A settlement is a financial compensation that a victim receives from the liable party to prevent the case from going to trial. How long it takes to settle a personal injury lawsuit varies from case to case.
Some take a few months to settle, while others will be debated in court years before the victims receive their award.
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Compensation
Your attorney will fight for you to claim compensation for personal injury or compensatory damages that you deserve. The two most common types that are awarded and personal injury cases are economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages include your medical bills, lost wages, reduced or lost earning ability, and damaged property repairs or replacements.
It may also cover childcare and transportation services if your injuries prevent you from completing those responsibilities yourself.
Non-economic damages compensate the victim for the mental anguish, loss of consortium, pain, and suffering that the victim experienced due to the accident.
Filing Your Personal Injury Claim
Your attorney will notify the liable party’s insurance company that you have sought representation through their law firm and that they are requesting insurance information for your case.
Your attorney will call in witnesses, interview any police officers who arrived at the scene of your accident, and will review photographs of the accident scene.
Once you have attained maximum medical improvement (MMI), which is the state in which your condition cannot be improved any further, and your healing process is complete, then your personal injury attorney will gather all of your medical records and calculate the sum total of your medical bills.
These will be sent to the insurance company with a demand letter for the full amount of your damages and a justification for the other party’s fault.
The insurance company has 30 days to respond to your attorney with a settlement offer. If you and your attorney agree that it is a good offer, you will receive your check and complete the process.
Negotiations
If, however, you and your attorney do not agree on the offered amount, then your case will go into negotiations. It is more likely that your case will go into this phase if there is any dispute regarding the extent of the damages or the cause of the accident or injuries. Many factors can increase his likelihood, including:
- The cost of your medical treatment: the insurance company is going to fight hard to avoid paying exorbitant medical fees and may dispute treatments that you received
- The length of your medical treatment: if your injuries have not healed yet or you have not reached MMI, then your claim will take longer.
- If liability is unclear, or if the insurance company believes that you were even partially responsible for the accident
Call an Attorney Today
The bottom line is that the sooner you hire a personal injury attorney, the sooner you receive your settlement.
They have years of experience negotiating on behalf of injured victims and can advise you of your rights as you file your claim. You are also much more likely to receive a higher settlement if you hire a personal injury attorney.
If you want to learn more about how a personal injury attorney can help you, then read here.
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