Should I Wait To Heal Before Settling After Being a Victim in an Auto Accident?
After becoming an auto accident victim, a substantial “bite” is taken out of your existence. You will end up with potential bodily injury, auto damage, and potentially significant missed time from work. To the insurance company, it may seem like a small “bite” but to you it will definitely upset your natural baseline of the world in which you live.
The post accident existence for you will consist of physician visits, physical therapy, potentially procedures, and medical bills that continue to rise. The physical and mental injuries sustained in your accident may take years to heal.
Unfortunately you will need to deal with phone calls and estimates to body shops and auto repair centers, as well as dealing with insurance companies. Nobody would call this a fun time, and an experienced personal injury larger can help significantly with all of these issues and your case against the other party. A veteran personal-injury attorney can help recommend when would be the appropriate time to settle your case.
The question is though, do you need to wait until you are healed to seek money or is it appropriate to seek monies earlier? In reality, that is exactly what is in your best interest. Why? The problem is sometimes injuries take a while to surface, such as a long term effect of traumatic brain injury (TBI) or potentially a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Because of this, settling too soon with the insurance company may leave additional monies on the table.
The key to receiving an appropriate settlement that you will not look back on with regret is patience. This is a tough mantra to hold, especially when the accident takes this “bite” out of your life. But patience will help make the “bite” get filled to make you somewhat whole again, as the end result would be a higher settlement.
This is one of the reasons that the insurance company may be pushing you to settle prematurely. What you really want to do is reach a point prior to settling of what is known as “maximum medical improvement”. What exactly does this mean? This is the point in time where a doctor states that you have recovered as much is possible in the healing is complete. At that point you will understand more what your lifelong limitations will be and also how much care you will need in the future.
If complete healing is not taken place, there are existing calculations which can predict a person’s future medical expenses and this can be added to what’s been experienced to date. Once all that is calculated, more realistic figures can be placed into the settlement process. If you have been patient enough to allow these settlement calculations to be realistically accomplished, this will allow you the best chance of receiving the highest settlement to make your life whole again.
Want to find out more about the best car accident attorney Phoenix, then visit RJ Hurwitz Law site on how to choose the best personal injury attorney Phoenix for your needs.