If you have an injury from an accident, you are dealing with a lot. Between your hospital visit, possible procedures, making several different visits to the doctors, and healing from it all, you’re most likely exhausted. You’ve decided that a personal injury lawsuit would be in your best interest, and then you hear the promise of a personal injury settlement from the opposing side. You’re excited and hopeful, maybe this can be the end, and you can finally receive the settlement money you’ve been anticipating.
Soon, you find out the settlement details, and it is crushing. How could they make you such a low-ball offer? Don’t they know what you’ve experienced? This doesn’t even begin to cover the damage done – medical bills, missed work, as well as the suffering. What are your options?
How It’s Supposed to Work
After you’re involved in an accident, you likely exchanged information with others involved. The information you receive will aid you in making a claim against the other person at fault. You file all the information correctly and in a timely manner and even received repair estimates for the other driver’s insurance company.
The other driver’s insurance should then pay you the money you require to cover your medical expenses, car damage, lost wages, and more. But, instead, a low-ball offer is delivered. This low-ball offer is usually one of the first things proposed to you, in hopes that you will want to be done with everything and accept the offer.
What’s Next After a Low-Ball Personal Injury Settlement Offer?
Contrary to what the opposing side’s insurance company may lead you to believe, you don’t need to accept the first offer you receive. Instead, you can consider the first offer a beginning place for negotiations to happen. This is when having a lawyer will help the insurance company take your claim more seriously.
Hire a Lawyer
History shows that personal injury victims with a lawyer receive more considerable compensation than those that do not. This larger settlement is what makes hiring a lawyer all worth it.
At Wormington & Bollinger, we offer a free consultation where we can discuss your case and determine whether it would be worth pursuing, as well as discuss whether the initial personal injury settlement offer is close to what your claim should be worth.
Determine What Your Claim is Worth
Alongside your lawyer, you will be able to estimate how much your claim is worth. This may include damages suffered, medical bills, lost wages, and even pain and suffering. This step can be confusing, and you may feel unsure about your calculations without a lawyer’s help.
Determining what your claim is worth and the lowest amount you would be willing to accept will give you a good guideline to stick with as you consider other settlement offers. Your attorney can help you establish both amounts.
Obtain the Care Needed to Heal
You must continue to receive the care needed for you to heal even throughout the stressful claim process. It may be hard to concentrate on anything besides the lawsuit you are involved in, but attending doctor’s appointments will show that you are following through with your needed treatment. Plus, you don’t want to go backward on the treatments and healing you’ve already begun.
You may feel that you need to wait for your treatments until you have the settlement money to pay for them. But many clinics and physicians will work with you in either waiting to collect until your settlement is paid or will give you monthly payment options you can afford to pay.
Allow Your Lawyer to Do What They Do Best
Your attorney is experienced and skilled in handling cases like yours. It may take some time, but your attorney is working hard to gather information to build your case as well as deal with the insurance company to get them the information they need. Your lawyer should constantly be emailing or calling you so that you know how the case is progressing. Any kind of personal injury settlement offers that do come through, even if they are low-ball offers, should be discussed thoroughly with you as well as counteroffers that you offer back.
Make sure you hire a lawyer you can trust to do all these things, someone that is honest, caring, and truly wants the best for you and your case. If you do, you’ll be able to let go and allow your attorney to do the work required and all that you hired them to do.
Don’t Be Afraid to Go to Court
Having your case go to trial can be nerve-wracking, and the thought of it can even cause some people to avoid talking to an attorney at all. If you think the court is where things will automatically head, the truth is most of these cases are settled before things go to trial.
Although this may be true, you certainly want to hire a lawyer that would be prepared and able to go to court if needed. If you have a lawyer who is regularly going to court, the insurance companies know this and respond accordingly with higher offers.
Protect Yourself and Your Compensation
Being involved in an accident can change your world, leaving you to pick up all the pieces. This can be overwhelming and seem impossible to do on your own, especially when you’re in the midst of healing from your injuries. In addition, submitting legal paperwork and talking with insurance companies can be too much to handle.
Wormington & Bollinger can help ease the burden of a personal injury lawsuit. Whether it be completing the task of gathering information or representing you in court, we stand ready to support you as well as get you the best compensation possible. If you have been injured and are looking for an attorney or have recently received a personal injury settlement, contact us today to learn how we can help.