Meeting with an accident is a traumatic and disheartening experience for the victims. You are not only physically injured, but your car is also damaged, and you might be experiencing a lot of mental anguish.
While battling with recovery and healing, you might get a call from your insurance company for a conversation regarding the accident claim. Or if you are supposed to negotiate with another party, you need to agree with them. There are a lot of factors you need to learn more about before you finally decide to settle your car accident claim.
When do I settle my car accident claim?
Assessing the timeline required to settle a car accident claim requires you to analyze the extent of damages, provide time for personal recovery, and decide on fair and satisfactory compensation. Take a look at these factors you need to consider before you settle:
-
Assessing the Severity of Damages and Injury
Before you go ahead and finalize a compensation amount, you should fully comprehend how severe the damages incurred to you are. Getting scans, physical evaluations, medical attention, and a full understanding of the extent of your injuries is extremely crucial. You should take some time to let your body fully present the injuries to understand the long-term implications they may have on you. Getting a repair quotation from a mechanic and assessing property damage will aid you in deciding how much money you should demand from the insurance company or the liable party.
-
Collecting necessary evidence
You should remember that evidence is vital in deciding your car accident claim. Getting statements from the witnesses, requesting CCTV footage of the cameras at the site of the accident, and taking photographs of every element that you feel is important is something you can do easily to aid your case. You can also obtain a police report from the police that arrived at the site to support your claim. Medical records, physical evaluations, statements from a psychologist, or any kind of report documenting your injury from the accident also count as evidence.
-
Understanding the statute of limitations
As mentioned earlier, you should take time to recover from your injuries. But you should not stall your filing beyond the statute of limitations. If you do so, your right to claim compensation from the insurance company will be lost.
-
Accepting Settlement Offers
You should know that accepting settlement offers is tricky, as your claims adjuster will try to get you to settle for the least amount possible. It is always better to hire an attorney and let them handle negotiations for you.
Just be careful enough not to be too quick or too slow to settle on an offer. If you keep in mind these tips, you are good to go!
