How Long Does A Personal Injury Case Take To Settle in Florida?

Florida Personal Injury Case Timeline

If you’ve been injured in an accident in Florida through no fault of your own, you deserve justice and compensation for your pain and suffering. And frankly, you probably need the money as soon as possible. You’ve likely had to miss work for recovery, doctors appointments, car shop repairs and more. An accident can not only be physically devastating, but also financially devastating.

If you feel like your personal injury case is not settling fast enough, or you wonder if your lawyer is taking too long, consider the factors below.

If you have been injured in an accident in Florida, whether it be a car accident, slip and fall, or even nursing home abuse, there are 6 critical factors to consider that affect the time it takes to settle your personal injury case.

1. Does everyone agree on who was at fault for the accident?

When all of the parties agree on who caused the accident, the lifespan of a case is generally much shorter than when there is a disagreement over responsibility. For example, if you were rear-ended, most times everyone will agree that the person who hit you is at fault. However, in a slip and fall case for example, it is unusual for property owners to agree that they created a dangerous condition which caused someone to fall. In sum, when someone is clearly at fault for an accident, the case tends to resolve sooner.

2. What is the amount of insurance coverage on the case?

Typically, the less money there is in insurance coverage, the faster the case tends to resolve. For example, if you are injured in a car accident in South Florida and the person at fault only has $10,000.00 of insurance coverage, it is more likely that your case will conclude sooner than if the person at fault had $1,000,000.00 in insurance coverage. However, this is not always true.

3. How bad are you hurt?

Cases with more severe injuries tend to resolve faster. Oftentimes, the cases with the most severe injuries are the easier cases for personal injury lawyers to work. It is much harder to prove that you are entitled to $1,000,000.00 for a broken pinky finger than for a traumatic brain injury.

4. Is it clear that you were injured by the accident?

Insurance companies will often point to other causes for your injuries when it is not 100% clear that your injuries were in fact a result of the accident. The more clearly related your injuries are to the accident, the better your chances that your case resolves quickly. For example, if you are driving and a steel bar bounces out of the back of a dump truck in front of you, crashes through your windshield and causes deep cuts to your arms, there will be little to argue over. The cuts on your arm were clearly caused by the steel bar.  However, there will likely be much debate over whether the steel bar caused you to suffer from high blood pressure.

5. Is your Florida Personal Injury Lawyer giving your case enough attention?

If your lawyer isn’t staying current with gathering evidence, records, or not returning your calls, there is a chance that your lawyer may be delaying your case. There are many things your lawyer can be and should be doing to try and resolve your case quickly. If you are concerned that your case is not settling fast enough, contact Waring Law for a free no risk consultation.

6. Is the insurance company acting in bad faith?

Finally, sometimes the insurance company will choose to disregard all of the evidence and delay your case until you are forced to file a lawsuit. While it sounds shocking that large insurance companies would engage in this sort of behavior, it is quite common. When an insurance company does not act in good faith to resolve your case, you might be able to sue the insurance company for an amount above the policy limits. However, lawsuits and bad faith actions can take years to resolve and there is no guarantee you will win. Matthew Waring knows the tactics employed by insurance companies because he used to work for them.

Matthew Waring is the South Florida Personal Injury Attorney who appreciates your time.

Matthew Waring understands the sense of urgency many of his clients feel when waiting for a case to settle. For many accident victims with a personal injury claim, their settlement is literally their financial lifeline.

Matthew believes that he is not just fighting to recover compensation for his clients but that he is also fighting against delay.