes, when the other driver’s negligence caused the crash and your injury is compensable. Labor Code § 417.001(a) lets the injured worker pursue a third party and a compensation claim together, so the two claims can run side by side.
Section 417.001(a) of the Labor Code states the rule in those terms. The third-party claim is an ordinary car accident claim. It is subject to the ordinary rules of fault, so a driver who was partly responsible for their own crash has to account for that share. Texas bars recovery once a claimant’s own share of responsibility passes 50 percent (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001). The comparative negligence article shows how those shares get argued in practice.
The two claims are not the same case. Compensation benefits pay medical care and part of lost wages. Damages against the other driver can cover more, so a worker may pursue both. Our piece on third-party claims after a workplace injury covers the interaction in more depth, and our Houston car accident page explains the driver-claim side in full.
How do I tell whether I was working when the car crashed?
The test is the activity you were doing, not the vehicle or the hour of the day. Under Labor Code § 401.011(12), the course and scope of employment is an activity that has to do with and originates in the employer’s business, performed in furtherance of that business.
Driving is part of many jobs. Making deliveries, travelling between job sites, visiting a customer or running an errand for the employer can each fit the definition. The statute’s wording turns on what the employee was doing, so the company’s name on a vehicle or the fact that you used your own car does not settle the question alone. Photos of the vehicles and the scene can show what the employee was carrying and where they were headed. Whether the employee was sent somewhere for the employer on that trip is a different question from whether they were only driving to work.
These cases can turn on mixed facts. A detour for lunch, a call taken on the way in, or a trip that combines a work stop with a personal errand can each be argued either way. If the carrier says you were not working, that decision can be challenged, and the crash report, dispatch records and any messages from the day can become the evidence. Our guide to insurers that stall a claim covers what to do when the carrier stops responding.
Public employers put the same line in writing. Harris County’s Driver & Vehicle Safety Program (updated March 2021) tells an employee in an accident while driving a personal vehicle on county business to report it to a supervisor, and says the employee’s own insurance is then the primary insurer (see how uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage works); an employee hurt in a vehicle accident on county business is to report the injury so a First Report of Injury (DWC-1) goes to Risk Management. For county vehicles, the same program lists driving to and from work and the lunch hour as outside the course and scope of county business (Harris County Driver & Vehicle Safety Program). That is one employer’s policy, not the Labor Code definition; whether you need an attorney for an insurance claim is a separate question. If the other driver was in a commercial truck or left the scene, our pages on truck accident settlements and hit-and-run crashes apply, and the general pages on auto accident claims and what to do after an auto accident cover the rest.
Does my commute count, and what about driving my own car for work?
Ordinary travel to and from work is excluded, but three exceptions apply: the employer furnished or paid for the transportation, the employer controlled the means of transport, or the employee was directed to go from one place to another. A trip that mixes work and personal errands is covered only if the work trip would have been made anyway and would not have been made without the employer’s business.
Those exceptions are in § 401.011(12)(A), and the mixed-purpose rule is in § 401.011(12)(B), which covers travel that also serves a personal affair. Under (B), the trip is covered only if it would have been made even without the personal errand and would not have been made without the employer’s business. A company truck on the drive home, a delivery stop on the way to a second appointment, and a van that the employer insures are different facts, and each needs to be read against the statute. Our article on the most common causes of Houston crashes covers the usual causes.
Driving your own car for work follows the same activity test. It can still matter for insurance. Your personal auto policy’s uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage and personal injury protection may apply in the crash, and the policy should be read for any exclusion of business use before you rely on it. Our article on how uninsured and underinsured motorist claims work in Texas explains the coverage, and our piece on whether you need an attorney for an insurance claim covers when the carrier’s position needs a second look.
Not every driver hurt on the job is an employee. Gig platforms raise their own questions, which our pages on rideshare crashes in Houston and an Uber driver’s insurance address. A July 2026 ABC13 report described a Houston delivery driver struck by a car during a police chase while she was making a delivery, and said delivery work was a side job for her. The article does not say whether any compensation claim was made. Whether a gig driver is covered by any compensation program depends on how that work was arranged, which is a question for counsel.
What does workers’ compensation pay after a work-related crash?
Medical care and a part of lost wages. An employee with a compensable injury is entitled to health care reasonably required by the injury, and temporary income benefits are generally 70 percent of the gap between average weekly wage and post-injury earnings.
Medical benefits are in § 408.021(a), which covers health care that cures or relieves the effects of the injury, promotes recovery, or helps the employee return to work. Income benefits are set by § 408.103(a)(1) at 70 percent of the difference between average weekly wage and weekly earnings after the injury. For the first 26 weeks, § 408.103(a)(2) sets the rate at 75 percent for an employee who earns less than $10 an hour. Those are the benefits the carrier pays, and they are measured by the statute, not by how serious the crash was. For the wider valuation picture, see what drives a Houston car accident claim’s value.
Compensation does not pay the damages a negligence case can reach; our overview of the damages you can seek lists the categories. The benefits are medical and income benefits, so a worker who wants to be compensated for more than those must look to the claim against the other driver or, in some cases, a non-subscriber employer. Our piece on loss of consortium describes one of the family claims that can sit alongside an injury claim.
How does the carrier get repaid if I recover from the other driver?
The carrier that paid benefits is subrogated to your rights against the third party. It reimburses itself and the costs of recovery from the amount recovered, then pays the rest to you, and its interest is limited to the benefits it actually paid or assumed.
Section 417.001(b) sets out the mechanism. The carrier’s subrogation interest is limited to the total benefits paid or assumed, reduced by any share of responsibility the employer bears. If the recovery is larger than that interest, the carrier reimburses itself and pays the costs, and the remaining amount goes to the employee. That means the size of your third-party recovery and the size of the benefits paid both matter, and the split should be checked in writing before any settlement is signed. Our tips for a Texas insurance claim cover what to gather first.
A claim against the driver can also be reduced by your own share of fault, so the crash facts feed both sides of the arithmetic. Insurers’ tactics in these negotiations are covered in our piece on strategies insurers may use after a crash. Our article on who is liable in multi-car accidents is useful when more than one driver is involved.
What if my employer does not have workers’ compensation?
Then you can bring a negligence claim against the employer itself. Texas lets private employers decide whether to carry compensation insurance, and an employer without coverage loses three common defenses: contributory negligence, assumed risk, and a fellow employee’s negligence.
The Texas Department of Insurance states the rule plainly: private employers can choose whether to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Coverage is elective under Labor Code § 406.002(a), which excepts public employers. The lost defenses are in § 406.033(a). The employee still has to prove that the employer, or an agent acting within the general scope of the agent’s employment, was negligent (§ 406.033(d)). An employer without coverage can still argue that the employee intentionally caused the injury or was intoxicated when it happened (§ 406.033(c)).
Your employer must tell you whether it has coverage when you are hired, and it must post a notice (§ 406.005). If you were never told, that gap is itself a fact to raise with a lawyer. Those cases are built on the same facts, so the notice and proof steps above apply.
What deadlines apply after a work-related car crash?
Three clocks run at once: notice to the employer within 30 days of the injury, a claim for benefits that must reach the state division within one year of the injury, and a suit against the other driver within two years of accrual under § 16.003(a).
The notice rule is in Labor Code § 409.001(a)–(b), which allows notice to the employer or to an employee in a supervisory or management position. The one-year filing rule is in § 409.003. The two-year suit period is in Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003(a); our Sugar Land filing-deadline article works through local examples. Report the injury to someone in a supervisory role the same day, and keep a written record of who was told and when.
The state division that takes the one-year claim has two field offices in the Houston area, according to the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation contact page: Houston East on Polk Street and Houston West on N. Sam Houston Pkwy. E. The page asks injured workers to call before visiting. Our page on workplace accidents covers the wider picture.
Our guide to getting a copy of a car accident report explains where to request it, and our general checklist for the hours after a crash lists the steps for the driver and the passengers. Keep the names of anyone who saw the crash; our witness article explains how that evidence gets used.
Frequently asked questions
How does insurance work after a car accident at work?
A compensation carrier pays medical care and part of lost wages if your employer has coverage and you were in the course and scope of employment, regardless of fault. The other driver’s liability insurer is a separate source, reached through a claim against that driver. Your own auto policy may also apply, depending on its terms.
How soon do I have to report a work injury to my employer?
An employee, or someone acting for the employee, must notify the employer within 30 days after the injury, and notice can be given to the employer or to a supervisor or manager (Labor Code § 409.001).
When does a compensation claim have to be filed?
A claim for benefits must be filed with the state division within one year after the injury occurred (Labor Code § 409.003).
I was driving my own car for work. Does that change anything?
The question is whether the activity was in the course and scope of employment, not whose car it was (Labor Code § 401.011(12)). The vehicle still matters for insurance, so the personal auto policy should be read for any business-use exclusion.
Is a driver who was not working covered by workers’ compensation?
Not for that trip, if the trip was outside the course and scope of employment. Labor Code § 401.011(12) excludes ordinary commuting unless an exception applies, and it excludes mixed-purpose travel unless the trip would have been made anyway and would not have been made without the employer’s business. Your personal auto policy or the other driver’s policy may still apply.
The crash was partly my fault. Can I still get workers’ compensation?
Yes, if the employer has coverage and the injury arose out of and in the course and scope of employment. Labor Code § 406.031(a) makes the carrier answer for the injury whether or not anyone was at fault. Your share of fault matters in the claim against the other driver.
Because the clocks above start at the injury, write down the employer’s name, the crash date and the day the employer was told, and keep them with the crash report. Those details can go through the contact page, and how long a Texas injury case takes shows what the suit against the other driver looks like once it starts.
About the authors
Sam A. Maida, Jr.
Owner and Managing Attorney
Sam A. Maida, Jr. has represented injured Texans in the greater Houston area since the firm opened in 1993.
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Bernard G. Johnson III
Litigation Managing Attorney
Bernard G. Johnson III is a board certified trial lawyer licensed in Texas since 1996 and a graduate of South Texas College of Law.