Fundamental Facts About Car Accident Settlements

By reaching an agreement to settle, the 2 disputing parties manage to resolve their problem without the need to take part in the litigation process.

Steps leading to settlement

Demand letter: This is where the claimant provides details about the date, time and location of the injury-linked accident. In addition, this letter should share with the adjuster significant facts about the reported injuries. It should end with presentation of the demand; the amount of money being sought as compensation for damages.

Possible request for IME: That could come from the adjuster, if the facts in the demand letter have failed to convince the adjuster that the injury is as bad as the claimant’s statements have made it appear. The IME is an independent medical examination, one that is scheduled by the insurance company.

Negotiations: Those would get started when the adjuster had chosen to present the initial bid/offer. Unless it was a low-ball offer, the claimant should respond with a counter-offer. That counter-offer would be a bit higher than the amount in the adjuster’s bid.

When responding to the claimant’s counter-offer, the adjuster would come forward with a bid that was a bit lower than the amount that had been quoted by the claimant. Slowly, the 2 negotiators try to arrive at a figure to which both of them can agree.

Ideally, the negotiations would end with a settlement, but that conclusion could not be guaranteed. If there were no agreement, then the disputing parties would have a chance to take part in a mediation session. If the mediator were to fail to help the same parties reach an agreement, then the case would go to trial.

The timing for a given settlement is flexible. Arrival at a settlement is possible during any stage of the process that follows the filing of a personal injury claim.

The legal system has been designed in a way that allows for creation of a settlement at any stage of the process used for reaching a resolution. Personal injury lawyers in Nepean encourage their clients to delay any settlement until each injured party has reached the point of maximum medical improvement (MMI).

Some settlements take place at a point that is beyond any of the steps that were mentioned above. For instance, either party might elect to settle, if the discovery process has aided the discovery of previously unknown evidence. A few settlements even take place after the lawyers’ closing statements, and during the jurors’ deliberations.

However, once the judge has read the verdict, the 2 opposing parties have lost the opportunity that had been given to them, the chance to settle their differences. Most claimants opt for utilization of the process that aids settlement’s achievement.