What Can Cause Your Personal Injury Claim to Be Delayed?
When you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you want to be compensated as soon as possible. The amount of time it takes to resolve personal injury claims varies from case to case. Some cases are quickly resolved while others take much longer. Keep reading to learn about some of the things that can cause your personal injury claim to be delayed.
Disputes Over Liability
One of the major causes of delays in personal injury cases are disputes over liability. In order to recover compensation, you must first prove that the other people involved in the accident are liable for your injuries. The process of proving liability becomes more complicated when there are multiple parties who are at fault, such as being in a multiple car accident.
Additionally, insurance companies can make proving liability more complicated since they don’t want to pay your compensation. These companies will claim that your injuries weren’t caused by the accident in question or that the accident wasn’t caused by their client but by other factors. With the help of a personal injury lawyer, you will have help proving that the negligent party is liable.
A Long Recovery Period
Your personal injury claim could be delayed because of how long it will take you to recover from your injuries. These cases are not typically settled, until you have reached maximum medical improvement, which is when you have fully recovered or reached a point in recovery when your injuries are unlikely to improve with further treatment. The reason why cases don’t move forward until you reach this point is lawyers want to be sure you are fully compensated for all of your medical needs and that is not usually possible without first determining you total length of treatment, along with your total medical bills and final prognosis.
Unreasonable Delays Caused By the Insurance Company
When you file a claim, you will have to work with the other party’s insurance company at some point. These companies are going to look out for their best interest and not the people who were injured, resulting in these companies paying out unfair compensations. They will try to delay the process, such as investigating the accident or taking longer than necessary to process your claim. This can be so severe as to constitute what is known as bad faith.
When you work with an experienced lawyer by filing a personal injury , insurance companies are more likely to resolve your claim because they don’t want your case to go to court. With a lawyer on your side, it is more likely that you won’t face bad faith insurance tactics and get the fair compensation you deserve.
Your Case Goes to Trial
Another reason why your claim could be delayed is because your case goes to trial. Most personal injury cases settle out of court, but there are occurrences where these cases go to trial. When a case does go to trial, it can take a long time to prepare and file the case, set a trial date, and go through pre-trial discovery. Many times, when an insurance company is faced with the possibility of going to court, at some point during the litigation phase, they will provide a fair offer because they don’t want to spend the time, effort, and money on a full trial.
Now you know some of the reasons why your personal injury claim could be delayed. Are you ready to speak with one of our attorneys? Contact one of our personal injury lawyers today.
