Understanding Your Car Accident Settlement
Our Texas car accident attorneys explain your settlement claim
If another driver causes your car accident in Texas, you will likely be contacted by the at-fault driver’s insurance company. They might ask you a few questions. Or they might even make you an offer to settle your accident claim on the spot.
It can be very tempting to accept a settlement offer for your car accident but it’s important to understand exactly what you are agreeing to before you accept or reject a settlement offer. That’s why it’s important to talk to a car accident attorney as soon as possible.
Our legal team at Tracey Fox & Walters knows what questions to ask insurance companies and what information to look for when examining a settlement offer. In many cases, such offers turn out to be too good to true, especially when they make an offer right after your accident.
What they’re really trying to do is get you to accept a lowball settlement before you know the full extent of your accident-related expenses. Over the course of your lifetime, your accident could cost you thousands or even millions in medical bills, lost income and other expenses. That’s why it’s important that you understand your settlement offer before you accept it.
Understanding your car accident settlement claim
There are many important things to consider before agreeing to accept a settlement offer for your car accident. These important issues include:
- Average Settlement Payout
- Understanding Your Insurance Settlement
- Insurance Settlement Process
- Understanding Your Medical Settlement
- Medical Settlement Process
- Common Car Accident Settlements
- Understanding Your Car Injury Settlement
The bottom line – the more information you have, the better. That’s why we our car accident lawyers want to meet with you as soon as possible. Simply contact us and scheduled your free case evaluation as soon as possible. We can help you every step of the way.
Settlement payouts for car accidents can cover a huge range – from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand or even several million dollars. All of this depends on the severity of your injuries, whether you sustained a permanent disability as a result of your accident and whether or not you can return to work after your recovery.
Some websites talk about tripling the cost of your medical bills to determine how much you will receive in financial compensation for your crash, but every accident is different. That’s why it’s important to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible. You could be eligible for far more compensation depending on a wide range of factors unique to your accident.
Understanding Your Insurance Settlement
The most important issue to understand is the finality of your insurance settlement for your car accident. Once you agree to accept a settlement claim, you will likely not able to come back and request more money in the future, even if your accident-related expenses increase dramatically over the next few years.
It is important to consider how your accident could impact you for the rest of your life. If you have serious injuries which may require additional surgical procedures in the future or long-term physical therapy, your settlement offer should include financial compensation for all those expenses. The same goes for lost income if you cannot work in the future due to your accident-related injuries.
Insurance companies know this – so do we. We want to help you make sense of your insurance settlement claim offer before you sign anything. We also know how to negotiate effectively with insurance companies and can serve as your representative with them.
If you have been in a car accident caused by another driver, you will likely deal with the insurance company for the at-fault driver. The process of dealing with insurance companies after an accident can be extremely complicated, especially when they offer you an insurance settlement for your crash.
In general, you normally have two choices when insurance companies offer to settle your case – accept or reject their settlement offer. If you do accept the offer, you often forfeit your right to request additional money in the future, even if you need surgical procedures or other medical treatment in the future. That’s why it’s critical that your settlement offer covers all your accident-related expenses, now and for the future.
Understanding Your Medical Settlement
Many accident victims only think about their medical expenses immediately after an accident. That’s exactly what insurance companies want you to think when they make a settlement offer for your accident-related expenses.
It is important to understand that your settlement should cover all your accident-related medical expenses for the rest of your life. This includes emergency medical expenses, any surgical procedures, physical therapy, medications and even modifications to your home due to a permanent disability sustained in your accident. All of these expenses and many more should be reflected in your settlement. Otherwise, you could end up having to pay for them out of your own pocket. That’s simply not right.
The medical settlement process can be complicated and controversial. The insurance company for the at-fault driver will likely come up with one number for how much your settlement should be for your accident-related medical expenses. We will likely come up with a different, more realistic – and likely higher – number.
The next step often involves negotiating with the at-fault driver’s insurance company for a reasonable settlement offer. Our attorneys understand this process because we’ve been successfully negotiating with insurance companies for years on behalf of injury victims and their families.
In our experience, the key to negotiating a fair settlement offer for medical expenses often comes down presenting the facts to insurance companies in a detailed, logical manner. Often, you need to explain to them exactly what medical procedures you will need and you need supporting statements from respected doctors. We can help you with this process every step of the way.
Common Car Accident Settlements
There’s an infinite number of car accident settlements because each car accident is unique. There are often many similarities between many common accidents and the common car accident settlements associated with them. These include:
- Rear-ended car accident settlement – Such settlement offers often include financial compensation to repair vehicle damage, as well as for medical expenses, especially for whiplash and other serious neck injuries commonly associated with rear-end accidents.
- Car totaled – This is one of the most serious types of car accidents we regularly deal with at our law firm. They also often result in some of the most expensive and complicated settlements. That’s because injury victims often need financial compensation to replace their vehicle, as well as money for emergency medical expenses, follow-up medical care and lost income during your recovery period, which could take weeks or months.
- Car accident not your fault – The most important thing to remember is you should not have to pay for your car accident-related expenses if another driver caused your crash. That’s because you didn’t do anything wrong. So, whether it’s money for medical expenses, car repairs, replacement income or long-term physical therapy, you deserve to be compensated in full.
Understanding Your Car Injury Settlement
Car accident injuries can be complex. So can the settlements often associated with them. That’s because an injury settlement needs to include all medical expenses associated with the injury, now and for the future.
Common injuries often associated with car accidents include:
- Headaches – This is not something most people think of when they think of car accidents, but chronic headaches caused by car accidents are common and can be very serious. They could also a sign of a more severe injury, including a concussion or another type of traumatic brain injury. That’s why you should have medical tests done to see if there’s something more serious. These tests can often be very expensive, but your health and welfare should always come first. You shouldn’t have to pay if another driver caused your crash.
- Neck pain – This is one of the most common – and often most misunderstood – car accident injuries. Neck injuries caused by a car accident can be very serious and your settlement agreement should include all your accident-related expenses. Whiplash is one of the most common car accident neck injuries. Other neck injuries include broken bones and spinal cord injuries. Whatever type of neck injury you have, expenses can add up fast – from surgical procedures, follow-up medical care to physical therapy and replacement income.
- Concussion – One of the most common types of traumatic brain injuries, concussions need to be taken very seriously. This means undergoing important medical tests and then taking the time to fully recover. As a result, you might not be able to work for several weeks while you’re recovering from your concussion. Depending on the severity of your concussion, you could have medical problems in the future that require additional treatment. Your injury settlement should reflect all these expenses. Otherwise, you could end up having to pay for the other driver’s reckless behavior.
- Back pain – Back injuries caused by car accidents can be very serious. They often result in chronic back pain, which can last for weeks or months or perhaps even for the rest of your life. Treatments exist for back pain, but they can be expensive and might be necessary for many years. Your injury settlement should include financial compensation for all of these treatments. No one should have to life with back pain, especially when someone else caused your car accident.