Tag: car accident settlements

How Long Does It Take To Settle My Car Accident Case?

Posted by drpadmin on

car accident attorney las vegas

There is no simple answer to how long it takes to settle a car accident case. Every car accident case is different, and there is no fixed formula. Generally, the less disputes issued, the more likely the case settles early. The more disputed issues, the longer it takes to settle case.  There are several factors to consider.

Is There A Dispute As To Who Caused The Accident?

The first factor to consider is whether there is a liability dispute. A liability dispute means the drivers involved in the car accident are claiming the other person is at fault. Many times when there is a liability dispute, a lawsuit will have to be filed. The purpose of the lawsuit is to get a judge, jury, or arbitrator to decide who is at fault. However, even if a lawsuit is filed, a case can still settle without going to trial or arbitration. What happens in a personal injury lawsuit is a whole separate topic, and you can learn more about that by clicking here.

Sometimes, a case with disputed liability can settle without a lawsuit. Usually, this happens when one driver has more or stronger evidence to show that the other driver is at fault. For example, if the police came to the accident scene, did an investigation, and determined the other driver is at fault, that other driver’s insurance company may decide to settle the case. Generally, a person’s car insurance company can settle a personal injury claim without the permission of their insured. If there is a disinterested witness to the accident, there is a good chance of settling without a lawsuit. A disinterested witness is someone who has no interest in the case. Usually, this means the witness doesn’t know any of the other drivers involved.

How Severe Are the Injuries And How Much Insurance Is Available?

Assuming liability is not in dispute, the next two main factors to consider are (1) the extent and severity of the injuries and (2) the amount of insurance available. The more severe the injuries and the lower the amount of insurance available, the faster a case would actually settle. For example, if a car accident caused you to break a leg and the insurance limits for the at fault driver is the Nevada minimum of $25,000, the case would likely settle pretty quickly. The reason this case settles quickly is because there is no dispute that the injuries are greater than the insurance monies available.

The more severe the injuries and the greater amount of insurance available, the longer it could take a case to settle. For example, if you were in a car accident with a semi-truck, it is likely that the semi-truck carries a commercial liability policy. That commercial policy could be more than a million dollars. If you injured your neck in that truck accident, it could take sometime before your doctors determine that the injury is more severe or permanent. Most neck injuries from a car accident are initially diagnosed as a soft tissue injury, usually a sprain or strain. Some neck injuries may require surgery. Doctors generally can’t tell at the beginning if a neck sprain or strain may turn out worse and require surgery. Imaging, such as MRIs, may be necessary. Doctors also may require pain management and even epidural steroid injections. Other tests, such as nerve conduction studies, may be needed. All of these tests and treatment take time. A car accident victim shouldn’t settle their case until they know the full extent of their injuries.

More often than not, the less severe the injuries, the more likely the case will settle without a lawsuit. Less severe injuries take less time to heal. Once a car accident victim is fully healed or has reached maximum medical improvement, then the attorneys can begin the process of settling the case. You can learn more about the process of settling a case here.

How Bad Was The Car Accident?

The amount of damage to the cars involved in the accident also affects when the case settles. Generally, insurance companies take the position that minor impact accidents do not cause injuries. Even if they do, insurance companies say that the injuries are so minor and they will dispute the necessity or amount of medical treatment. Read more about the insurance companies’ tactics in dealing with “Minor Impact Soft Tissue” injury cases here.

What is considered a minor impact usually depends on the cost to repair the damage or how visible the damage is. An experienced personal injury will always obtain documentation on the property damage. This could include photographs of the cars and repair estimates.

The above are just some of the more common factors affecting how long it takes to settle a car accident. There may be other factors to consider, such as whether the accident victim has pre-existing injuries or is an eggshell person. Again, no car accident case is the same. If you have questions about your car accident case, you should speak to an experienced Las Vegas car accident attorney. With a combined total of 25+ years of experience and success, the car accident attorneys at D.R. Patti & Associates can provide unique insights to your case. Our Las Vegas personal injury attorneys know that its important that clients get to speak to their attorneys.

Pitfalls of Settling A Car Accident Case Without An Attorney

Posted by drpadmin on

It’s not unusual for some people injured in a car accident to accept a settlement from an insurance company immediately or days after a crash. Insurance companies would like to settle cases as fast as possible right after an accident, before the accident victim realizes how injured they are or gets an attorney. Settling within hours or days after a crash is part of an insurance company’s tactics to pay as little as possible for personal injury settlements.

We recently represented two individuals who did exactly that, and neither fully realized what they had done.
In one scenario, our client was injured in what generally could be considered a minor impact. Even our client did not think the crash was severe. A taxi cab had backed up into the driver’s side of his car. Though he felt immediate pain, he thought it would go away in a few days because it was just a small crash. Within an hour, an insurance adjuster for the taxi cab company was on the accident scene. Our client’s main concern was getting his car fixed. The insurance adjuster told him the car will be fixed if our client signs the release.

Our client, who spoke only Spanish, didn’t understand or fully understand that he was releasing or waiving his right to seek compensation for injuries. Our client also didn’t realize his injuries would get worse.

Our client was in his seventies and had been turned to his right, warning his back seat passengers about the cab that was backing up fast into them, when his car was struck. His age and his body position all contributed to him developing sprain and strain, otherwise known as soft tissue injuries, injuries that would persist for days, weeks, even months. The day following the accident, the headache that began with the crash was worse. His neck was stiff, and it was painful to move. His back was achy.

Las Vegas Taxi Cab Accident Attorney

Our client waited for the adjuster to call regarding repairing the damage to his car. When he did finally call over a week later, our client told the adjuster he was injured and wanted them to pay for him to see a chiropractor. The adjuster told him that he didn’t have a claim anymore, because he signed the release. Our client was still in a great deal of pain, so he sought a chiropractor on his own. When he told the chiropractor what happened, the chiropractor referred him to D.R. Patti & Associates. In representing this person, we learned that the taxi cab company routinely attempts to settle a case immediately at the scene of a crash.
In another scenario, our client was in a motorcycle accident. She was a passenger in her husband’s motorcycle when her husband laid his bike down to avoid hitting a car that suddenly swerved into their lane. No one got the other car’s information. While her husband was fine, our client suffered a fracture to her cheek bones and significant road rash and bruising. She was transported by ambulance to the emergency room. By the end of the day, she had accumulated over $50,000.00 in medical bills; but she hadn’t received the bills yet and didn’t know how much the ambulance ride and emergency visit cost.

The following day, they made a claim against their own insurance company and were initially denied. Their insurance company explained that because there was no evidence another car hit them, they had no claim under their uninsured motorist (UM) policy. But then the insurance company said our client had a liability claim against her husband’s policy, since he caused the accident. Our client was thrilled when the insurance company offered to give her the entire amount of her husband’s insurance policy of $50,000.00 and signed a release. A few days later, she found out that the hospital was claiming a lien against the entire $50,000.00 and that her health insurance refused to pay the emergency room visit. That finally prompted our client to call one of our attorneys. On her behalf, not only were we able to successfully get her health insurance to pay for the hospital bills, but we were also able to obtained additional monies from her insurance company under her underinsured motorist (UIM) policy.