The impact of a car collision can vary widely, from barely noticeable to catastrophic – taking the lives of those involved. Because car accidents can vary significantly in severity, car accident settlements can also vary widely. Victims of car accidents are often awarded economic, non-economic, and potentially punitive damages if the crime was especially wanton or heinous, depending on the specific facts surrounding the case.
If you have recently become a car accident injury victim, the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm can help you determine what types of compensation you may be entitled to and help guide you through the car accident settlement process to ensure that you get the just compensation that you deserve. Attorney Ali Awad, ‘the CEO Lawyer,’ established the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm and has quickly turned it into one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. Ali Awad, ‘the CEO Lawyer’, is a rising experienced personal injury attorney and public speaker with over a million social media followers. He is dedicated to sharing free legal advice to the public to empower individuals and ensure that personal injury victims receive the just compensation they deserve. When you need help with a car accident claim, the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Firm provides free, no-obligation consultations, and if we take your case, you won’t pay anything until we win.
However, to receive the greatest settlement outcome possible after becoming injured in a car accident, a car accident victim must follow specific procedural steps to preserve the integrity of the claim. If you have been involved in a car collision and have sustained injuries, check out these 5 things you should know about car accident settlements in Georgia.
1. How Do Car Accident Settlements Work?
If you have become injured in a car collision due to another driver’s negligence, you are entitled to seek compensation for your damages. This compensation is meant to cover current and expected medical expenses incurred due to the accident, lost wages, and pain and suffering. But how does the car accident settlement process work?
The car accident process can become lengthy and involve multiple investigations into your accident and negotiations between your insurance company and your car accident lawyer. If you cannot come to an agreeable settlement through negotiations, a lawsuit and court date may become necessary.
However, not all claims are complex, nor will they all require court involvement. Some claims may be resolved relatively quickly. Working with an experienced car accident attorney, such as the experienced personal injury attorneys at the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm, will give your claim the best chance of resulting in a just settlement.
2. How Long Do Car Accident Settlements Take?
Although some car accident settlements in Georgia may become quite complex and will involve a lengthy legal battle, many times, car accident claims can become virtually stress-free if handled by an experienced car accident lawyer. In Georgia, many claims will be settled long before entering court. However, as each claim involves a unique set of circumstances, there is no specific timeline that may be given for a case. On average, a claim will take nearly one year from the date it was initiated to receive a final settlement. Yet, this estimation is only an average timespan, and many cases may be resolved quickly or may take significantly longer, especially if serious or fatal injuries were sustained. If a claim cannot be resolved through settlement negotiations, it may take over two years to resolve in court.
Because car accident settlement negotiations may take quite some time for parties to reach an agreement or may become stalled, it is important to begin the claims process immediately. Each state will have a time limit, otherwise known as a statute of limitations, that will dictate how long a car accident injury victim will have to file a personal injury lawsuit against an at-fault party, should it become necessary. In the state of Georgia, car accident victims will have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit. This is why in the interest of ensuring that you receive just compensation for your damages and that you receive compensation in a timely manner, it is important to contact an experienced Georgia car accident attorney right away following an accident. If the statute of limitations has expired, you will be barred from pursuing compensation from the at-fault party or their insurer in court.
3. How To Negotiate a Car Accident Settlement?
While every car accident case will vary, there are several basic steps in negotiating and settling for car collision claims:
Receive Medical Treatment
It is essential to receive a medical evaluation and any recommended follow-up care following a car collision if you sustained injuries. If you do not, it will be unlikely that your injuries will be considered substantial. Making a successful injury claim becomes very difficult without medical evidence.
Obtain a Car Accident Lawyer
You should speak to an experienced car accident lawyer as soon as possible after receiving medical treatment if you have been involved in a car collision. Consult with an attorney before making any statements to an adjuster or signing any insurance documents.
Preliminary Investigation
In the beginning stages of a car accident injury claim, your car accident lawyer will gather detailed information surrounding your claim, including your medical history and the circumstances surrounding the accident. This process may include reviewing the police report, medical records, and photographs of the accident and interviewing witnesses. The other driver’s insurance company will also be conducting its investigation during this time.
Initial Settlement Offer
It is common for insurers to present an initial settlement offer. This offer is typically an undervalued low-ball offer that will not be substantial enough to fully compensate a car accident injury victim for their losses. Your attorney may make a counter offer at this stage before proceeding to the next step of the legal process.
Demand Package
Your legal team will prepare a demand package for the at-fault party’s insurer. It will include a letter outlining your injuries, quality of life, and emotional changes. Medical damages and lost wages will also be detailed. Finally, your attorney will designate the amount of compensation you seek.
Negotiations Process
After receiving the demand package, the at-fault driver’s insurance company may reject the demand or make a counter-offer. Your lawyer will often try to negotiate with the insurance company to raise their offer through a series of back-and-forth negotiations until an appropriate figure is reached or negotiations reach a standstill.
Filing a Lawsuit
If, after a series of negotiations, the insurance company is still unwilling to pose a decent offer, your lawyer may advise filing a lawsuit against the at-fault party and their insurer. Although this may prolong the legal process, it will often encourage the insurance company to increase its offer to avoid the resources it takes to go to trial.
Discovery
After filing a lawsuit, the next step will be beginning the discovery process. The discovery process is where both the claimant and respondent will gather information regarding the accident through a series of questions entitled interrogatories, depositions of the drivers and witnesses, and requests for production of documents such as medical records.
Settlement Negotiation
After filing a lawsuit, many insurance companies will try to avoid going to trial, as it is often costly. In some cases, a mediator will be used to assist in negotiations. Other times, insurers may reconsider upping their settlement offer during this time. However, most cases will be settled by this stage of legal proceedings.
Trial Proceedings
In the event that the parties are still unable to reach an agreement, your lawyer may suggest taking the case to trial to receive a verdict. Proceeding to trial may add months or years to the timeline. However, in many cases, a jury award may lead to significantly higher compensation. An experienced car accident attorney will discuss the costs and benefits of going to trial and answer any questions concerning receiving the best possible outcome and financial compensation.
4. What Factors Affect a Car Accident Settlement?
Several factors may play into the length and outcome of receiving a car accident settlement. The following circumstances may delay the legal process or make it significantly more complex:
Death, Severe, or Permanent Injuries Occurred
In the event a death occured or a car accident injury victim incurred permanent or severe injuries, settlement negotiations may be stalled until the full extent of a victim’s damages are known.
Multi-Vehicle Crashes Where One or More Victims Are Injured
If two or more parties were injured in a car collision, more time will be necessary to determine who was at fault and to what degree they are liable for damages. The greater the number of involved parties in a collision, the more time it will take to gather evidence for all victims involved.
Additionally, settlements may become more complex or more lengthy if:
- The other party’s insurer delays responding to the demand package or negotiations
- Fault is disputed
- Assertions are made that the plaintiff’s injuries were pre-existing rather than the result of the accident.
5. Can Someone Sue After a Car Accident Is Settled?
After settlement terms have been accepted, and the settlement documents have been signed, the settlement amount is final and can typically not be changed. It is essential to remember that insurers often will initially pose a meager settlement offer in hopes that you will accept it. It is highly recommended that you speak to an experienced car accident attorney familiar with Georgia law before accepting any settlement. It is standard that after settling, victims are relieved of their right to take further legal action and are typically barred from suing the at-fault driver or insurance company after the accident has been settled.
Although uncommon, in certain circumstances, courts will allow an individual to sue someone after a car accident has been settled, such as in bad faith cases. Bad faith cases include claims wherein insurers entered into negotiations with malintent and committed fraud or coercion. An example of a bad faith case may be a claim in which an insurance agent told the car accident victim that they must take the settlement offered otherwise, they wouldn’t receive any compensation or give victims inaccurate information about their rights following a car collision.
In some cases, more than one party may be at fault for a collision in which a victim sustained injuries. In these cases, a victim has the right to take action against each defendant and, therefore, could choose to pursue legal action against another defendant.
Georgia Car Accident Lawyer
Many car accident injury victims believe they may handle the negotiations process with insurers on their own to avoid spending money on a car accident injury lawyer to represent them. While it is possible to handle your own car accident collision claim pro se if injuries were minor, it has been proven time and time again that individuals who represent themselves on average will receive smaller settlements than those who are represented by experienced car accident injury lawyers.
If you have been injured or have received serious property damage due to a car accident, you should consider retaining an experienced car accident injury lawyer to fight for you, Ali Awad, the CEO Lawyer, and his team of experienced personal injury attorneys are dedicated to fighting for the rights of car accident victims. With a quickly growing firm that holds over a 99% track record, you can rest assured that the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm will bring you the best possible outcome for your case. Call the CEO Lawyer and his team of attorneys at (470) 323-8779 or online to receive your free evaluation.
