Getting caught up in a legal battle can be an unpleasant experience, significantly when you have just recovered from an injury. If you have a personal injury case or any other case, you probably prefer not to drag it out for long. Some cases take months or even years to settle.
The negative aspects of a legal case might influence you to settle for a lesser amount so that you could wind up the case sooner. You could do it, but that might not be in your best interest.
If you have doubts about whether there are any disadvantages of fighting a case till you get the greatest possible amount in settlement value, there are many. But the time and money you had to spend because of a personal injury because of another person’s negligence outweigh them.
Understandably, doing this can be complex and cumbersome. That is why you must seek the guidance of a seasoned personal injury lawyer to recover the damages in a personal injury case.
In this post, we will discuss the usual timeframe of a personal injury case and why it may be longer than you expect.
Timeframe to settle a personal injury case
Of course, there are rare scenarios where you might hear about personal injury cases settling sooner than usual. However, generally, these cases take quite a bit of time before you can settle.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the primary reasons your injury claim might stretch longer than you think.
- The intricacy of the facts and legal details.
- The size of the settlement amount. The larger the amount, the longer the fight.
- Due to the interferences caused by health issues caused by the incident in question.
There isn’t a pre-decided timeframe that you or your lawyer could predict. Unless you are prepared to receive a far lower settlement amount, you will need to treat each case phase with its merits and trust the process. Let’s take a closer look.
Factual & legal complexities
To understand the legal complexities, you must first think about the problems involved in the case. The value of the settlement is generally determined by two key factors: liability (the defense party who’s allegedly at fault) and damages (the severity of the plaintiff’s injury).
The case details that pertain to these two factors can vary, sometimes in unpredictable ways. For instance, if the insurance company thinks there isn’t enough material to prove the liability, they might offer you an unreasonable settlement.
On the other hand, sometimes doctors are unsure about the causes of your injuries, which might negatively affect your case. Again, this will make it difficult for you to prove the defendant’s negligence as the cause of your injuries.
The size of the settlement amount
The degree of damages caused by the incident in question plays a huge role in determining how the case proceeds. Speaking, more damage means more money. It’s not new to see insurance companies reluctant to pay what they owe until they dissect and cross-verify every aspect of the case.
To Conclude
Although there’s every possibility for your settlement value to grow, often, you come across situations where you require the money immediately. And you might agree to a lower settlement amount. In such cases, insurers generally pay thirty to forty percent of what their adjuster may deem as the final settlement value.
However, if you have the time and patience, we recommend fighting until you receive a justifiable settlement. If you were in an accident, and if you’re having second thoughts about how you want to go about seeking damages, consider consulting an experienced personal injury lawyer.
