Why You Need to File An Car Accident Claim Quickly
If you are injured in a car accident, whatever you do don’t put off filing your car accident claim. Doing so will reduce the time that you have to collect information and negotiate a settlement that will benefit both sides. If you wait too long and the statute of limitations almost expires on your case, you may be forced to file a lawsuit just to keep the negotiations going, resulting in a lot of expenses for you and possibly forcing you to hire a lawyer.
After you inform the insurance company that you plan to file a claim, they don’t dispatch someone to your hospital bed with a suitcase right away. Far from that, they will spend a while in a period known as discovery. There may be some money offered right away, but in most cases the offer isn’t serious and is an extreme low ball offer. More likely, the insurance adjuster will take his time collecting your medical records, billing records, and repair estimates to put together an accurate assessment of what your settlement is worth. Then the insurance adjuster will send you a letter offering what he thinks is a fair settlement.
In most cases, after this initial letter, there are lengthy negotiations that go on between the adjuster and the injured party. They can be quick, but especially if communication is done by mail, they can take a while to complete. Most states allow you at least one year to complete a settlement or file a lawsuit. But, if you waited a while to file a claim, its possible that by the end of the settlement proceedings that you will be running out of time and either forced to take the adjuster’s offer or file a lawsuit to keep the negotiations going.
If you want more information on settling with an insurance company, visit the Auto Accident Settlement Center.
Tags: auto accident, car accident claim, car accident litigation, car accident settlement, car accidents