Are you asking yourself, “When should I settle with the insurance company?” Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorney Chad Rankin helps clients make the big decision of when to settle their case with the insurance company. You get one chance to settle. Once you sign off, there is no going back. When a settlement agreement is reached between you and the insurance company, you must sign a release of your claims before they will send you the settlement check. A release is a contract between you and the insurance company where they agree to pay you the settlement money and you agree to end the case. In almost all cases, the release will contain language preventing you from ever being able to reopen the case or get any further money or compensation from the insurance company or the person or business that they insure.

For example, you injure your lower back in a clear liability rear-end car accident. The other driver admits fault. Their insurance company accepts liability and pays you for damage to your car. You get checked out at an Urgent Care or local emergency room. You follow up with your primary care physician. They recommend medications, rest, and some physical therapy. After the physical therapy and medications, you feel much better. You decide to return the call to the insurance company adjuster who made an offer some time ago. Even though you are not sure how much your case is worth, you settle because they are offering several thousand dollars and you feel much better. You are back to work and ready to resume your life. The insurance company sends you a release with lots of language in it that you do not understand, but you see the right settlement amount. You sign and return the release. A couple of weeks later you receive the check.

You settled your case in the summer when the weather was nice. As fall approaches and it gets colder, you notice that your low back is starting to hurt again. Your back continues to get worse as you get into winter. It becomes harder for you to work your shift without pain and limitations. You can’t do some of the things that you liked to do such as hunting, golfing, hiking, or perhaps working around the house. You go back to your family doctor. The doctor orders an MRI and sends you to see a back specialist because some of the findings in the MRI are troubling. The specialist lets you know that surgery is the only way to repair the problem and they believe that your low back injury was caused by the car accident. You have the surgery. You miss a few months of work while you are going to physical therapy and rehabilitating. You get back to work, but it takes a significant amount of time to feel the way you did before the car accident. In fact, you never fully get back to the way that you were before all of this started.

Who is going to pay for your lost wages during those few months following the surgery?

Who is going to pay for the medical bills including co-pays and deductibles for the surgery, physical therapy, and medications that you needed after you settled the case?

Will you be able to recover for pain and suffering?

You call the insurance company and ask those questions.The insurance company, without skipping a beat, tells you that your case is over. You will not get any money for the lost wages. You will be responsible for all your medical bills. You will get nothing for the pain and suffering and the impact that the additional problems had on your life. Signing the release ended all possibility of reopening the case or getting any additional money for your injuries and damages.

The above scenario happens all too often. Under Pennsylvania law, you have two years from the date of the car accident to settle your case with the insurance company. You want to make sure that you are fully recovered before you settle your case. But how do you know when you are fully recovered? There are a number of things that you can do to help answer this question and protect yourself.

Consult with doctors that you have treated with and trust. Ask them whether they are comfortable with you signing off and settling your case. Hopefully, you have hired a good lawyer that has the experience of thousands of car accident cases to know when clients can safely settle based upon the type of injury, treatment, and time involved.

Monitor yourself through several different physical activities and take some time to make sure that your body feels healed up. If you get positive feedback from the suggestions above, then you are probably ready to settle your case.

If you have any doubt about whether it is time to settle your case or you want to know the value of your case, it is a free consultation to talk with the attorneys at Rankin & Gregory, LLC (RG Injury Law) to get their opinion on these issues and any other issue associated with your case.

You should hire our car accident attorneys immediately after your car accident to make sure that every step of the insurance claim goes in your favor and smoothly all the way to settlement.

Do not sign off on your car accident or personal injury case until you have the peace of mind that it is the right time.

For questions about how long your car accident case will take, our auto accident attorneys in Pennsylvania give you the information you need to make an informed decision about when you should settle your case. Rankin & Gregory, LLC (RG Injury Law)  lawyers provide free case consultations. We have taken thousands of cases through all phases of the car accident settlement or trial processes. We will give you all the information necessary for you to make the best decision for yourself and your family.

Our proven lawyers have handled more than a thousand car accident and other injury cases against insurance companies. Call us for a no-pressure, auto accident injury case consultation at 717.656.5000.