After the insurance company for the responsible driver has made their final offer to settle your personal injury claim, you must decide whether you should accept the offer or file suit against the responsible driver.
Reasonable Offer To Settle
No one who is given a reasonable offer by the insurance company should litigate. However, deciding whether an offer is reasonable requires a professional evaluation.
Risk-Benefit Analysis
In addition, the decision of whether to litigate requires a risk-benefit analysis, which means whether the benefit of litigation outweighs the risks.
You must evaluate the pluses and minuses of both courses of action.
Your personal injury attorney can discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your case and help you decide on a course of action, based on the following considerations:
1. Whether the amount of the offer to settle is within the range of other settlements in your geographic area.
2. The degree of risk you take in losing the litigation based upon the degree of fault of the other driver.
3. The amount you stand to gain if you win compared to the additional costs of litigation.
How To Rate Your Accident-Injury Case
What does a personal injury attorney consider when evaluating whether you have a good accident-injury case?
The Facts
First, they consider the facts of the accident and whether the accident was entirely the other driver's fault. You may still have a good case, even if the accident was partially your fault.
The Injuries
Next, they consider the nature and extent of your injury. Some injuries may not appear until days or even a week after an accident. You cannot properly evaluate a personal injury case until all the injuries have stabilized and the extent of future medical care can be determined.
The Insurance
The next factor the attorney will consider is whether there is insurance available to compensate you for your losses. There are several possible sources of insurance coverage such as liability coverage, uninsured motorist coverage, and underinsured motorist coverage. Each type of coverage will be examined to determine whether it will apply to the facts of your case.
Aggravating Factors
Finally, the attorney will consider whether there were any aggravating factors which may increase the value of your case, such as whether the other driver was intoxicated at the time of the accident.
To learn more about what to do after a car accident and personal injury claims, call the attorneys at Solomon & Relihan.
