How Long Does It Take to Get a Settlement After a Car Accident?

You’ve been injured in a car accident. Recovering from your injuries and handling day-to-day tasks has become a struggle. The bills are piling up. You need an insurance settlement to meet the demands of daily life, but you’ve received nothing yet. Does the process really take this long, or is the insurance company dragging its feet? 

Insurance settlements after a car accident aren’t paid overnight. For those dealing with serious injuries, it can be tough to tell if the process is on track. An experienced attorney can help ensure everything moves smoothly and you get the benefits you need. 

Factors That  May Affect Your Settlement Timeline

After an accident, insurance claims follow a process to ensure everyone involved has the necessary information to complete the claim. Certain obstacles and delays can occur at each step. Here are several key factors that can impact the time it takes to reach a settlement after a car crash.

Insurance Verification and Claim Filing

The insurance settlement process starts when a claim is filed. Verifying whether each party has insurance can take time. In an uninsured/underinsured (UI/UIA) motorist claim, your insurance company may need to verify that the other person doesn’t have insurance, which can also take time. An attorney can start the claim process for you and communicate with insurance companies to keep the verification process on track. 

Investigations

Once a claim is filed, an insurance company wants to understand what happened. The total amount you’re offered in settlement can depend on the facts insurance receives during the investigation phase. As a result, many insurance companies only look as far as they need to in order to create a minimum estimate for your settlement.

Having an attorney on your side can ensure the investigation process is both smooth and thorough. Your attorney will investigate what happened, collect police reports and other documentation, and organize information to streamline the process of getting a settlement. 

Maximum Medical Improvement

Your injuries also play a role in determining what your case is worth. Often, it’s best to wait for a final settlement amount until you’ve reached “maximum medical improvement,” or MMI.

MMI represents the point at which more medical treatment won’t make your injuries any better. Any disabilities you have at this point are likely permanent. Medical treatment shifts from healing your injuries to managing your new medical needs. 

If you accept an insurance settlement before reaching MMI, you may not have the compensation you need to address ongoing disabilities or meet new medical complications. Waiting until you have a clear picture of your medical future can help ensure your settlement meets your realities. An attorney can help you understand how this process relates to your specific situation. 

Demand Letter

A demand letter is a formal document sent to an insurance company. It explains your injuries and financial losses, and it states a specific amount of compensation that will settle your claim. 

The demand letter formally opens the negotiation process. It says, “Here’s what I need and why I need it; if insurance pays it, we don’t have to go to court.”

Because the demand letter plays such a key role in negotiating an insurance settlement, it’s highly valuable to have an attorney draft the demand letter for you. An experienced car accident lawyer knows how to present the strongest case for full, fair compensation. 

Insurance Negotiations

When an insurance company receives your demand letter, it may respond in several ways. The insurance company may agree with your reasoning and compensation total and offer to pay what you offered. Often, however, an insurance company will offer a different (usually lower) amount of compensation. In some cases, the insurance company may deny the claim and refuse to pay at all. 

Negotiation can be one of the most challenging parts of a settlement. Taking on this work yourself, when you’re already working to recover from serious injuries, can be overwhelming. An attorney handles negotiations for you, so you can focus on healing. 

Lawsuits

What if you and the insurance company cannot agree on a fair compensation amount, no matter how hard you try? If you’re within South Carolina’s three-year statute of limitations for filing car accident claims, you can take the case to court. 

Your case will benefit from working with a South Carolina car accident attorney from the beginning. A lawyer prepares for trial from day one, gathering evidence and protecting your legal rights. Even though most car accident claims don’t go to trial, every experienced lawyer prepares each case as if it might end up in front of a judge and jury. If you need to file a lawsuit, your lawyer will be ready. 

What You Can Do To Speed Up the Process

You can’t control what other people do. However, you can take several steps to speed up the process of reaching a fair settlement. To help avoid unnecessary delays:

• File your claim promptly. The sooner you file, the sooner the process starts.
• Save copies of any and all paperwork. This includes paperwork you send to insurance or that insurance sends to you. Insurance companies may lose or misplace your paperwork. If you have backup copies, you can send them immediately, reducing the risk of delay. 
• Speak to an experienced South Carolina car accident attorney as soon as possible after your accident. Your lawyer will help keep your case on track. 

How a South Carolina Car Accident Attorney Can Help

An attorney is on your side from day one. Your experienced car accident lawyer will investigate your case, file paperwork, preserve evidence, draft an effective demand letter, negotiate to protect your legal rights, and prepare for trial if necessary. To learn more, speak to the team at the Steinberg Law Firm today.