When someone encounters a personal injury, it’s only natural to want to claim insurance and get on with their life as fast as they can, but this process can be a lingering mess if the circumstances are not in your favor.
There are several factors that can delay the time of claiming your insurance.
The Complexity of Your Case
Moments after the injury, there’s a common question most of us ask: how long does it take to settle your claim? One of the first key factors will be the intricate details of your case that can prolong your claim.
Remember, your case will not always be simple. It can often be complicated and play a crucial role in delaying your claim. Every accident is unique. Assessing the nature of your accident can sometimes take longer than you expect. Investigators may take several weeks to months to reenact the scene all over again and paint a full picture of what led to your injuries.
Liability Disputes
Liability in personal injury is holding a party accountable for the cause of the accident. When you can’t determine who was at fault, this may slow down your claiming process. Insurance companies can accuse you of being at fault for your accident.
When the opposite party or the insurance company accuses you, you need to gather evidence like medical reports, testimonials from witnesses, looking out for potential surveillance footage, and reconstructing accidents. These can take more time.
Always file a case as fast as you can after you find yourself trapped in a personal injury case. If you wait too long to file the case, there’s a high chance that evidence can disappear over time or become less effective.
Severe Injuries and Lengthy Recovery
In a personal injury case, it’s necessary to reach a settlement only after you reach a full recovery. This culmination point is called maximum medical improvement (MMI). The time to reach MMI can take several months or even years when the injuries are severe.
Analyzing the extent of injuries you have sustained from the accident can help calculate your total loss. Hospital bills, surgery costs, medication bills, economic damages like lost income, and evaluating non-economic damages like compensating for your PTSD from the injury can benefit you as much as they prolong the time of getting your claim. Without assessing these aforementioned damages, you may not receive the fair settlement you’re entitled to.
Insurance Company Tactics
Insurance companies often try to settle with you for a minimal payout because the job of the legal team in these insurance companies is to save the maximum money for them in each case. They would purposely misinterpret your statements, deny some evidence, and manipulate their way to settle for as little as they could.
You would need an experienced attorney to negotiate with these insurance companies. This negotiation process to reach a settlement would extend the time it takes to get your claim.
Going to Trial
Overwhelming amounts of cases settle personal injury cases out of court. Only very few cases would go to court if both parties couldn’t reach an agreement. Most people avoid taking their cases to court because doing so can prolong the time it takes to receive their claims; however, everyone wants to claim the money they deserve and settle for a substantial payout. If you have a skilled lawyer by your side, they can minimize the possibility of your case ending up in court and reduce the timeline.
Endnote
- Despite these hurdles lengthening the time of receiving your claim, making sure you have a professional and experienced legal team by your side can help you with negotiations.
- They help in reaching a fair agreement while accelerating the process of getting your claim.
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