How Long Does It Take to Settle a Car Accident Personal Injury Claim?

Learn what factors in your case will influence the length of time it takes to recover damages from someone whose negligence caused your injuries! 

If you have been injured in a car accident (either as a driver, pedestrian, or passenger), you may have the legal right to seek financial compensation. 

A single crash can potentially change the course of your life forever, and if it doesn’t, it will likely be a serious interruption that can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in medical bills, lost wages, and damages to your vehicle. When someone else’s negligence caused the collision, you have legal options for making a personal injury claim. You should meet with an attorney as soon as possible following an accident to understand your options and begin litigation – there is a statute of limitations on accident cases, so it is important not to delay seeking legal counsel. 

It is difficult to know how long it will take before a settlement can be reached, simply because these types of personal injury cases vary immensely. You will need to speak to a lawyer to get a specific estimate, but on average, accident personal injury cases take anywhere between six months to 2-3 years to resolve. 

The process

First, your lawyer will meet with you to evaluate your case and gather all of the information necessary to make a claim. They will formally file a legal complaint on your behalf, and register your case with the correct court (this will depend on what state you reside in and what state the accident occured in). Then your lawyer will get a summons from the court, where he or she will give the complaint and serve the defendant. The defendant has 30 days to answer the summons. If they fail to answer, you can seek default judgement. If the defendant submits the answer before then, the bulk of the legal proceedings – the discovery phase – begins. 

This is potentially the longest part of the lawsuit. During the discovery phase, your attorney and the legal counsel for the defendant will investigate the facts of the accident (sometimes using accident investigators) and exchange information that will be used as evidence in court if the case does go to trial. Experts may be called in by one or both sides to determine the severity of the injury and give their opinion on the reasonableness of the amount. At this time, a deposition will also take place; depositions are basically interrogations between all parties and witnesses that are recorded and transcribed, and can be used as evidence in court. This phase will nearly always take a few months, but can also take more than a year, depending on the circumstances of the accident and several other legal factors. 

Next, if neither party refuses to settle, the case will go to trial. The judge will hear both sides and determine the final verdict (which includes the decision of liability and compensation amount). Trials for auto accidents usually last no more than a few days, but there is the possibility for an appeal. The appeals process is long, layered, and complicated, and can take several years to complete. 

Factors that could delay a settlement

The majority of the time, insurance companies will offer to settle out of court. 

This is a desirable option, as judge’s verdicts can be unpredictable and settling out of court takes less time than awaiting trial. However, you will want to work with an experienced, reputable law firm to make sure that you are not settling for less than the full amount you deserve, because in order to formally accept a settlement, you must sign a release giving up the right to pursue further damages. 

The insurance company will not offer to settle though, before they are convinced it is the option in their best interest, and you should not settle until you believe it is in yours. That decision could be influenced by a number of factors, including (but not limited to):

• Liability – The insurer will not make a settlement offer you should accept until it has been proven that the defendant is at fault and that you have a legal right to sue. Defective auto product cases often involve liability issues, for example, because it is difficult to conclusively prove fault. If there is a significant question of liability, the insurance company may prefer to wait until a judge rules on the right to sue, which will delay compensation. 

• Damages – If there is any question about whether or not the defendant’s negligence caused your injuries (something that would be determined by a medical professional), then the insurer will not offer a settlement until that has been conclusively proven that the damages you are seeking are the responsibility of the defendant. If the damages you seek are a particularly large sum, insurance companies will painstakingly investigate every detail of the case before offering a settlement, simply because there is more at stake. They will confirm that they don’t have a good defense in court and that your injuries are truly severe.

• Medical status – If your healing process is still ongoing, and you are treating your injuries but you can afford to wait for a settlement, always do so until you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI) from your injuries. At this point, you and your lawyer will have a better idea of how to estimate the total cost of your injuries. This can last for years, potentially – your doctor and your lawyer will help you better understand how long it will take to achieve MMI. 

Often, insurers hold out on settlements because they want to see if you’ll give up and accept less money. We strongly recommend waiting them out, but sometimes, you simply cannot afford to wait for the legal proceedings to take years, especially if your injuries are extensive. 

In this case, you should speak with an accident personal injury attorney to determine the minimum amount you should settle for within your desired timeframe. Sometimes short settlements yield 30-35% of a trial award, and sometimes less, depending on the nature of your specific case. 

If you have been wrongfully injured on the road, contact the Florida Law Group today for a free case evaluation! We can give you a better idea of how long your case may take to settle. We never give up obtaining maximum compensation for our clients! Our attorneys are ranked in the top 1% of lawyers nationwide, and we have recovered millions of dollars in damages for our clients.