The Factors That Can Delay Personal Injury Settlement Checks

Let’s say you hurt yourself. You feel that someone else caused the injury, though. Maybe you point to a single person’s actions or inactions. Maybe you blame a company or business entity instead.

If you decide to sue them, you might walk away with a significant cash settlement. Locating a lawyer who can get your personal injury settlement check faster also becomes a smart idea.

You should know about some factors that can delay you getting your personal injury settlement check, though. We’ll talk about them in the following article.

Who's Paying You?

First, there’s always an enormous question that comes into play when you’re trying to figure out how soon you might get a personal injury settlement check. You need to factor in who’s going to be giving you that money.

If you sued a private citizen, then you may be able to get your cash faster. If you and this individual agreed on a settlement amount, then you can both sign documentation that indicates or explicitly states when they should pay you.  

Your lawyer can help you to set that up. They have a stake in getting that money as well. As soon as you get your check, then you can pay your lawyer via contingency. 

That is almost always the payment structure you’ll have in place when you hire a personal injury attorney. However, if you’re waiting on an insurance company to pay you, that’s when you might have some lengthy delays. 

A Complex Case with Multiple Parties

Let’s say you’re waiting on a settlement check after a car accident. You feel that someone else caused the accident. You’re in an at-fault state, meaning that the other driver’s insurance company should cover things like your medical bills, the repairs to your vehicle, and any lost wages if you have to miss work while you’re recovering.

If the other driver agrees that they caused the accident, then, in theory, you should have little trouble collecting the money you’re due. What about if the car accident involved several drivers, though?

Think about a vehicular accident where you’re sitting at a red light at an intersection, waiting for it to change. Suddenly, a car slams into you. You endure multiple other impacts, since the first accident pushed you into the intersection.

You can feel sure that you didn’t break any traffic laws. However, the fact that multiple cars hit you can complicate matters in terms of assigning blame. 

The insurance companies representing the other drivers may feel the same way. They won’t want to give anyone as much as a dime before they investigate the crash thoroughly. In that situation, it’s highly likely that you’ll have to wait to receive your settlement check.

Insurance Company Tactics

Maybe you had a much simpler car accident. While going through an intersection, a vehicle hit your car broadside. You know they ran a red light, so they clearly caused the collision.

Just because the other driver agrees with you, though, that still doesn’t mean their insurance company will cooperate, at least not quickly. The company may intentionally delay the settlement.

They may demand that you produce more documentation. They might completely deny the claim with very little real justification. They may also engage in various other bad faith practices.

You would hope that an insurance company will never act like that, and usually, they don’t. Every once in a while, though, you’ll get a dishonest company that tries to stall or doesn’t want to pay you, even when it’s clear you should get compensation.

If something like that happens, you’ll need to locate and hire a lawyer who’s skilled with this kind of case. You may need to use your attorney to threaten the insurance company to make them compliant.

Higher Damage Claims

There’s also an unspoken rule with insurance companies and claims. The higher the number, the more likely you’ll see some delays. 

It doesn’t always work out that way. You might encounter an insurance company that doesn’t drag its feet, regardless of the amount you should get.

Just as often, though, an insurance company will use delaying tactics if they know they need to part with a larger amount. That might infuriate you. Again, you may need a personal injury lawyer’s intervention.

Medical Treatment Issues

In that same scenario, where you’re trying to collect money from an insurance company following an accident, they may hold up the payment process because they’re not sure about how much they need to give you to cover your medical bills. 

If you have minor injuries, you see a doctor, and you get back on your feet relatively quickly, then you probably won’t need as much money via settlement. If it’s not entirely clear how much downtime you will need or whether you’ll completely heal from the accident, that can delay the insurance company in paying you. 

They probably won’t rush to give you the money because they’re not sure when you will reach what the insurance industry sometimes calls “maximum medical improvement.” This term means your eventual condition after surgeries, physical therapy, rest, and whatever else you might need to get better after a car accident that injured you. 

The insurance company might try to insist that they wait to pay until they see how much you’ll recover. Then, they can determine what they consider a fair amount based on how much permanent damage you sustained.

That can complicate matters, since it could take weeks, months, or sometimes years to determine how much the crash impacted you and what your life will look like going forward. In this situation, it’s also helpful that you enlist a personal injury lawyer’s aid. They will know how to go after the insurance company to get you that settlement check faster. 

If you’re angry because an insurance company won’t pay you, try to keep calm. Getting the right attorney on your side can almost always assist you in this area.