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How Long Does It Take to Get A Settlement From a Car Accident in Houston?

According to the Insurance Information Institute (III),auto insurance payments for the average car user in the United States has risen steadily every year since 2010 to almost $1,000 per road user per year in 2016. The III also estimates that, while the top three auto insurers in the country collected over $100 billion in insurance premiums in 2017, less than $200 million in losses were incurred by road users in liability and physical damage across both private as well as commercial vehicles.

Insurance is all about covering victims of a car accident for the damages that they have sustained. However, even after a traumatic car accident, many victims are left wondering about a key question regarding their coverage: when will they be paid for damages?

To break things down, you need to first understand that there are two important things that need to happen before you are covered for damages: you need to submit a demand settlement letter to your insurer, and you need to then wait for a settlement check from them.

Receiving a Settlement Check

Before you can receive a settlement check from your insurer, the following must happen:

  1. Your treatment must be complete, or you must have an accurate projection of how long and how much treatment will continue to be needed.
  2. All your medical bills and records are available, accompanied by expert testimony or debriefs regarding timelines for recovery, tests that have been administered or will be needed, and all treatment and their costs up to that point in time.
  3. Finally, you need to wait for a response to your demand letter, which usually takes between two weeks and three months depending on the insurer.

Let’s now look at each of these in more detail.

Completing Your Treatment

As a client demanding insurance payment, you have to show that you are either fully recovered from your injuries and the damages sustained in your accident, or that you are as healthy as you are going to be. If there are any surgeries or treatments that have yet to take place, you need to know a good doctor who can outline the treatments, tests, medicines, and other medical procedures you will likely require and the cost for all of them will be added to your demand letter.

Obtaining Medical Records and Bills

Cases are settled more quickly when you have a legal team working behind the scenes collecting the evidence needed to support your case and making sure all document requirements are met, as well as all filing deadlines and other legal provisions.

To make your claim progress as quickly and easily as possible, we will put together your medical history, gather all records needed for your claim, and have expert medical witness testimony ready should it be required to prove your injuries or substantiate any of your injury claims.

Getting a Response to Your Demand Letter

Once your medical record has been compiled and sent off to your insurer in a settlement demand letter, the insurance company will evaluate your claim. Most claims are processed within 21 days or so, but you need to follow up regularly with your appointed insurance agent to make sure you do not fall out of the queue due to missing documentation or for any other reason. It can be hard to predict how an insurance company will respond to a unique accident claim case, but under normal circumstances, a settlement offer is sent to the claimant within two months of receiving the demand letter.

The Benefits of Working with Houston’s Auto Accident Experts

As Houston’s local legal experts, we have represented hundreds of clients in cases of road accidents, negligence, insurance claims, and courtroom representation. The goals of your insurance company are directly opposed to your goals: you want to maximize your settlement and have paid regular premiums to benefit from coverage, while the insurance company wants to minimize its insurance outlays despite having received regular payments from you to provide coverage to you.

We can help you argue your case, put together a thorough settlement demand letter complete with all of the evidence required to support your claim, and follow up with the claim to make sure it makes its way through the processing queue. If you are looking for experts in insurance claim settlements, look no further than our team of Houston accident attorneys.

Professional Legal Assistance Is Just a Call Away

If you have been involved in a car accident or have questions about the claims process, give us a call at 713-677-2253. We have helped hundreds of clients with their accident claim cases and are Houston’s local experts. Call now for a free, private, no-obligation consultation. We provide contingency-based services so you pay nothing until you collect.

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