Personal injury victims can file injury claims as soon as they are ready. They don’t have to wait a certain amount of time. A case shouldn’t be filed until a skilled attorney has had time to investigate the accident and collect evidence to build a strong case.
As soon as you and your lawyer feel the case is ready, your lawyer can file a claim and hopefully secure injury support without further delay.
Reasons to Wait on Filing an Oklahoma City Accident Claim?
It’s important to move as quickly as possible on a personal injury claim. Victims will be facing a stack of hospital bills and falling behind on normal monthly bills, like the rent, while they can’t work. At such a vulnerable time, they should have the money to support themselves and their families without delay.
However, victims shouldn’t file hastily compiled claims before they are supported with strong evidence. Filing without a properly prepared case can make it easier for insurance companies to find ways to poke holes in your case. This will allow them to get away with offering you less or nothing at all for what you’ve been through.
In some cases, moving quickly is smart. But your attorney will help you determine when waiting can mean more in support for you in the long run.
Waiting on All Evidence to Fall into Place
Your Oklahoma City Personal Injury Lawyer acts quickly to preserve fresh evidence and secure any surveillance video that may have caught the accident. Your lawyer also locates all witnesses and arranges to get testimony. An accident reconstruction team may be called in to prove that the victim was not responsible for the mishap. Testimony from doctors would be collected along with medical charts.
Your lawyer will have the experience to determine when all the necessary evidence is ready for submission. Your legal representative then submits an insurance claim with all documentation ready to block any tactic the insurance company may attempt to help dismiss the case.
Waiting to Reach Maximum Medical Improvement
In some cases, your attorney will advise you to delay filing a claim until you’ve fully healed from your injury. If you sign off on a settlement before you’ve fully recovered, you could regret it. A bone that seemed to heal could later give you issues when it doesn’t grow back together properly. Once you’ve accepted a settlement, you waive your rights to seek further support. Any surgery needed later or additional physical therapy would be your cost to cover.
In some cases, injuries aren’t going to ever heal completely. Your attorney may wait until a doctor says that “maximum medical improvement” (MMI) has been reached. MMI means that a medical expert feels your injury likely won’t heal all the way and won’t get any better. This might mean victims will live with a permanent physical disability.
If a life-long injury is a possibility, your lawyer would go to work getting estimates on the physical, emotional, and financial hardships your injury will cause over a lifetime. These potentially large damages must all be covered in any settlement agreement.
Unpredictable injuries may be a reason to wait to file a claim. A delay now could mean you receive much more in vital compensation you’ll need over months or years.
Waiting on the Right Settlement Offer
The first settlement offer you receive from an insurance company is usually not the best offer. Insurance adjusters often delay in responding to your claim and extending an offer. They hope that your medical bills piling up will make you more and more desperate as you wait. They believe this will make you more likely to accept any amount of money they offer.
An experienced Ylla|Gosney representative helps you assess offers and knows when it’s a “lowball” offer. Your attorney will know when to reject a claim and demand more.
Not Waiting on a Criminal Trial
Thankfully, victims don’t have to wait on the outcome of a criminal investigation or a criminal trial to file an injury claim. An injury claim is a civil case that’s decided separately.
An at-fault party contributing to a dangerous car accident or a scary fall might face criminal charges for reckless behavior. However, injured victims can file claims immediately, and don’t have to wait to see if an at-fault party is convicted.
In fact, injured victims can file civil personal injury claims even if an at-fault party is not found guilty. Those responsible may not face criminal penalties for what happened, but they could still be found negligent in causing harm to the victim.
What Is the Deadline for Filing a Personal Injury Accident Claim in OKC?
Oklahoma City allows injury victims to file only up to two years after the accident. After 24 months, insurance companies would usually be allowed to reject any claim filed.
It seems like there’s plenty of time, but in fact, victims shouldn’t wait months or years to begin exploring their options. Oklahoma City personal injury victims and their families should go over their cases with their lawyers as soon as possible. Victims should give their attorneys as much of a head start on building the case as possible.
When victims delay exploring their options, it can mean:
- Evidence at the scene is cleaned up and permanently lost
- Medical records and accident reports may take longer to collect
- Surveillance video is erased
- Witnesses are harder to track down
- Insurance companies have longer to find excuses to reject your claim
Victims should take advantage of a free case consultation with Ylla|Gosney Attorneys at Law as soon as they feel up to it. If victims are still in recovery and can’t explore their options on their own, their family members can schedule a free case review with an attorney.
How Do I Know If I Need a Lawyer for my Oklahoma City Personal Injury Case?
The severity of your injuries will often determine if you can benefit from an attorney’s help. If something like a car accident or a dog bite only results in some minor bruising and soreness, you may not need a lawyer for your case.
However, if you suffer a more serious injury, like a knee injury or a head trauma, and someone else caused your accident, you may need a lawyer’s assistance. Turning your case over to a skilled attorney safeguards your case when insurance companies try to devalue your claim or question your integrity simply to avoid having to offer support. These cases become complex, and it’s important to handle them correctly. It may be in your best interest to delay filing in some cases to make sure you receive everything you need to rebuild your life.
If you are unsure about whether you need a lawyer or not, there’s no easier way to gain peace of mind than by scheduling a free, no-pressure case consultation with a real Oklahoma City Lawyer. We can go over the case, and if you can do better by filing your claim yourself, we’ll tell you that.
If you feel we can help you earn more, you won’t need any upfront money to hire us. We work on a contingency basis. It means we don’t accept payment unless we win your case. Then, if your case is successful, our fee is paid out of the settlement money you and your family earn.
