Medical bills and other expenses can quickly start to pile up after an accident. Many personal injury victims cannot afford to pay these bills, especially if they’ve had to take time off of work to recover from their injuries. For this reason, some victims are eager to resolve their personal injury claims as quickly as possible. If you are filing a personal injury claim, it’s crucial to hire an experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyer to help you understand how long it will take to resolve, so you know what to expect.
How Long Will It Take to Recover Compensation in a Personal Injury Case?
Each personal injury case is unique, so the answer to this question will vary. Some personal injury claims are resolved in a matter of months, whereas others can take two or more years to resolve. The time that it takes to resolve a claim will typically depend on the answers to these questions:
- Is there a dispute over liability?
- How severe are your injuries?
- How much insurance is available?
Is There a Dispute Over Liability?
The insurance company will not compensate you unless you can prove that their policyholder is legally liable for your injuries. In some cases, the victim and the insurance adjuster agrees that the insurance company’s policyholder is to blame. These cases are typically resolved relatively quickly. But, if there is a dispute over who is liable, this can affect the time it takes to settle your claim.
You may need to take the time to gather more evidence that will strengthen your case and prove liability. The insurance adjuster may change their mind after reviewing additional evidence and decide to make a settlement offer. But sometimes, there’s nothing you can do to improve the insurance adjuster’s mind. If the insurance adjuster refuses to settle over a liability dispute, your only option is taking your case to court. This could add months or even years onto the time that it takes to resolve.
How Severe Are Your Injuries?
The severity of your injuries can impact the time it takes to resolve two reasons. First, severe injuries can increase the value of the case. In fact, cases involving the most critical and devastating injuries are often worth seven-figures. The higher the value of the case, the harder it will be to reach a fair resolution. After all, the insurance company is only interested in protecting their profits.
Second, it can take a long time to treat severe injuries, and you cannot settle your claim until you have completed treatment. Why? There’s no way to know the total cost of treating your injuries or how the injuries will affect your future if you are still being treated. As a result, it’s impossible to calculate the value of your claim during treatment accurately, so you won’t know how much you are entitled to from the insurance company. If you want to ensure you are fully compensated, you must wait until your treatment is over. Unfortunately, this could take a while if your injuries are severe.
How Much Insurance is Available?
The amount of insurance that is available can affect the length of time it takes to reach a resolution. It usually does not take long to reach a settlement if there is not much insurance available. But, it can take much longer to resolve cases where there is a lot of insurance coverage available. Why? The higher the policy limit, the more compensation victims can demand. This can lead to tough negotiations that can drag on for a long period of time and sometimes these personal injuries can affect your employment. If there is a lot of insurance coverage available, it can take as little as six months or more than two years to reach a resolution.
A Word of Caution Regarding Personal Injury Settlements
It’s not hard to understand why many personal injury victims want to resolve their claims as quickly as possible. But, it’s important to be patient. You should never try to speed up the process by skipping medical treatments or rushing through your recovery. Your health will suffer from this decision, and your wellbeing should be your first priority following an accident. Furthermore, this decision could lower the value of your claim, which means you won’t take home as much compensation.
Don’t try to quickly resolve your case by accepting a low settlement offer, either. This is your only chance to obtain the compensation you deserve for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. If you accept a low settlement, you are not allowed to ask the insurance company for more compensation for your injuries in the future. The only way to ensure you are fully compensated is to wait patiently to reach a fair resolution.
Finally, it’s important to keep your desire to reach a quick resolution to yourself. Do not let the insurance company know that you want to settle your claim as soon as possible. If you let this slip, it will be much harder to reach a fair settlement with the insurance company. The insurance adjuster will only make unfair settlement offers since they know how eager you are to close this chapter of your life.
How Can a Personal Injury Attorney in Atlanta Help?
It’s not wise to speed up the personal injury claim process by rushing through your recovery or accepting an unfair offer. But, an attorney can help you speed up the process in ways that will not negatively affect the outcome of your claim.
Failing to submit the appropriate documentation to the insurance company can lead to lengthy delays in your claim. Fortunately, an attorney can avoid these delays by gathering and submitting documentation that is relevant to your claims, such as police reports, medical records, and witness statements. Your attorney will ensure that the insurance adjuster has all of the evidence they need to process your claim right away.
Your attorney can speed up the negotiation process as well. Attorneys are skilled negotiators that have plenty of experience working with insurance adjusters, so they know the right tactics to use to quickly reach a fair settlement. The insurance adjuster will also take your claim more seriously if you are represented by an attorney, which can speed up the negotiation process even further.
These are some of the many ways that an attorney can help you reach a favorable resolution to your personal injury claim as quickly as possible. If you have been injured, seek legal representation from the experienced personal injury attorneys at Spaulding Injury Law. To schedule a free consultation, contact Spaulding Injury Law by calling 770-744-0890 or submitting your information using the form on this website.
