In the aftermath of a serious car accident, there will be rapidly growing bills that need to be paid for medical expenses and car repairs.
When that accident is caused by another driver’s negligence, you are entitled to seek compensation that might come in the form of a settlement from the at-fault driver’s insurance company. The issue then becomes how long you will have to wait.
As with anything involving the exchange of money, the amount of time you need to wait for a car accident settlement depends on many factors, but you can expect simple cases to resolve in 3 to 6 months, while more complicated claims might take up to 12 to 24 months.
The best approach for making an assessment is to speak with an experienced Gulfport car accident lawyer. They will be in the best position to detail what your options are for pursuing a remedy and how long it will take to resolve.
Understanding the Typical Car Accident Settlement Timeline
Even though what happened in your accident is unique to you, the accident settlement process follows a common timeline. You’ll have to go through these phases before you can access your settlement. Here’s what your timeline will look like:
- Immediate Aftermath (0–2 weeks): Right after your accident, you need to seek medical treatment. You also need to report the accident to your insurance company. Even if they won’t be paying your settlement, your policy probably requires you to report the accident.
- Investigation (1–3 months): Once the insurance company is notified, they’ll assign an insurance adjuster to the claim. They will conduct an investigation that involves analyzing all the relevant evidence, including police reports, surveillance footage, and witness statements. At the same time, you and your attorney will conduct your own investigation to determine liability and calculate damages.
- Medical Treatment (Months to Years): There are some settlements that might have you waiting until you finish treatment in order to understand all the costs.
- Demand and Negotiation (1–6 months): Negotiations begin when your attorney sends out a demand letter that details the accident, establishes the at-fault party, and details all the damages. That will begin the back-and-forth negotiations until a settlement is reached.
- Finalization and Payout (1-4 weeks): Once the settlement is finalized, you’ll sign a release, and funds will be disbursed.
It is important to note that once you sign the release, you won’t be able to come back and ask for other funds. That is why you and your attorney need to make accurate calculations for all the current and future expenses and lost wages.
The Impact of Maximum Medical Improvement on Timing
Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) is the point where your injury has healed as much as possible. When your doctor makes an MMI, it will help provide you with an accurate claim valuation that will ensure you’ll be able to be compensated for the full amount of your medical bills and rehabilitation costs.
If your injuries are the type that might not fully heal, your doctor can assign you a permanent impairment rating. That can influence what your compensation might be for long-term pain and suffering.
Waiting for the official MMI can take several months or longer, but when you consider the financial stakes, it is worth the wait.
How Insurance Company Tactics Can Delay Your Payment
Filing a claim after a car accident means you’re asking the insurance company to part with some of its profits. As you might imagine, many insurance companies are reluctant to part with the cash. Mississippi also utilizes pure comparative negligence.
That means you can collect a settlement even if you’ve been partially at fault, but your final settlement will be reduced. That is something an insurance company will push for.
The insurance company could also deploy the following tactics to delay your payment:
- Making a Lowball Offer: The insurance company could make an early offer that seems like a fast resolution but could be significantly lower than what your claim is truly worth.
- Minimize Your Injuries: The insurance adjuster assigned to your claim will often try to downplay the severity of your injuries. They could argue that your treatment was unnecessary and use that as an excuse to reduce the payout.
- Recorded Statements: As part of their investigation, an insurance adjuster may ask for a recorded statement. Their plan is to use your own words to weaken your claim.
When insurance companies deploy these tactics, their intent might be to slow down the claims process, leaving you frustrated. If that happens, you might feel pressure to accept a lower settlement.
That’s why you want an experienced attorney to step in and act as your advocate.
Why Complex Cases Involving Commercial Trucks Take Longer
If you get involved in an accident with a commercial truck, you’ll soon discover that the settlement process can be more complex. The reason is that there may be more liable parties involved.
For instance, a trucking company can be held responsible for its drivers’ actions if it engaged in negligent hiring practices or failed to properly train them.
The truck cargo loaders and mechanics might also be found to be partially to blame for the truck accident. There’s also the need for your attorney to send out an evidence preservation letter that will ensure that the trucking company won’t delete any of the truck’s electronic control modules (ECM), cargo manifests, and driver service hour logs.
The addition of these at-fault parties can mean a longer investigation. Although this can extend the personal injury timeline, a thorough investigation often yields a stronger claim and a better chance of recovering full compensation.
When to File a Lawsuit to Speed Up the Process
When it becomes apparent that the insurance company is slowing down the settlement process or refuses to make a legitimate offer, your attorney might recommend filing a lawsuit. That shifts the pressure on the insurance company to respond and defend its actions.
It could also motivate them to serious settlement discussions that can yield a much fairer final amount.
It is also important to keep Mississippi’s statute of limitations in mind. In a car accident injury case, you have three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit. That might seem like a long time, but when you factor in all those steps in the timeline, you can see how that time will go by quickly.
Speaking with a car accident lawyer in Gulfport before that filing deadline gives you the best chance to protect your claim and preserve evidence.
The attorneys at Owen, Owen & Smith, PLLC, can provide you with the information you need to make the right decision about how you should pursue your entitled compensation.
Call to arrange a consultation to get your settlement questions answered.
