If you are injured in a South Carolina car accident, you may face significant property repair costs and mounting medical expenses. If you can’t work due to injury, your financial situation can feel overwhelming in a hurry.
Personal injury claims allow you to seek compensation for your losses. But when you need money now, you may wonder how long you can expect to wait. In this post, the experienced car accident lawyers at Bringardner Injury Law Firm discuss how long it takes to settle a South Carolina auto accident case.
South Carolina Car Accident Claim Timelines
Unfortunately, there is no single answer to how long it takes to settle a South Carolina auto accident case. Some claims settle out of court within a few months after an accident. Some take up to a year or longer. More complicated claims that go into litigation can take longer, sometimes taking years to resolve. There are many factors that go into how long it takes to settle a car accident claim. Many of those factors are unknown right after a car accident, and take several weeks or months to determine.
While a timely case resolution is important, quicker isn’t always better. Insurance companies may offer a lower settlement amount to make the case disappear. The attorneys at Bringardner Injury Law Firm will not settle your case for less than the full value of your injuries given the facts and circumstances of the case. You and your attorney must decide whether to accept an offer, negotiate for higher compensation, or take your case to court.
Factors Influencing How Long It Takes To Settle a South Carolina Auto Accident Case
How long it takes to settle a South Carolina auto accident case depends on the claim specifics. The following factors can impact the timeline. Generally, the two most important factors are the severity of the injuries and damages (like the amount of medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.), and the amount of available insurance coverage for the claim.
Injury Severity
The more severely you are injured, the longer your medical treatment and recovery period may last. Recovering from serious injuries is an evolving process. Pain and limitations may get better, worse, or stay the same months after a car accident. The medical treatment your doctor recommends may change depending on the intensity, frequency, and sensation of your injuries. In some situations, doctors recommend diagnostic testing and conservative treatment to start. Then, if symptoms do not improve or worse, doctors may recommend more invasive procedures like injections or surgery.
In other situations, depending on the diagnostic tests and symptoms, doctors may recommend surgery soon after a crash, because conservative treatment, like physical therapy, may actually make the pain worse. Or, if the doctors know that all of the physical therapy in the world won’t heal the injury, they may immediately recommend surgery.
Sometimes, it is smart not to enter into settlement negotiations before your medical treatment has ended, which can extend the timeline of an auto accident case. However, you only get one case, and it should be handled properly to obtain full settlement value. In other situations, where insurance coverage for your claim is limited, it is smart to settle the case quickly, which may save you money in the long-run. In other situations, it’s smart to wait until you reach the point where your condition is unlikely to improve further, known as maximum medical improvement (MMI).
In addition, seeking large compensation for severe injuries may result in more complex procedures, investigations, and extended negotiations.
Complicated Liability
Even in simple cases involving two vehicles, the drivers won’t always agree on what happened or who is to blame. Things become more complex when several vehicles or parties are involved. Multi-car pileups, crashes involving commercial trucks, or hit-and-run accidents may take longer to establish liability.
In South Carolina, accident victims can still claim compensation if they were partly at fault for an accident. However, state law prohibits you from collecting if you are more than 50% to blame. Untangling issues of shared fault can also extend the timeline to settle a South Carolina auto accident case.
Degree of Cooperation
When injuries are not catastrophic, but still negatively impact your life, the insurance company for the other driver may try to resolve the case quickly. However, if the parties can’t agree, settlements may require several rounds of negotiations. If the insurance company still refuses to settle your claim, you may need to take it to court by filing a lawsuit. However, filing a lawsuit does not mean your case is going to trial. It simply means that a judge will be involved in the process and if the case does not get settled, it may eventually go to trial.
Following the proper legal steps for a lawsuit and waiting for a judge to hear your case may extend the timeline even further.
South Carolina Statute of Limitations
If a South Carolina auto accident case does not settle out of court, you may need to file a personal injury lawsuit. Generally, if a car accident happens in South Carolina, the law gives you three years from the date of your accident to file a lawsuit. However, there are important exceptions that will dramatically shorten the statute of limitations, which is a good reason why you should retain a car accident attorney early so you can avoid losing your right to bring a claim. If you miss the deadline, you likely cannot pursue compensation for your claim. The South Carolina accident attorneys at Bringardner Injury Law Firm can help ensure that your claim processes efficiently and properly so that you can settle your case for full compensation or meet the applicable statute of limitations.
Injured in an Auto Accident? Request a Free Legal Consultation Today!
For more information about how long it takes to settle a South Carolina auto accident case, contact Bringardner Injury Law Firm. We protect the rights of injured accident victims throughout the state. Call us at 843-380-5299 or contact us online for a free case evaluation.