Settling your car wreck claim

Settling without first filing a lawsuit typically resolves your case more quickly than going through the litigation process. Once you file a lawsuit, most insurance companies choose to engage in a lengthy process called "discovery" in order to obtain more information about you before potentially extending an offer. If the case has to go all the way to a trial to reach a resolution, it is likely to take several years toreach that point due in large part to the crowded dockets throughout the state. Even after a trial, you may also have to contend with appeals, which further prolong the process.

When a case moves into the litigation process, costs begin to add up quickly. Not only do you have to pay several hundreds of dollars to simply file the lawsuit, you must also pay to have the other party served with a copy of the lawsuit, you have to pay for certified copies of your medical bills, and will likely have to pay thousands of dollars to depose medical experts to help prove your case. Additionally, most attorneys have a provision on their fee contracts which states that their fees increase if litigation is involved.

 A settlement prior to litigation provides guaranteed money in your pocket. Once litigation is initiated, however, the insurance company will have the chance to do some digging around in your personal life and may uncover information that can either lower the value of your case or cause them to decide not to pay anything at all. And if the case makes it all the way to a trial, the fate of your case is in the hands of 12 strangers, and you could ultimately end up with nothing.

Settling can be less stressful and time-consuming than dealing with everything that comes along with litigation, especially if you just want to put the car wreck behind you and move on with your life. Litigation requires you to relive the wreck with what can seem like endless questions and requests from the insurance company attorneys.

  Most of the time, if a settlement is reached prior to initiating a lawsuit, the insurance company is limited to the amount of personal information that they know about you. However, once litigation is initiated, an injured victim opens themselves up to having to answer very personal questions that may become public record.