Generally, it’s not advisable to accept an insurance company’s settlement offer after your car accident injury unless you’ve received legal counsel from an experienced attorney. Doing so can result in receiving less compensation for your injuries that you may need with little to no legal recourse to pursue further compensation.
If you have been in a car accident, the insurance company may offer you a settlement. This is an agreement that states that the insurance company agrees to pay for certain losses related to your accident. While accepting this settlement can seem like an easy way out of your situation, it's important to consider all of the details before making a final decision.
When Is It OK to Accept a Settlement Offer for My Car Accident Injuries?
If you’ve received legal counsel from an attorney you trust, and their advice is to accept the offer because it adequately covers your damages, then you can feel confident about doing so. Keep in mind, however, that it’s rare for insurance companies to give potential plaintiffs comfortable compensation from the outset.
When considering whether or not to accept a settlement from an insurance company after a car accident, it's important to look at how much money they are offering and if that amount covers all of your damages.
Depending on the severity of the accident and any medical bills associated with it, though, the cost can be quite substantial and even exceed what the insurance company is offering. If this is the case, you may need to consider other options such as filing a lawsuit.
Insurance Companies Use Timelines to Pressure Accident Victims
Insurance companies will also make settlement offers with explicit deadlines. The purpose of the timing of these offers is to put additional pressure on accident victims who may be wary about filing a personal injury lawsuit.
If you have felt anxious about accepting the offer before it expires, this is the intended effect of these deadlines. That’s why it’s important to seek legal counsel from an attorney as soon as possible to learn more about what you could actually recover by taking legal action.
Hiring a Lawyer Doesn’t Always Mean Your Case Goes to Trial
People are also often wary of talking to a personal injury lawyer because they don’t want to deal with the legal battle for compensation for their injuries. While claims can and do go to trial, most are actually settled out of court.
This means that your attorney can help you negotiate for a better settlement than the one initially offered, and the dispute over your car accident injury compensation can be resolved outside of court.
We Can Help You with Your Car Accident Injury Claim
If you were injured in a car accident and received a settlement offer from the insurance company, we at Paulsen Law Group can help.
Our attorneys can evaluate your claim and help you determine if the settlement offered is fair. In most cases the offer doesn’t account for what an injury victim actually needs, but we can help you engage with the insurance company to negotiate a fairer settlement or file a lawsuit to seek the maximum possible compensation for your injuries.
If you’d like to learn more about our legal assistance, contact us online and request a consultation with the Paulsen Law Group.