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5 Reasons Why Your Personal Injury Claim is Taking Longer Than Usual

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A personal injury claim is a legal request for compensation for damage suffered due to an accident. The damage can be physical, emotional, or materialistic. There are several stages to a personal injury claim, which start with an assessment of the case by your lawyer, filing the claim, negotiating with insurance companies, and finally ending with a settlement.

The claims process can be confusing for you to understand and complicated to handle on your own. Hiring experienced injury attorneys can ensure that your claim is successful and you receive your rightful compensation.

5 Reasons Your Personal Injury Claim is Taking Longer Than Usual

Many factors can influence how long it takes to reach a settlement and if your claim has been delayed, you may be wondering what’s causing it. Here’s a list of 5 possible reasons that may have happened:

1. Complex Injuries

The injuries people sustain from accidents can range from cuts and bruises to life-altering injuries like spinal cord damage or brain injuries. Treating complex injuries like damage to the brain can be difficult and require multiple surgeries for recovery. Patients may also have to undergo rehabilitation programs that can even last a couple of months.

Victims are typically advised to wait until they have received full treatment for all their injuries, as these costs can be recovered in a personal injury claim. In such cases, the timeline of your claim can be affected, and it can take longer than normal for your claim to be settled.

2. Gathering Evidence

In order for your personal injury claim to be approved, it is essential to prove certain elements of your accident, like who caused it, the extent of your injuries, and so on. In order to do so, you must submit evidence that is admissible in court. However, it may not be easy to recover the evidence for your case, like the footage of a car accident, or witness statements in a slip-and-fall accident.

The time it takes to determine the course of events and recover the evidence that can support this can alter the timeline of your claim by several months.

3. Proving Liability

Liability is a key component in personal injury claims. It determines who is at fault and, by extension, who has to bear the costs of the accident. If it is difficult to trace the events of the accident, or both parties made errors that caused the accident, deciding on liability can get complicated.

In such cases, multiple rounds of negotiation or a detailed inspection of the evidence may be required, which can significantly prolong the timeline of the claim. If it is difficult to reach an agreement, the case will be taken to court, which again affects the timeline.

4. Reaching a Settlement

The compensation for a personal injury claim includes several aspects, including economic costs like medical bills, loss of pay and non-economic damages like pain and suffering. Sometimes, it can be difficult to put an exact value on the non-economic damages, and the parties involved may not agree on a number for the settlement.

This is another example of why your personal injury claim can be delayed. There can be multiple stages of deliberation before a settlement is reached.

5. Legal Process

Finally, the legal process itself can complicate things for the plaintiff. Filing and submitting documents and getting them approved can take quite some time. If there are any errors or a deadline is missed, this process can become even longer.

Furthermore, if there are backlogs in the court or delays in deciding on a legal strategy, your claims process will again be affected. So, the legal process itself can be a huge hindrance to your claim.

Conclusion

Personal injury claims involve several stages that can often become complicated. Even with a straightforward case, it can take months to reach a conclusion. However, when the facts of the case are in contention, it could take even longer. Hopefully, this article has provided some clarity on the possible reasons for delays in your personal injury claim.

Alex, a dedicated vinyl collector and pop culture aficionado, writes about vinyl, record players, and home music experiences for Upbeat Geek. Her musical roots run deep, influenced by a rock-loving family and early guitar playing. When not immersed in music and vinyl discoveries, Alex channels her creativity into her jewelry business, embodying her passion for the subjects she writes about vinyl, record players, and home.

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