How Do You Win a Settlement in a Personal Injury Case?

While there is no guaranteed way to win a personal injury settlement, injury victims can take certain steps to increase their chances, including hiring a reputable personal injury lawyer. Personal injury cases are often complex and many factors make it necessary to hire a lawyer to carefully navigate your claims.

The following guide will help you determine how to maximize your chances of winning a favorable settlement in a personal injury claim or lawsuit.

Consult a Trusted Personal Injury Attorney

While you must file a personal injury claim as soon as you can following an accident, you will benefit from working with a respected personal injury attorney. As mentioned, these cases can involve many aspects that are difficult to manage without sufficient experience in personal injury law. An experienced attorney will be able to lend their expertise to your case to help secure a better outcome.

Although some personal injury cases may involve minor injuries and complete transparency regarding who’s at fault, there are a few critical circumstances when hiring an attorney is the best way to win a settlement. These include:

When a Case Is Worth a Large Amount of Money

If you’re demanding compensation for injuries and pain and suffering that are worth as much as tens of thousands of dollars, you’ll have a significantly better chance of success with an attorney by your side. This is because insurance adjusters may not take you as seriously without representation if your case is worth such a substantial amount.

If Ongoing Consequences Are Likely

In addition, if you want to seek future damages for ongoing medical treatment or lost wages due to disability, an attorney will be able to calculate these and include them in the settlement amount.

When There’s a Question of Who’s at Fault

Another reason for hiring an attorney is a lack of clarity about who’s at fault. If you question whether the other party was at fault and want to prove that they were, an attorney may help develop a strong, evidence-supported argument. Otherwise, you may struggle to prove fault and the other party may claim that you caused the accident even if you didn’t.

All of these reasons make working with an attorney ideal in most personal injury cases involving more serious accidents and injuries.

Seek Professional Medical Care

After an accident, seek immediate medical attention if needed. Even if you don’t require immediate care, see a medical professional following an accident. Doing so will help identify and begin treating any injuries you may not have been aware of until much later, and it will help generate medical records and bills to use as evidence in your case.

Make sure you retain all hospital bills, along with appointments with therapists, surgeons, and other professionals. In addition, obtain and keep all prescription reports.

Your doctor may also choose to put together a treatment plan, which will include details about how much treatment will cost throughout. Your attorney may then be able to use these details to help argue for a higher settlement based on the need for ongoing treatment.

Determine How Much Your Claim Is Worth

When filing a personal injury claim, you will need to write and send a demand letter that includes the details about your case, including the total amount of compensation you wish to recover. When drafting your demand letter, you should have a clear idea of the amount of compensation you want, within a specific range.

Determine a minimum settlement figure you will accept before speaking with insurance adjusters. This minimum will remain private to you and your attorney until the adjuster begins sending offers and you send counteroffers.

If you’re not sure how much your claim is worth, an attorney can help. Often, personal injury claims involve many types of damages that could factor into the final settlement. For example, your case may involve a combination of economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages include medical bills, lost wages, and other easily quantified damages. Noneconomic damages are more difficult to calculate and include less tangible damages, such as pain and suffering in the form of physical or mental distress. Your attorney can help make these calculations and give you a range of potential compensation.

Along with damages, other aspects of the case will influence the settlement amount, including the overall severity of injuries.

You don’t have to stick with the dollar amount you originally decided to pursue. Adjusters may make you aware of certain facts about the case that may weaken the claim, requiring victims to reduce their minimum and maximum settlement figures. Conversely, if you or your attorney uncover evidence that strengthens your claim, you may be able to increase the amount you want to recover.

File Your Claim as Soon as Possible

For personal injury cases, states have a statute of limitations in place to enable victims to file a claim or lawsuit following accidents resulting from negligence. These statutes give people a specific amount of time to file, after which it is often difficult or impossible to seek compensation from negligent parties.

The statute of limitations in the U.S. can range from around two to four years in most states. While it may seem as though you have plenty of time to file, you’ll increase your chances of recovering an ideal amount of compensation if you file as early as you can. However, you must also give yourself enough time to build your case and support your claim before filing.

With the help of your attorney, you can begin building your argument and prepare your demand letter for submission to insurance companies. An attorney will be able to gather sufficient evidence and organize your case before the statute of limitations runs out. At-fault parties are also more likely to take your case seriously if you don’t wait too long to file a claim, seeing as this indicates that you’re serious about seeking compensation.

Never Accept the First Settlement Offer

Insurance adjusters often begin negotiations by offering a low settlement amount. Remember, adjusters are never on the side of accident victims and work in the best interests of their company. As a result, they’ll try to reach the lowest possible settlement agreement, making it crucial to decline the first offer. By offering a minimal amount, adjusters want to determine if claimants truly understand how much their case is worth and whether they’re willing to settle for a low payout.

The first offer amounts may be either reasonable or far lower than what you would like to recover. If they’re reasonable, you may want to make a counteroffer that’s slightly lower than the amount in your first demand letter. This indicates to the adjuster that you are reasonable and capable of negotiating. You and your attorney can then continue negotiations until you reach an agreeable settlement amount.

In rare cases, if both parties fail to agree, personal injury claims may become lawsuits. If your case goes to trial, having an attorney to represent you will be vital.

Maintain and Organize All Evidence

Whether your case settles during the claims process or winds up in court, you must have enough evidence to support your claim. If you have plenty of evidence to back up your argument, you’ll have a better chance of getting the compensation you deserve.

Depending on the nature of your case and injuries, there are many types of evidence you’ll want to procure and maintain.

This evidence may include:

• Photos of the scene of the accident and your injuries or other damages
• Medical records, receipts, and bills
• Witness statements
• Police reports
• Pay stubs proving lost wages
• Paperwork and receipts for repairs to vehicles or other property

Collecting all of this evidence can present challenges, but you need it before negotiating with insurers. A reliable personal injury attorney can get all of the evidence necessary to support your claim and maximize your settlement amount. Attorneys will also understand that you have a limited amount of time in which to file, meaning they’ll be willing to work fast to gather all available evidence.

Wait for Adjusters to Respond

Once you’ve sent your first demand letter to insurers, it’s time to simply wait for a response. While you may want to adjust your desired settlement amount based on new information, don’t reduce it more than once until the adjuster has sent a new offer. Once the adjuster has sent an increased offer, you may be able to reduce your demand.

If the at-fault party’s insurance adjuster gives reasons for making lower offers, discuss them with your attorney to determine whether they’re sound. Following this stage, the insurance company may make a reasonable offer. If you’re still unhappy with the offer and can’t come to an agreement, you and your attorney may need to work harder to secure a more favorable offer. Otherwise, your attorney may decide to take the case to trial if this is the only way to recover full compensation.

Send an Agreement Letter

If you and your attorney reach a favorable settlement, the next step is to confirm the agreement in a written letter that you must send to the adjuster. You can make the letter concise and brief. Your attorney can help draft this letter for you.

What to Expect When Hiring an Attorney to Help With Your Case

Hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer can dramatically increase your chances of building a strong case and getting full compensation for damages sustained. If you’re considering consulting with an attorney, the following are some considerations to keep in mind.

Initial Consultations Should Be Free

Most personal injury lawyers offer free initial consultations to review the details of a case and determine whether it’s viable. The attorney will also figure out what approach they should take to reach the best possible outcome. If the attorney believes that the case is likely to succeed, they may choose to represent you.

Contingency Fees

In addition to offering free consultations, reputable attorneys will work on a contingency basis, which means they only receive payment once the case is a success and the client receives the full settlement amount. Before the attorney settles their case, clients will only need to cover certain attorney fees, and the attorney won’t usually require any upfront payments.

A Good Reputation

A reliable personal injury lawyer will also have a solid reputation in the industry. Look on the attorney’s website to see if they have had any successes in the past. You can also look online for external reviews to gauge other people’s experiences with the firm. You may also be able to get referrals from friends and family who have worked and seen success with a local attorney. During an initial consultation, you can also ask if the attorney has handled similar cases.

Speak With an Attorney Regardless of Whether You Believe You Have a Case

Some individuals may believe that they don’t have a valid personal injury case, but even they can still speak with an attorney to determine their options. Free consultations will come at no cost to you, and you’ll walk away with a better understanding of your case whether the attorney chooses to take on or decline it. Don’t assume you don’t have a case from the start, as you might discover you have enough evidence to support a claim.