How Do You Determine Whether Or Not A Client Should Accept A Settlement?

If they plateaued, you should not continue treatment with no results because eventually, the statute of limitations will expire before you can collect your compensation. At that point, it’s time to get evidence showing the level of future care you will need so that we can include it in your settlement. This can also include lost wages and other considerations. At a certain point, if you are as good as you are going to get in your recovery and healing, then it’s time to start getting the evidence together and send a demand to see if we can get your case settled and, if not, file a lawsuit to protect the statute of limitations and your right to recover money from the insurance company.

What Elements Constitute A Viable Auto Accident Injury Claim In Arkansas?

The more successful cases have documentation of both your injuries and treatment. If somebody comes into us a month after a car wreck seeking money for their injuries but has already settled for property damage, our first question is where they received treatment. If they did not already seek treatment or have it documented, there is not much we can do. We might be able to get you a minimal settlement in that case, but the more viable cases are always the ones that have documented treatment and that follow the advice of their doctors.

Many have stopped going to treatment when they have not been advised to and disobeying their treatment plan. Clients may backtrack and don’t take care of any lingering issues. When it comes time to settle their claim, they are still having all these issues, and they are upset with what their case is going to settle for, even though they never finished treatment. It all comes down to what kind of evidence we’ve got because an insurance company will only pay what they think the jury will make them pay at trial. We show the insurance company the evidence we have to force a fair settlement, but if we have no evidence to work with, there is no incentive to settle.

How Do You Advise People That Want To Handle Their Auto Accident Claim On Their Own Without Legal Counsel?

It is human nature to expect people to do the right thing, and it’s human nature to want to get along, which most people expect from an insurance adjuster. They expect the person that works on their claim with the insurance company to do the right thing, and they expect that person to want to get along with him. Those goals are at odds with an insurance company’s plan for shareholders to make money. Even if the insurance adjuster sounds nice, the fault is apparent, and everything seems to be taken care of, they are not on your side. It is their job to minimize the value of your injuries and get you to sign a release and go away for the least amount of money possible. Our job is to maximize that and present the evidence that you’ve got on your claims about your injuries in the best light for you.

For example, my sister was involved in a rear-end collision at a red light, and by the time she talked to the insurance, the other party’s insurance was convinced that my sister backed into the other driver involved. They denied the claim, and we had to file a lawsuit in court over a rear-end collision. From the beginning, insurance adjusters are trained to devalue the claim. We keep going back to those recorded statements and how harmful they are. Our general policy is not to have our clients give recorded statements to the other person’s insurance company to avoid all possible problems. Nothing good comes of it.

What Are Some Questions That Potential Auto Injury Clients Typically Ask?

The cost of the incident as a whole and hiring a lawyer are all common questions. Many of them have never been in a car wreck before or hired a lawyer. We don’t charge anything upfront, and I always tell clients that you will never have to write us a check. Our job is to get you paid, and if you get paid, we get paid. You don’t pay us anything if you don’t win your case. Another question is how long the process will take. Many people have horror stories of friends who have been in a car accident and had the case drag on for two or three years. If a case doesn’t have to go to court, we can generally get it settled and resolved for you within a month or two after you are done with treatment. Your case doesn’t usually get any more valuable sitting on our desk, so we will not sit on it and make you wait whenever you need your bills paid.

Many people also wonder if they must go to court because everybody thinks that just by hiring us, you are instantly buying a ticket to the courthouse, which is not the case. You don’t pay us anything until you win, but if we have to sue, the insurance company starts incurring many costs. Their insurance attorneys bill hourly. So, every time we make them do something on your case, it gets more expensive.

Typically, that is a motivator that helps us force the insurance company to do the right thing. If they don’t, then the case gets much more expensive because they will want to pay their claim. So, by doing the right thing and delivering you the fair value of your claim, they are ultimately saving themselves money.

For more information on Accepting A Settlement In An Auto Injury Claim, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (479) 337-7077 today.