How Long Does a Car Accident Claim Take to Resolve?

Are you a car accident survivor? If so, have you filed a personal injury claim? In case you have, you might want to know how long an accident claim will take to resolve. After all, your medical bills due to the treatment you are receiving could be increasing every day. It is also possible that your damaged auto is yet to be repaired or replaced and you have lost your wages. So, the faster your personal injury attorney ends this case successfully, the happier you would be. Generally, a car accident claim can take just a few months or can last a couple of years. How long yours might take directly depends on the complexity of the case.

What could make an injury claim protracted and tedious?

When physical and/or psychological injuries were sustained.

During the first stages of a claim, your doctor may not know when exactly you may recover or the degree of medical care you might need to recover completely. Since an attorney needs your doctor's facts to list damages for your injury, the claim might take longer to process. Furthermore, the insurance claim adjuster might require more evidence to establish whether some generalized injuries actually happened. These include whiplash, soft-tissue injuries, and chronic generalized pain.

When the insurer takes longer to respond.

Another problem is that the insurance company might not show commitment as soon as a claim is filed. The longer it takes for them to conduct their investigations and get in touch with your personal injury attorney, the longer the case is likely to take. If there is no specific law in your state that stipulates the total number of days within which an insurer should offer a settlement, it could take longer to resolve.

As soon as the insurance company denies a claim or makes an offer, your lawyer should decide how to move forward. They can accept the offer, reject it, or appeal the insurer's denial. As long as there is consistent communication between you and the insurer's claim adjuster, a resolution can be reached quickly.

If a personal injury lawsuit is filed.  

If the insurance company refuses to give your claim a fair settlement and you don't want to try arbitration, the only way out is to file a lawsuit. A trial is a process with a number of stages. Until these are completed successfully, there will be no compensation. Court cases tend to be slow, and it's hard to know how and when they will come to an end.

Although a claim that takes longer to end can be stressful, there are advantages. More time can lead to a better settlement offer or more cash. And, since a personal injury attorney works on a contingency fee basis, you will pay them if they win the claim.

If your case is likely to take longer, don't worry. The important thing is to receive a fair settlement. Talk to an auto accident attorney today for more information.