For a straightforward case involving relatively small medical bills, a settlement is sometimes reached within a few months. When treatment costs run higher with a serious injury, insurance companies will stall and use other tactics to try to limit the money they must provide. Their attempts to pay as little as possible can delay compensation for a year or more.
It’s important to remember that a quicker settlement isn’t always better for the victim. Insurance companies will often extend a “lowball” settlement offer in the first few weeks. They hope you’ll take this inadequate amount before you realize just how expensive your injury will be. A skilled personal injury lawyer helps you recognize these types of offers, reject them, and demand more.
How Long Should I Wait on a Personal Injury Settlement?
Every personal injury case is very different, and there are cases that take only weeks to reach resolution. There are other accident cases that can take years to finally work out with an insurance company.
Personal injury accidents are accidents that are the fault of someone other than the victim. Under California law, injury victims can file a claim for damages against any party that contributes to an accident. This might be a careless driver on a California boulevard or a business owner who leaves a hazard on the floor, causing you to fall.
Unfortunately, not all guilty parties accept fault immediately. The insurance companies that cover those parties also fight very hard to avoid liability. This frustrating battle for victims to simply secure the help that’s only fair can prolong any settlement negotiation.
These are just a few things that may extend your wait during a personal injury settlement negotiation:
- When insurance companies try to shift blame in the accident from their policyholders
- When insurance companies try to dispute how badly you are hurt to save money
- When insurance companies won’t accept fault and you must take them to court
- When an insurance company is purposely delaying a response so you’ll become desperate
- When insurance companies try to use the fine print in contracts to escape accountability
These and other shady tactics often hold victims hostage as their medical bills pile up and they lose more and more time at work. They can fall behind on their normal monthly bills, like the rent, as well. It’s easy to give into these worries and sign off on a settlement offer that’s way too low to cover all of your recovery costs. That’s why a free conversation with a California personal injury lawyer can be incredibly beneficial for victims.
How Can an Attorney Speed Up the Accident Settlement Process?
Your Maison Law attorney will monitor all of the behavior of an insurance company. This includes watching out for purposely slow communication as insurance adjusters try to invent some type of reason to reject your claim.
- Contact the Insurer Directly: Your lawyer would contact the insurance provider directly to warn employees about their behavior.
- Report the Insurer: There are also California statutes that force insurers to respond to victims in a certain amount of time. Your lawyer could report the insurance provider you’ve been dealing with.
- Back Your Case With Evidence: Your lawyer also collects powerful evidence to show who was at fault in an accident. This makes it harder for insurers to stall and put off paying you what’s fair.
- The Threat of a Lawsuit: A Maison Law attorney also represents the threat of a lawsuit. If an insurance company isn’t acting fairly and accepting responsibility, your attorney would have a strong case prepared to take the insurer to court. This threat is often enough to get insurance companies back to the negotiating table. They want to avoid the cost and embarrassment of having their behavior examined by a judge and jury. Victims are often handed a much more suitable settlement amount when a lawsuit is a real possibility.
Your lawyer handles the frustrating back-and-forth of negotiation with as little disruption to you and your family as possible. You are given this time to focus on healing and not financial worries. You can rest easy that your experienced attorney is demanding the maximum in compensation available.
Contact a California Personal Injury Lawyer
Speak with a skilled California Personal Injury Attorney after any type of accident caused by someone else’s carelessness leaves you or a loved one with a serious injury. It’s important to know about every benefit available to you and your family because an insurance representative won’t be informing you about all of your options.
Contact Maison Law for a free, no-obligation consultation. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your injury is worth and what you should be holding an insurance company to.
