Kenny Habetz Injury Law | May 23, 2024 | Personal Injury
It is impossible to determine how long it would take State Farm to settle a particular personal injury claim without knowing more about it. Even with more knowledge, State Farm might confound your estimates. However, a conceptual framework can be provided that will allow you to generate a ballpark estimate with a reasonable degree of confidence.
Resolving a claim typically takes a few weeks to a few months. For further details, research the State Farm claims process. The complexity of your claim and the amount of money you are demanding can lengthen the proceedings as well.
Maximum Medical Improvement
To win a personal injury claim, you must demand a certain amount. That’s difficult to do if you don’t know the amount of your damages, such as your medical bills. However, you won’t know the exact amount of your medical bills until your medical treatment is complete.
You generally don’t finish accumulating medical expenses until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI). MMI is the point at which your doctor doesn’t expect your condition to improve any further. Reaching MMI might mean you have fully recovered without needing further medical treatment.
Alternatively, MMI might mean permanent disability, with or without the need for further medical treatment. If further medical treatment is going to be necessary in the future, your claim should include an estimate of your total future medical expenses. You might need an expert witness to estimate this amount.
Meeting the Burden of Proof
In a personal injury claim, you have to prove your claim. The burden of proof includes a measure of the weight of evidence you need to prove your claim. Usually, this standard is a “preponderance of the evidence.”
You meet this burden when your evidence, taken together with the other side’s evidence, establishes a greater than 50% likelihood that your argument (rather than the defendant’s) is accurate. This is a much more lenient standard of proof than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard that prosecutors need to win a criminal prosecution. Meeting your burden of proof can take time, as you must investigate your claim, gather evidence, and organize it.
Negotiation
You’ll probably have to negotiate your claim, whether you settle your case or go to court. If you file a lawsuit, the judge will probably pressure both parties to reach a settlement, so there will be no need for a trial. However, it’s possible that trial is in your best interest, depending on the facts of your case.
Mediation
If negotiations reach a deadlock, bringing in a professional third-party mediator can help you reach an agreement faster than you otherwise would have.
The Settlement Agreement
Once you agree on the terms of a settlement, you will need to draft a formal written settlement agreement, the exact wording of which both parties must agree on. It will function as an enforceable legal contract.
Taking Your Claim to Court; Pretrial Discovery
A claim is not the same as a lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit, unlike filing an insurance claim, will beat the statute of limitations deadline. Another reason to file a lawsuit is to gain access to the pretrial discovery process.
Pretrial discovery is a powerful, court-supervised evidence-gathering process where each side demands evidence from the other. The discovery process could tilt the balance of evidence so far in your direction that the other side has no reasonable choice but to settle on your terms. Discovery can take months to complete, however.
The Statute of Limitations
In Louisiana, you usually have only one year after your injury to file a personal injury claim. This is one of the shortest deadlines in the nation. If someone dies in an accident, the one-year statute of limitations clock starts running on the victim’s date of death.
Insurance Bad Faith Claims
Insurance bad faith is a claim that an insurance company treated you with deceit, manipulation, or injustice. It is a separate claim from the personal injury claim that motivated you to seek compensation in the first place. You could win a double recovery–one for your personal injury claim and one for your insurance bad faith claim.
Hiring the Right Lawyer Might Turn Out To Be the Most Important Decision You Make
If you believe you may have a personal injury claim against a State Farm insurance policy, act quickly to seek competent legal representation. An experienced personal injury lawyer might multiply the value of your claim.
Under the contingency fee arrangement that almost all personal injury lawyers use, you won’t owe a dime in legal fees until and unless you win your claim via settlement or verdict.
Contact the Louisiana Personal Injury Law Firm Of Kenny Habetz Injury Law for Help Today
If you’ve been injured in Louisiana, please call Kenny Habetz Injury Law for a free case evaluation with a Louisiana personal injury lawyer or contact us online. We have offices in Lafayette and Crowley, LA.
Kenny Habetz Injury Law – Lafayette
110 E Kaliste Saloom Rd Ste 101 Lafayette, LA 70508
(337) 399-9000
Kenny Habetz Injury Law – Crowley
604 S Parkerson Ave. Crowley, LA 70526
(337) 329-8883
