If you’re dealing with a personal injury claim and are contacted by the insurance company with a settlement offer, you might be pulled to accept their first offer and get the whole situation behind you.Depending on what you’ve dealt with, how long things have dragged on, and the extent of your injuries, you may already be tired and just want to get the settlement so you can move on.
But, before you say “yes” I want encourage you to pause and ask yourself a few important questions to ensure you are taking a few things into consideration so that you are being compensated fairly! Here are five points you’ll want to ensure you’ve covered.
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- Make sure you’ve considered upcoming expenses.
Will your injuries have an effect on what you may need to deal with in the future? If you’ll have trouble driving and need to pay for transportation services, if you’ll need to pay someone to help you with home or yard care, or any other tasks that you can no longer tackle on your own, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve considered these future expenses and included them in your calculations.
- Make sure you’re considering lost future income.
Will you be able to continue in the job for which you’ve been trained and educated? Is it likely that you will need to switch jobs and take on a lower income? This is a loss you need to include in your considerations.
How old you are and how many working years you have ahead of you are also important factors. If you are younger and still have decades of work ahead of you, you’ll need a larger settlement amount than if you are close to retirement.
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- Get a proper medical check-up.
You won’t know for sure until a good bit of time has passed what your exact injuries are and what else might come up. You may have checked in with your doctor and have a rough idea of what you’re dealing with right now, but you can’t know exactly what will happen in the future.
Will you heal properly and quickly, or will it take longer than expected? Will you fully recover, or maybe not? Will new problems come up and new diagnoses be discovered over time? These are things you need to consider and have assessed by a professional. And speaking of professionals, let’s talk about point number four.
- Talk to the experts.
Consult experts who are not tied to your insurance company (in other words, seek out independent experts). Talk to an accountant regarding your potential expenses and losses – past, current, and future. Talk to a vocational expert about your work and which jobs you might qualify for going forward. Talk to physicians about your physical injuries and diagnoses and what other issues could come up in the future. Depending on the severity of the accident, you may also experience PTSD or trauma, and speaking to a psychologist can be helpful.
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- Talk to a personal injury lawyer.
At McGuiness Law, we provide free, no-obligation consultations that allow you to get a good sense of your case and what you may be dealing with. We also provide guidance as to what next steps you should take, what to document and more to ensure we are taking into consideration everything you should be compensated for – including things you might not be aware of.
Our team offers free consultations so you can feel empowered about your rights! It is your choice if you want to involve a lawyer or not, but we can only tell you that there is paperwork, critical deadlines, and a lot of legal terminologies involved in these personal injury claims that will add more stress to your life than what you’re already dealing with.
We know how insurance companies work and ho they do to try to get away with the lowest settlement possible. We are experienced and good at what we do. Most importantly, we are in your corner and are passionate about fighting for our clients.
If you want to connect with us, you can do so via our online contact form or call us toll-free at 1-833-585-4145.