Month: July 2026

Wrongful Death on a Texas Construction Site: What Families Need to Know

Wrongful Death on a Texas Construction Site: What Families Need to Know

Carabin Shaw is one of the leading personal injury law firms in Texas. With more than 34 years of experience representing injured workers and accident victims, the firm has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for clients across San Antonio, Houston, Austin, and beyond. When a construction site accident changes your life, Carabin Shaw fights to make sure you are not left to carry that burden alone.

When a Job Site Takes a Life

No family expects the phone call that tells them a loved one was killed on a construction site. The grief is immediate and overwhelming. The legal questions that follow — who is responsible, what rights does the family have, what compensation is available — come at the worst possible time. The San Antonio construction accident lawyers at Carabin Shaw have guided Texas families through wrongful death claims after construction accidents, and the firm handles every aspect of the case so families can focus on each other.

Construction is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States, and Texas leads the nation in construction worker fatalities. Falls, electrocutions, struck-by accidents, and trench collapses kill workers across the state every year. Most of these deaths are preventable. When an employer’s negligence, a contractor’s safety failures, or a manufacturer’s defective equipment takes a life, Texas law gives the family the right to hold every responsible party accountable.

Video Transcript

I’m Jamie Shaw with Carabin Shaw. Hurt at work in Texas? Your path depends on one thing — does your employer carry workers’ comp? Texas is unusual. Employers aren’t required to. If they have it, you file a comp claim. If they don’t — what’s called a non-subscriber — you may be able to sue them directly, sometimes for more. And if someone other than your employer caused your injury, a defective machine or a contractor, you may have a separate third-party claim. Most injured workers never learn they had options. Find out yours. Call Carabin Shaw in San Antonio. 210-222-2288.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas

Texas law allows the surviving spouse, children, and parents of a person killed by another’s negligence to file a wrongful death claim. If none of these family members files within three months of the death, the personal representative of the estate may file on behalf of the beneficiaries. The statute of limitations for wrongful death claims in Texas is two years from the date of death.

A wrongful death claim is separate from a survival action, which allows the estate to recover for the pain and suffering the deceased experienced between the time of the injury and the time of death. Both claims can be filed simultaneously, and both are important components of a complete wrongful death case.

What Damages Are Available in a Construction Wrongful Death Case

Texas wrongful death damages are designed to compensate the family for the full scope of their loss. Economic damages include the deceased worker’s lost future earnings, the value of household services they would have provided, and the cost of funeral and burial expenses. Non-economic damages include the family’s loss of companionship, care, guidance, and the mental anguish of losing a spouse, parent, or child.

When the employer’s conduct rises to the level of gross negligence — a conscious disregard for the worker’s safety — Texas law allows the family to seek exemplary damages on top of these compensatory damages. Construction wrongful death cases frequently involve conduct that meets this standard, particularly when the employer had prior OSHA citations for the same hazard that killed the worker.

Workers’ Compensation and Wrongful Death

When a Texas employer carries workers’ compensation insurance, the workers’ compensation death benefit is typically the exclusive remedy against that employer. However, it is not the exclusive remedy against every responsible party. When a third party — a subcontractor, an equipment manufacturer, a property owner — contributed to the death, the family can file a wrongful death claim against that party regardless of the workers’ compensation coverage.

Identifying every responsible third party is one of the most important steps in a construction wrongful death case, and it is where the experience of the attorneys handling the case makes the most difference.

Call Carabin Shaw After a Construction Wrongful Death

If your family lost someone in a Texas construction accident, Carabin Shaw is ready to fight for the justice and compensation your family deserves. The firm handles wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis — no fees unless we recover for you.

Call (800) 862-1260 for a free consultation, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.


Underpaid Hail Damage Claim? Your Texas Options

Your Hail Claim Was Paid — Just Not Enough

An underpaid insurance claim is a settlement that acknowledges covered damage but funds only part of the cost to repair it, and it is far more common in Texas than an outright denial. Our property damage claim attorneys in San Antonio see homeowners accept a check believing the claim was honored, then discover the roofing contractor’s number is three times higher. A payment is not a resolution, and Texas law gives you tools to pursue the difference.

San Antonio sits in one of the most hail-prone regions in the country. Bexar County records damaging hail nearly every spring, and the resulting claim volume pushes carriers toward rapid, formulaic adjustments. A property insurance attorney in San Antonio evaluates whether the carrier’s scope matched the actual loss, because underpayment usually results from what the estimate left out rather than from a disputed unit price.

Recognizing an underpayment requires comparing the carrier’s estimate against a real repair scope. The items below are the ones most frequently missing.

What Carrier Estimates Leave Out

  • Building code upgrade costs. Current code may require ice and water shield, additional fasteners, or ventilation the original roof lacked. Ordinance and law coverage funds this, and it is routinely omitted.
  • Decking replacement. Damaged or delaminated decking discovered during tear-off is a real cost that estimates written from the ground never capture.
  • Full slope replacement and matching. Repairing a portion of a slope with unavailable matching shingles leaves a patchwork roof; Texas policies often require reasonably uniform appearance.
  • Soft metals and secondary structures. Gutters, downspouts, vents, HVAC condenser fins, garage doors, window screens, fences, and detached buildings sustain hail damage and are frequently skipped.
  • Interior damage. Ceiling stains, insulation, and paint from leaks the storm caused belong in the claim.
  • Overhead and profit. Where a repair requires three or more trades, general contractor overhead and profit is customarily owed.
  • Recoverable depreciation. Replacement cost policies withhold depreciation until repairs are complete, and homeowners often never submit for the holdback.

Read Your Deductible Carefully

Texas homeowner policies increasingly apply a percentage windstorm and hail deductible rather than a flat dollar amount. A one or two percent deductible on a $450,000 dwelling limit is $4,500 or $9,000 — not the $1,000 many homeowners assume.

That structure creates a denial-by-arithmetic effect. A carrier that scopes $8,200 in damage against a $9,000 deductible produces a zero payment, and the homeowner concludes the roof was undamaged. An independent scope that correctly captures code items, decking, and soft metals can move that number well past the deductible.

What Texas Requires Insurers to Do

The Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act sets binding timelines. Under Chapter 542 of the Texas Insurance Code, an insurer must acknowledge the claim and begin investigation within 15 days, accept or reject within 15 business days of receiving all requested items, and pay an accepted claim within five business days of notice.

Violations carry statutory interest plus attorney’s fees. For weather-related claims, Chapter 542A applies a penalty calculated as the judgment rate under Texas Finance Code Section 304.003 plus five percent, and it requires written pre-suit notice at least 61 days before filing suit stating the acts complained of, the specific amount claimed, and attorney’s fees incurred.

Using the Appraisal Clause

Nearly every Texas homeowner policy contains an appraisal provision, and it is the most direct route to resolving a dispute over amount rather than coverage. Either party may invoke it. Each side selects a competent, independent appraiser, and the two select an umpire; an agreement between any two of the three sets the amount of loss.

Appraisal is generally faster and cheaper than litigation, and awards frequently exceed the carrier’s original estimate by a wide margin. It does not decide coverage questions, so a carrier arguing the damage was wear rather than hail may resist or contest the process. Invoke it in writing and select an appraiser experienced with the specific building type.

Steps to Recover the Balance

Request the carrier’s complete estimate, adjuster report, and photographs in writing. Obtain a detailed line-item repair scope from a qualified contractor written in the same estimating format the carrier uses, which makes discrepancies obvious rather than arguable.

Submit a written supplement identifying each omitted item with supporting documentation and applicable code citations. Many underpayments resolve at this stage without formal proceedings. Preserve physical evidence — do not discard removed shingles or replaced materials until the claim is resolved. If the carrier refuses, the Texas Department of Insurance complaint process creates a record, and litigation remains available.

Watch the Clock

Texas insurance code claims generally carry a two-year deadline, and most policies contain their own suit limitation provision — often two years and one day from the date of loss. The 61-day pre-suit notice period runs inside that window, so waiting until the final months leaves no room.

Homeowners with unresolved claims from prior storm seasons should confirm their deadline immediately, since supplements and negotiations do not extend the limitation period unless the carrier agrees in writing.

Have Your Settlement Reviewed

If the check you received will not cover the repairs your roof actually needs, the gap is worth examining before you cash out the claim or run the deadline. The Law Office of Bryan A. Woods handles property insurance and consumer disputes for San Antonio homeowners. Call (210) 824-3278 or reach the firm here.