HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR PERSONAL INJURY CASES TO SETTLE OR COMPLETE?

Often times, personal injury cases can take a long time to reach their end. It makes sense when an innocent injured victim would want their case to settle quick and confused why the process may take a lot of time. Settling a case often helps bring a sense of closure and finality to the injured victim and therefore early settlement is always canvassed with the insurer.

WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG TO CLOSE OR SETTLE A CASE?

At our firm, we are always mindful of the wishes of our clients and sometimes settling a case early will be attainable. However, sometimes if a claim is settled too early, we may not know what the full extent of the injuries are of the injured victim or what the likelihood of a successful recovery looks like. Therefore, it is difficult to properly assess a claim unless we know the full extent and long-term effects of your injuries.

There are many elements that when combined, make this process lengthier than we would hope or expect. Medical documents often take months for our office to receive which can slow the process. The Courts are also significantly bogged down. There’s a lot of paperwork that needs to be requested and reviewed and analyzed by both sides of your case and this takes time. It’s not uncommon for hospital records to sometimes take six months or more to be processed and couriered to our office.

THE STRENGTH AND COMPLEXITY OF YOUR CASE WILL HAVE AN IMPACT

If you are involved in a straight forward slip and fall, the store is clearly at fault, and your injuries are rather minor, than your claim may not take too long. However, if for instance, you are involved in a multi-party dispute then the insurer will likely be apprehensive to settle with just one party and leave the other cases wide open. Additionally, factors such as whether liability is a highly contested issue or not will play a factor and whether injuries are clear or contested.

SETTLING YOUR CLAIM FOR THE BEST DOLLAR VALUE MAY TAKE TIME

Some law firms will try and persuade their client to accept a lesser dollar amount quickly in order to close the file and put money in their pocket fast as well. Our law firm is cognizant of the fact sometimes settling a file early for a fair value may make sense, however, often it will take time to build the claim up further, in order to get better results.