PERSONAL INJURY CASE TIME FACTORS

Your personal injury attorney must fully explain why your case is taking so long. There are many legitimate reasons why a personal injury case takes time, but if your attorney cannot explain why your case is still pending, you may want to consider changing attorneys. Some law firms record more cases than they can handle, and your case may be in an overlooked filing cabinet – feel free to request an update.

These are the factors that will affect the length of a personal injury case:

1. Insurance coverage

2. Treatment duration

3. Insurance Company Policies

4. Responsibility

5. Quality of medical reports

6. Severity of injuries

7. Case type

8. Intangible

INSURANCE COVERAGE

The minimum policy limits for automobile liability insurance coverage in New York are 25/50. This means that the maximum that can be paid is $ 25,000 per person and $ 50,000 per incident. So if you were seriously injured, the only person injured in the accident, and it was clearly the other car’s fault, your case can be resolved very quickly. The insurance company will likely “offer” you your policy, which means that it will pay for your policy in full. Under the circumstances, it would be “bad faith” if they didn’t. Unfortunately, although your case is resolved quickly, you will not be able to get a lot of money.

Let’s say you had the same serious injuries and good liability, but the other vehicle was a truck with $ 1,000,000 coverage. This is where you don’t want to rush. Sure, you COULD solve this case quickly, but that wouldn’t be the best way to handle it. With only $ 25,000 to collect, the case can be resolved even before the treatment is finished, but with more money to collect, it would not make sense to even try to resolve the case before the treatment is completed, as the treatment is. medical “. damages” that increase the value of your case. This is where we want to wait for a good settlement and litigate if one is not offered. This will make the case take much longer, but it is worth it.

TREATMENT DURATION

More serious injuries generally require longer treatment. Clients sometimes ask why their case is not resolved when they are actively receiving medical treatment or still unable to work. It is not possible to know the value of the case until treatment is complete, and trying to resolve a case at that point would be to sell it short. For example, if the injuries put you out of work for a year and a half, your case cannot be resolved for at least a year and a half (assuming there is extensive insurance coverage) with minor injuries that require little treatment. it may be settled earlier, but it won’t produce as high a payout. The important thing to ask an attorney is why the case is taking as long as it is taking; you need to make sure that you are not just sitting on the filing cabinet because they are too busy with other cases.

INSURANCE COMPANY POLICIES

Some insurance companies have a policy of wanting to reach fair settlements quickly. They have a team of claims representatives who follow up on their cases and respond to calls from attorneys. You can send them a medical package which they will review in a timely manner and then make an offer in a reasonable amount of time. If the offer is not acceptable, a lawsuit can be started. In fact, there are companies this good – one of the best has some fun animal commercials.

Other insurance companies don’t want to settle cases. They have few claims representatives and they don’t bother to return calls. They ask for 60 days to review medical records. They make terrible offers to solve cases. Lawyers know which companies they are and they know that lengthy litigation will be necessary. Some attorneys will not even accept cases if they know they belong to certain insurance companies! If your case is taking a long time because it is against an insurance company that is not actively resolving cases, it is not your attorney’s fault. It doesn’t matter if your Aunt Jean made a lot of money very quickly with a case against a “good” insurance company.

LIABILITY AND YOUR PERSONAL INJURY CASE

If you have a police report showing that a drunk driver who was texting hit you in the rear, chances are there are no liability disputes. This accelerates the case since the only discussion is the “damages”. On the other hand, if the other guy went through a stoplight, but claims that you went through the stoplight, the case may need to be litigated through depositions before it can be resolved. It is frustrating to see the other pass through the light, but that is what the courts and the judges are for. Depositions cannot take place until both parties have exchanged documents and after several court conferences. This case is not going to be quick to get the full value.

QUALITY OF MEDICAL REPORTS

If you deal with high-quality medical providers who are knowledgeable about producing accident reports, this is helpful for faster settlement. Scribbled and non-exhaustive medical reports give claims adjusters little to “hang their hat” when they ask for “authority” to put money on your claim. That’s when an insurance company may want extensive litigation if you are looking for a large settlement. They will want to hear your testimony in a statement and send it to your doctors for an examination. Good quality medical reports will speed up a settlement.

SEVERITY OF INJURIES AND YOUR PERSONAL INJURY CASE

Assuming there is coverage, it will take time to accumulate an excellent settlement amount in a serious case. This is the type of case where lengthy litigation can improve the final settlement. You want the insurance company to know that you are willing to go to trial if you don’t get enough money. Even though most cases are finally settled, with very serious injuries, you want to prepare the case for trial, even settle on the eve of trial. This may take years, but it is worth it.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CASES TAKE DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF TIME

Auto accident cases have a “serious injury threshold” that must be met. With smaller cases, it is important that there is at least enough treatment to reach this threshold, which often means treatment for a minimum of three months. Other types of cases do not have this threshold. For example, if you fall in a supermarket and go to the doctor and have a sprained ankle that heals quickly, your case could be resolved very quickly. A case of food poisoning could be quick because there is little treatment once the problem goes away. Negligence and defective product liability cases will always be time consuming as experts must be hired and complicated investigations to be conducted.

INTANGIBLES THAT IMPACT THE LIFE OF A CASE

The insurance company denies payment for your surgery because it is not “medically necessary” and the doctor arbitrates this denial. It may take more than a year to make a decision. It is wise to wait for the decision, as surgery is an important part of the damages in your case and having an arbitration decision that was in fact medically necessary is important to your case.

The insurance company transfers your claim to a new claims representative who must now review your entire file from scratch. This can add months to the time it takes to resolve the case. The insurance adjuster is going on an extended vacation or family leave and there is no one to discuss your claim. Of course, the litigation can continue, but the case cannot be resolved unless there is a claims representative with whom to discuss it.

There are many reasons why cases take time to resolve. The most important thing to remember is that your attorney’s job is to explain why YOUR case is being delayed. If you are in the dark, you don’t have the right lawyer. If your attorney cannot fully explain why your case is taking so long, consider changing attorneys.