A Closer Look At Settlement Amounts After An Accident
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
When you're involved in an accident of any kind, recovery will become your life's primary focus for some time. But while making a physical and even a mental recovery are vital, the financial damages that an accident can cause are often major and can be just as difficult to recover from. In situations where your accident wasn't your fault, it's possible that an insurance company will make a settlement offer to you. This settlement is essentially a sum of money that will be given to you, that you then use to pay the medical bills from the accident. However, once it's accepted you will be unable to seek out additional compensation. And because of this, a settlement offer can be one of the biggest mistakes that you make following an accident. Taking a closer look at it is important.
What Goes Into A Fair Settlement Offer?
The biggest issue with settlement offers following an accident is simply that they're usually too low to really be considered 'fair'. Think about the different costs that occur following an accident:
- Medical bills
- Future medical bills associated with recovery
- Lost wages due to missing work
- Personal property damage
- The costs of stress and mental injury
- Future potential lost wages
In short, there is much more to a full financial recovery than just the initial medical bills associated with your injuries. A fair settlement offer will include all of those things, giving you back the finances that you lost due to an accident that wasn't your fault.
The Shady Side Of Settlements
Insurance companies know that following an accident you will be stressed and worried - and maybe not thinking 100% clearly. Because of this, they may use tactics to help save themselves money. Often, they'll offer a lowball settlement offer. But making things worse, they may begin by stalling, denying payments, and making you jump through numerous hoops. This can make it feel like you'll never get any financial restitution.
Then, they will offer you a settlement. Because of the difficulty you've had just getting any kind of help up to that point, even a lowball settlement might seem attractive - it can feel like your only option. Once you accept, you've basically given up the right to get what you're really owed and you could be left with additional bills that you truly shouldn't have to pay for on your own.
The Difference An Attorney Makes
Because of the points above, it's vital that you get a personal injury lawyer following an accident of any kind. A good attorney will help in a number of ways, including the following:
- An attorney will use their experience and various resources to determine what a fair settlement amount is. This way, you will have a clear idea as to just what you should be offered.
- Just having a personal injury lawyer on your side will help you get better results. This is because of the respect that you get from the insurance companies when an experienced accident lawyer is working with you. Instead of giving you stall tactics and runaround, they'll start working towards a resolution.
- An attorney will stand up to any of the insurance company's shady tactics to help make sure that you get the compensation that you're owed. This way, you can rest easy knowing that your case is being handled properly.
As you can see, personal injury accident settlements aren't always as straightforward as some assume. Taking a closer look at them should help you see why trusting a professional Florida accident lawyer to help you get what you're really owed is a good idea.