Why Accepting the First Car Accident Settlement Could Cost You Thousands

If you’ve just been injured in a car accident, you’re probably going to get a call from an insurance company offering you a settlement check. It’s tempting to take this money and move on, but accepting the first offer without understanding what you’ll be giving up can cost you far more than you think. 

Quick settlements are designed to protect the insurance company’s profits, not your recovery. And once you sign that contract, even if you’re short-changed, you lose the right to file a lawsuit. 

Here’s why you should wait and talk to a lawyer before accepting a settlement offer.

The first offer is a strategy, not a fair offer

After a crash, you’re going to be dealing with medical appointments, car repairs, and possibly lost wages from taking time off work to heal. Insurance adjusters know this is when you’re most likely to accept a lowball offer to make your life easier. But if you take it, there’s a good chance the money you get won’t be anywhere near the amount your case is actually worth. It may not even cover all of your medical bills.

Insurance companies want you to sign that offer before talking to a lawyer because they know once you have legal counsel, you’ll stand up for yourself. Studies have shown that claimants with a lawyer receive settlements up to 3.5 times higher than those who don’t hire a lawyer. That’s because a lawyer will know exactly what your claim is worth and won’t allow the insurance adjuster to lowball your offer. But you have to bring in a lawyer before accepting a settlement. Once you sign the agreement, you lose the right to sue.

The offer might not cover all of your medical bills

What seems like a lot of money today might not support your long-term recovery. If you’ve sustained serious injuries, you’re probably going to need ongoing treatment like physical therapy and possibly surgery. On top of that, current medical bills can snowball, and your health insurance plan may not cover everything. Between visits to the ER, diagnostics, follow-ups, specialist appointments, and rehabilitation, you could be getting bills for months or even years.

If you have a minor back injury now, it could turn into chronic pain that limits your ability to work long-term. If you don’t realize the potential for a long-term condition, you might settle for whatever you can get today. A lawyer can help you understand the most likely future scenarios to ensure you aren’t shortchanged by your settlement offer.

Another point to consider is that not all injuries show up right away. Some symptoms take days or weeks to become visible. For example, whiplash, back pain, and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) don’t always show up right away. You could have a TBI, get cleared by scans, and be dealing with a subdural hematoma a month later. Accepting the insurance company’s offer before you’ve had time to understand the full extent of your injuries can result in costs that exceed your payout. 

Pain and suffering deserve compensation

If you accept the insurance company’s offer, you’re going to lose out on compensation for pain and suffering. For instance, you might be dealing with emotional distress, PTSD, anxiety, and a disruption to your quality of life. Getting hurt in a car accident is a traumatic experience, and emotional suffering deserves compensation just as much as physical injury. 

Insurance adjusters will lowball your non-economic damages. They’re going to automatically minimize or omit them entirely in the first offer. Hiring a personal injury attorney is the only way to calculate the true value of your claim.

You’ll miss out on lost wages and lost earning potential

If your injuries prevent you from working and you don’t have a huge savings account, your household bills will start piling up. You might even experience long-term reduced earning capacity. There’s no way to know exactly how long you’ll be out of work. And even if you can go back to work part-time, you might not be able to engage in physically demanding tasks. A quick settlement offer from an insurance company won’t account for these expenses, but a lawyer negotiating on your behalf will.

Signing a settlement closes your case

The bottom line is that you only get one chance to get a fair settlement. If you accept an offer from an insurance company and it turns out to be less than what you need, you can’t get more money and you can’t file a lawsuit. That’s why it’s essential to contact an injury lawyer before attempting to negotiate with an insurance adjuster. Don’t let an insurance company rush you into accepting less than you deserve.