Settling Your Personal Injury Case

If you have been injured in an accident that is someone else’s fault, you might want to file a personal injury lawsuit. However, paying bills, such as expensive lawyer and doctor fees while you have a lawsuit pending can be difficult. While you could win the lawsuit and get monetary compensation to cover the cost of the lawsuit and medical expenses, what are you supposed to do while the lawsuit is pending? An alternative to filing a lawsuit is settling with the other party. If you settle, you will be compensated for your losses, and in return you must agree not to sue the other party. There are many advantages to settling your personal injury claim as opposed to filing a lawsuit.

Advantages to Settling

One of the biggest advantages that a settlement has over a lawsuit is the fact that you will be paid much faster if you settle. Lawsuit cases go to court, and the court process can take years to complete due to lengthy pre-trial preparation, the process of picking a jury, getting a court date, the trial itself, and the motions filed after the trial is completed. You might receive money at the end of the lawsuit, but during the months or years that the case is pending, you will have to finance everything on your own. If instead you agree to settle your case, you can get your compensation as soon as the documents are signed.

If you decide at any point during your lawsuit that you want to settle instead, this can be arranged. However, before this can be done, you must drop the lawsuit. Sometimes an insurance company will make you an offer to settle once they have seen your medical expenses and records, which can take a long time to gather and interpret.

Settlements are made based on damages. You will have to provide the party responsible for your child’s injury with information about the expenses, emotional losses, injuries, and future treatment needs. If you hire a lawyer, he or she can help you determine how much money you could receive if you win the lawsuit as opposed to how much money you might get if you settle.

Period Payments

If you do decide to settle, you should realize that the offending party is not entitled to pay your family in one lump sum. While you can be paid in a lump sum, period payments can be made instead. Period payments result in a structured settlement. This will mean that you are paid a certain amount of money every month or year until you are paid the full amount of money agreed upon during the settlement.

A structured settlement has its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, the arrangement could reduce your taxes because you receive small payments over time. However, this can also be a disadvantage because you won’t be able to pay for expensive items, like a house or a car, all at once.

Settling Outside of Court

If you have filed a personal injury claim, you should consider settling the case outside of court. Doing this will get you money faster and you won’t have to go to court. If you need monetary compensation, a settlement is the fastest way to get it. You also won’t have to waste money on an expensive lawsuit if you decide to settle. You should consider your options with a personal injury lawyer such as myself in order to determine your best course of action.