Getting A Little Help

Accident victims filing a lawsuit against an insurance provider for compensation of damages often have medical bills to pay or are anxiously awaiting the funds to purchase a new vehicle. They therefore are usually curious about how long their case will take.

The length of a car crash case depends mainly on the following four factors:

Your attorney and the defense's attorney

Some attorneys are more eager to go to court than others. Your attorney may decide to forego a settlement offer if he or she is confident that it will be possible to get more compensation in court. 

Likewise, the defense attorney can influence the length of the case by being willing to go to court. Your defense attorney and the insurance company he or she is representing may have a settlement cap that can't be exceeded. This could cause your case to go to court even after a settlement offer if the settlement cap is less than what you are demanding. 

The amount and type of damages

If you're being particularly aggressive in the amount of compensation you're demanding, you can expect to wait longer for your case to be resolved. Insurance companies will eagerly settle if a plaintiff is demanding less than they predict they'll have to invest in a drawn out court case.

Plaintiffs also might find that it's easier to achieve compensation for medical damages than for property damages. It's often easier to prove that medical damages should rightfully be covered by an auto insurance company than it is to prove that property damages should be covered. 

The size of the insurance company

A larger insurance company will generally have more resources at its disposal for fighting a lawsuit. Also, larger insurance companies are typically more conservative when it comes to settling. 

If you're filing a lawsuit against a smaller insurance company, it might be easier to reach a settlement than it would be with a large insurance company. 

Evidence

The more evidence you gather and the more organized your evidence is, the more convinced the defense will be that fighting the case is hopeless. If you're very thorough in initial presentations of evidence supporting your case, you might find that the defense is eager to settle. 

If there are no impartial eye-witnesses of the accident in question, you might find that your case will be more drawn out. This makes it important to interview and take down the contact information of as many people as possible at the scene of the accident.

For more information, contact The Jaklitsch Law Group or a similar firm.