The timing of your settlement is a major concern after you have suffered an injury in a car accident. Let’s face it – you need the money because you have incurred significant bills, and you may not be earning what you did before the accident (if you can earn anything at all).
The insurance company also knows that you need the money, so they will make things as difficult as possible for you and ensure you do not get a settlement check quickly.
Worrying about timing is a natural reaction for car accident victims. After all, there is a compelling reason why you are filing a claim.
Clients Often Have Concerns About Timing Because They Need Compensation
Prospective clients almost always ask this question the first time they speak with a car accident attorney. From a lawyer’s standpoint, it is virtually impossible to give an exact answer to that question. An attorney cannot overpromise anything to you, and they are often not in control of your settlement timing. They do not want to create inflated expectations that they cannot necessarily deliver.
The proper answer to this question is that you should wait as long as necessary to get a settlement that fairly pays you because you also have some control of the process. In reality, it can take several months to several years to get your car accident settlement check. Although the timing is definitely a concern, you should focus more on the amount of money above all else because you only get one chance to settle a car accident claim.
Insurance Companies Introduce Hurdles to Frustrate and Tire You
Insurance companies are notorious for the delaying tactics that they use to wear you down. The money to pay your settlement is from their investment account, earnings returns in the stock market.
The insurance company wants to keep this money invested for as long as possible, and adjusters might even prey upon your sense of desperation. They know that you may be panicked about your own financial situation, struggling to pay the bills while you wait for your car accident settlement. Never put any questionable tactic beyond the insurance company.
Insurance companies may also not hire enough adjusters to handle all the claims, leading to additional delays. The adjusters might need to clear large workloads. Even those on staff may not work diligently since they do not have a vested interest in your claim. It is not uncommon to have multiple phone messages go unreturned. Adjusters can be notoriously unresponsive, except when they want to reach you to pressure you.
Besides the administrative hurdles the insurance company puts in front of you, they might also aim to make the process as difficult as possible in other ways. They only pay you what you deserve after a long fight on your part. The insurance company may eventually raise their settlement offer closer to the actual reality of your damages, but it certainly does not happen overnight.
Personal Injury Lawyers Fight for You When Insurance Companies Delay
Personal injury lawyers always tell you they will stand up for your rights and fight for you. Given the way the insurance company acts, this is exactly what they must do if you are to have a chance of getting the money that you legally deserve. In this case, the fight part of your case is what makes the case take longer. If you get your check right away, and your lawyer does not fight for you, the check will end up being for far less.
The insurance company must first decide whether to deny your claim or make you a settlement offer. If your claim is persuasive, the insurance company cannot reasonably deny it. Otherwise, you can file a bad faith claim against them. However, it takes the insurance company some time to even reach this initial decision.
Even if it does not really take long to decide whether to deny the claim or try to settle it, the insurance company can extend this process. In a perfect world, you can likely settle your claim in weeks, but the insurance company often does not want to do that.
Car Accident Settlement Agreements Take Time to Reach
Assuming that the insurance company decides to try to settle your case, you should expect the process to take some time. Based on what your lawyer has told you that your case may be worth, you may have a hard time believing the initial settlement offer. It will likely be so far away from what you deserve that you may not even think it is a serious offer. The insurance company has taken all this time to make an offer only to make a lowball attempt to immediately settle the case.
Your attorney will review the initial settlement offer and advise whether it is in your best interests to accept or reject it. One rule of thumb is that the insurance company almost always has a lot more room to raise their offer, so you should almost always reject it. Chances are that this is just the start of a lengthy negotiating process. Your lawyer may write a demand letter to the insurance company or make a counteroffer to continue settlement negotiations.
The Insurance Company Will Often Make Better Offers Over Time
The insurance company will likely raise its initial settlement offer. Once they see that you mean business (and they will see it when you hire an experienced lawyer), they will know they are in for a fight. Then, they may treat you differently, knowing that a tough lawyer will not let them get away with much in the negotiation process. Insurance companies treat claimants with legal representation differently from those trying to handle their own claims because they know there can be repercussions for bad conduct.
Like any negotiation, both you and the insurance company might gradually improve your offers, and you will come closer to a meeting point. However, this does not happen overnight. The insurance company may not have the motivation to pay you quickly. They either want to settle your claim immediately for far less than it is worth, or they want to drag your claim out for as long as they can.
The negotiation process takes time. You have a certain amount of time to deal with the insurance company before you need to file a lawsuit. The statute of limitations will continue to run, and you might need to take your case to court. Even then, you can still negotiate a settlement with the insurance company because they will continue to defend their policyholder when the case goes to court.
The Insurance Company Cannot Take Delay Too Far
Although you should expect your claim to take time, the insurance company cannot unreasonably delay you. Again, you have the legal remedy of filing a bad faith claim if the insurance company tries to drag out your case too long. While bad faith claims apply to more extreme instances of insurance company delay, they are something you and your lawyer should keep in the back of your mind.
You should prepare yourself for what may be a long process. If you go into it expecting an immediate settlement check and getting worried when it does not come, the insurance company already has leverage over you. When you can deal with the process with an attitude of patience, the insurance company is less likely to get away with trying to underpay you.
A deliberate and focused client often gets the best result because the insurance company cannot push them around. You should also recognize that your lawyer often cannot do much to speed the process up other than to remain diligent in dealing with the insurance company. Threats of lawsuits sometimes help, but you do not want court as much as the insurance company does not want it.
Focusing on Speed Alone Can Cost You Money
In your focus on time, you should not accept less than you deserve in a settlement just to get a check. Haste can lead to your leaving money on the table. Waiting some extra time and negotiating longer can increase the size of your settlement. Getting $100,000 after an additional six months of negotiations is far better for you than getting $50,000 now. Of course, you make the ultimate decision about whether to settle your case after getting the necessary advice from your lawyer.
Some clients will let their worry about money get the best of them during the car accident settlement process. In the end, you are the one who makes the decisions about whether to settle the case. If you tell your lawyer that you want to accept a settlement offer, they will be bound to listen to you. An attorney will advise you to let the process play out because you can get more money the more you wait out the insurance company in negotiations.
Do What You Can Control to Begin and Continue the Legal Process?
While there is much that is outside your control, you should do everything that you can on your own to begin the process and keep it moving. The first thing that you need to do is contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible after your accident.
Your lawyer can work on assembling the evidence you need to prove the other driver’s negligence, so you can file a persuasive claim with the insurance company. Since the legal process will potentially take a long time, you should at least begin it as soon as you can. Your lawyer may not file a claim immediately (they should take the time to get it right), but at least they have begun the preliminary steps.
In the meantime, you should do everything possible to continue your medical treatment. You must mitigate your damages, which means you must follow the treatment recommendations and keep up with your medications and doctor’s appointments. Otherwise, the insurance company may try to decrease what they need to pay you, claiming that you ignored opportunities to improve your condition.
Some car accident conditions, such as brain injuries and neck and back injuries, may not be immediately apparent, and you should be vigilant about getting checked out by a doctor.
You should also work closely with your attorney, providing them with information when they need it. You will make decisions in coordination with your lawyer, and you should remain reachable and be responsive to your lawyer. Your attorney takes over all insurance communications and negotiations, but the final decision to accept a certain offer is still yours and yours alone.
However, never accept an offer without legal counsel simply to obtain payment faster. This is a grave mistake many car accident victims make, leading to serious financial concerns. Instead, trust that your lawyer knows the process and they are doing what they can to move things along as smoothly as possible.
Do Not Let Potential Delays Get in Your Way
Car Accident Attorney, Phillip J. Barkett
Even though a car accident claim may take a considerable amount of time, you should never let it keep you from working on getting the money you deserve after someone else’s negligence injures you in a car accident.
The insurance company wants you to feel daunted and frustrated. If you go away or do not even try to do anything in the first place, the insurance company wins because you get no money. Then, they get to keep the premiums their policyholder paid, even when that driver has harmed them.
Some insurance adjusters will even offer to speed up your case if you promise to accept the first offer, which they know will be too low. Never fall for these tricks, as you have no obligation to accept the first offer.
Let your lawyer handle the tough details of the claim and shoulder the frustrations. All you need to do is start the process and work with them while it is ongoing.