Deciding when to accept a settlement and when to keep negotiating is often tricky for traumatic brain injury victims. You likely need money right now to deal with mounting bills after the accident. The first settlement offer given by an insurance provider or the at-fault party will likely be lower than you deserve, however. That’s why you should get in touch with an experienced TBI attorney for help in achieving a full financial recovery.
You Don't Have to Continue to Live With Anxiety of Your Traumatic Brain Injury Case—When to Settle
While you may expect an insurance company to be extremely helpful after a TBI, that is sadly not always the case. Brain injuries usually come with outrageously high medical bills and a massive change to your physical and emotional condition.
Because of the potentially high cost, insurers are often reluctant to pay out the full amount owed as it cuts into their bottom line. An adjuster may use various tactics to try to get you to admit partial fault or otherwise commit a mistake that allows them to reduce your payout.
Having an attorney to handle those negotiations for you makes this whole process much smoother. Insurance companies are more likely to offer a fair amount when you have a legal representative taking over communications. An attorney can also guide you toward avoiding insurance carrier strategies for denying compensation.
So, how do you specifically know when you are at a point where it’s time to take a settlement or file a lawsuit? These are some of the clearest signs that its nearly time to settle:
- Both your medical and personal needs in the future are clear as you approach or reach maximum medical recovery.
- How the injury is expected to affect your future income and ability to make a living has been documented and can be shown to insurance or a jury.
- The severity of your injury has been firmly established by medical professionals.
- You have talked with an attorney about why it is or isn’t the right time to settle yet.
We Can Guide You on the Right Time to Settle a TBI Case
There is one crucial element of the financial recovery process you need to keep firmly in mind before agreeing to a settlement. Once you’ve settled, there will be no further compensation forthcoming from that source.
That fact remains true even if you end up needing additional surgeries in the future or your condition worsens and you suddenly can’t go to work. Obviously, that may cause a serious financial problem if a complication from your traumatic brain injury only becomes apparent after you’ve already recovered damages.
An attorney is needed to ensure either the insurance adjuster or a jury in a personal injury lawsuit are aware of the full extent of your damages. That compensation will likely include standard issues like the cost of a hospital stay after the accident, or lost wages for missed days at work. Non-economic damages may also play a role, covering suffering, pain, and lost quality of life.
Those types of damages are all focused on problems that have already occurred, however. You also have to take into account what you will need in the months and years ahead. Your compensation may need to additionally cover elements like:
- Future medical costs if your physician thinks additional treatment may be required down the line, such as new surgeries.
- Language, occupational, or physical therapies for dealing with new challenges brought on by the traumatic brain injury.
- Lost future earning potential, which may be crucial if you can’t go back to work at all or have to find a new job with reduced responsibilities.
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