How Long Will My Car Accident Case Take to Settle in Florida?
Car accident cases are unique. Even cases involving similar crashes and injuries have different timelines for resolving the case. Still, all car accident cases have one thing in common – rushing your claim could mean losing thousands of dollars in compensation.
Our Florida personal injury lawyers at Allen Law Firm, P.A. work diligently to settle your personal injury case as quickly as possible. But our legal team does not cut corners. We do not rush car accident claims to get a settlement check.
Our priority is your best interests. Our car accident lawyers in Gainesville, Florida, do everything within their power to settle your claim for maximum compensation. We are passionate about our work, and we care about the well-being of our clients.
Contact our law firm to request a free consultation with one of our Gainesville car accident lawyers. Our attorneys have over 100 years of combined experience handling personal injury claims.
How Our Gainesville Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You After a Car Accident
After a motor vehicle accident, you need two things. You need medical treatment for your injuries and legal advice regarding auto accident claims. Specifically, you need an experienced, aggressive injury attorney in Gainesville, Florida, to fight for your right to a fair settlement offer.
When you hire our legal team at Allen Law Firm, P.A., you can expect us to:
- Conduct a thorough and comprehensive accident investigation to determine how your car crash occurred
- Identify all parties who may be liable for your injuries and damages
- Gather and preserve evidence necessary to prove a negligence claim
- Communicate with the insurance company and file an insurance claim on your behalf
- Handle negotiations and file a lawsuit if the parties refuse to negotiate in good faith
- Protect your best interests throughout the entire claims process
Our injury attorneys in Gainesville, FL, have the experience, skills, and resources you want on your side as you fight a large insurance company or defense law firm. With more than a century of collective experience handling injury claims, Allen Law Firm, P.A. is the right law firm to handle your car accident case.
Reach out to our office today to schedule your free consultation with a Gainesville personal injury lawyer. Get the legal advice you need to protect yourself and your family after a Florida car accident.
Factors That Impact Settlement of a Car Accident Case
Many factors impact the timeline for the settlement of a personal injury claim. The amount of time it takes to settle your case depends on the facts and circumstances surrounding your accident.
Some circumstances that affect the time it takes to reach a settlement include:
The Extent of Your Injuries
When you are injured in a car accident, you may sustain a variety of injuries. The extent of your injuries directly impacts the time it takes to settle an injury claim.
Settling a car accident case before you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI) could result in a much lower settlement amount. MMI is the point at which your doctor states no further medical treatment could improve your condition or health.
MMI means a full recovery for many accident victims. For other accident survivors, MMI means having a permanent disability or impairment that will not improve with further medical treatment.
You cannot know the full extent of your damages until you complete your medical treatment and your doctor gives you a prognosis. Until that time, you are guessing how much your medical treatment, lost wages, and other damages might total.
Therefore, cases involving catastrophic injuries can take longer to settle because it takes longer to recover from traumatic injuries. We may need to retain medical experts and specialists to provide expert testimony regarding the extent of your injuries. Rushing through these steps could result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in future damages.
The Length of the Investigation
We must have evidence proving that the other driver caused the car crash for you to recover compensation for injuries and damages. Some accident investigations are quick. We might have video evidence from a traffic camera showing how the accident occurred, or the other driver might admit fault for the cause of the crash.
Other car accident investigations could take months to complete.
Things that can complicate an accident investigation include:
- Accidents involving commercial trucks
- Claims involving government vehicles or employees
- Accidents involving fatalities
- Multi-vehicle accidents
- Accidents involving children
- Claims of comparative fault
In cases where we have no eyewitness testimony or video evidence, we may need to hire experts to assist in the investigation. Accident reconstructionists use evidence of your accident to “reconstruct” how the crash occurred. They then identify the factors that contributed to the cause of the wreck.
Rushing an accident investigation could result in losing the case. When you bring a personal injury claim, you have the burden of proving the other driver caused the crash. If you cannot prove fault, you cannot recover compensation from the driver.
Determining Insurance Coverage
Florida is a no-fault state for car insurance. Each driver must carry a minimum amount of no-fault car insurance. Your first claim after a car crash is against your PIP (no-fault) insurance coverage.
If your injuries are severe, you may be entitled to sue the other driver for damages. However, the other driver may or may not have liability insurance coverage. Your personal injury attorney will need to determine what insurance coverage available to know whether to pursue an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit.
Settlement Negotiations
Settlement negotiations could take several months. Once the investigation is complete and you reach MMI, our Gainesville personal injury lawyers prepare a settlement demand. The settlement demand is a letter with attachments sent to the insurance provider or opposing party.
The demand sets out the facts of the case, the extent of your injuries, why the other driver is at fault, and the amount of compensation we believe you are entitled to. The other party may take weeks to review and analyze the settlement demand before responding.
In many cases, the other party may make a counteroffer. The process of going back and forth with demands and counteroffers takes time. If the other party refuses to negotiate a fair settlement for your injury claim, we may need to pursue a personal injury lawsuit.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Florida Car Accident Lawyers
Most car accident cases settle without filing a personal injury lawsuit. Our Gainesville accident attorneys will do everything possible to get you the money you deserve as quickly as possible.
Contact our office to schedule a free case review with one of our experienced car accident attorneys in Gainesville or Ocala. We will review your accident case and provide advice regarding your legal options.
