Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorney Chad Rankin fights for people injured by other drivers who want to know how long it will take for their cases to settle. Often, clients want to know how long their motor vehicle accident case will take so they can plan both emotionally and financially for their accident case. The difficult answer many do not want to hear is that car accident cases can be completely finished in a couple of months or may take many years. The time needed to finish the case will depend on a few factors including the ones listed below. There can also be several different parts to the case and each part may be settled before the other parts.

Property Damage

For instance, the property damage claim should be resolved quickly. The property damage claim includes any personal property damaged in the collision and damage to the vehicle. Whether the vehicle can be fixed or if it is totaled should not matter too much. Either pathway should proceed quickly. If the vehicle is totaled, you may want to have your insurance company and the other person’s insurance company do an estimate so that you can take the best offer. If you take the offer from your own insurance company, they will go after the other insurance company for the money and it will not increase your insurance premiums if the accident was not your fault.

Your Car Insurance Benefits

Another part of the case that should go quickly, is getting a medical benefits claim started with your own car insurance company. Since Pennsylvania is a no-fault state, your own car insurance company will pay for the first batch of medical bills up to the amount of medical benefits coverage that you purchased. The minimum that you can purchase is $5,000. $5,000 will go further than you think because your car insurance company does not pay the amount billed, but a far less amount as mandated by law. Getting this part of the case up and running should happen within days or weeks after the accident. Of note, make sure that your medical providers also have your health insurance on file as a secondary payor so that it is a smooth transition of payment once the first party medical coverage under your car insurance exhausts. You may have also purchased wage loss benefits from your car insurance company. If you did, then these benefits will start after you have missed five (5) days of work. Once proof of your wage loss is provided to your car insurance (medical records with restrictions from work and wage loss documentation), your insurance company has thirty (30) days to pay you those wage loss benefits. While thirty (30) days is not the speed of light, it is much better than having to wait until the case is completely over and you receive a lump sum settlement from the other person’s insurance company that would include your lost wages.

Settlement Attempt

The biggest time variable in most car accident cases is the length of time you need to get to a point when your case is ready to be settled. I have written an article on that very issue which you can access here (link to when it is time to settle your case). Basically, you should not settle until you know the full extent of your past, present, and future injuries and damages. Once you know that, then it is time to try to settle your case. Getting to this point could take months or years. The settlement negotiating could go quickly. You could settle your case in one phone call, or it could take a few weeks or longer to get the best number through negotiation.

Litigation / Lawsuit

Pennsylvania gives an injured person two (2) years to settle their case against the responsible parties. You must settle your case or file a lawsuit within two (2) years or your ability to continue with your case is over. You would also have to file a lawsuit if your settlement negotiations do not result in a settlement. Once you have filed a lawsuit and are litigating the case, it could go on for a year or more. The parties will have to finish the pleadings, exchange written discovery, take depositions, hire experts, and, if all else fails, take the case to trial. The litigation process can be a very long road. However, there are many opportunities within the litigation process where settlement negotiations can restart. Just because you file a lawsuit does not mean that you must go to court to resolve the case.

For questions about how long your car accident case will take, call the lawyers at Rankin & Gregory, LLC (RG Injury Law) for a free consultation. We have taken thousands of cases through all phases of the car accident process. We will give you all the information necessary for you to make the best decision for yourself and your family.

Rankin & Gregory (RG Injury Law) has handled more than a thousand car accident and other injury cases against insurance companies. Call us for a no-pressure, motor vehicle accident injury case consultation at 717.656.5000.