| How Long Should Your Personal Injury
Claim Take To Settle |
How Long
Should Your Personal Injury Claim Take To Settle.
By: Matrix Jones
Personal injury settlements
can take varied different lengths of time to settle. And that can be a
problem when faced with a claim.
Your solicitor may very well ask ‘how long is a piece of
string’ in response this question. However, that is not
really a valid answer to the question. The point though is whether this
is a reasonable question to ask following your injury. I think it is a
perfectly fair question to ask and one which demands a response which
is not flippant as the reply above.
Looking at the question from first principles in order to provide a
proper response there are factors firstly to take into account. One of
the first issues to look in a claims settlement
is the question of when did the accident
occur?
The date of the accident is vital to your claim and affect a number of
issues such as how much time you legally have to pursue your claim.
The time limit is enshrined in statute law but in general you have 3
years from the date of the accident. There are circumstances when the 3
year time limit is not strictly applicable. Furthermore, there are
circumstances when the court will overlook the strict statutory
‘limitation period’ as it is called and allow a
claim to proceed out of time.
So, looking back to the original question you would need to know what
the time delay was since the accident as people report their accidents
after varied periods of delay. In some cases on the initial evidence it
may appear to be that the claim is out of time altogether depending on
the extent of the delay since the accident.
Another factor to take into account is the actual accident
circumstances and whether they are complicated, example multiple pile
ups on the motorway or a simple slip and trip accident involving only
you.
In the case of a pile up on the motorway there are likely to be
different versions of the event from the various parties involved and
from witnesses. It will probably take forensic police evidence and
independent witness evidence to resolve.
In the case of a slipping incident there is usually some external
substance on the floor such as water or liquids. Also the type of
footwear worn could be a contributory factor or there could be some
inherent defect in the flooring such as slippery tiles. However, whilst
not necessarily simple this type of accident is capable of settlement much
sooner and thus reduces the time it
takes to settle.
Another important factor affecting the time it takes to settle your
claim concerns the nature and extent of your injuries. In the case of a
slipping incident your injuries could vary from mere bruising and
shake-up to a pelvic fracture.
In the case of a young person the healing process is much quicker for
almost all type of injuries. For an elderly person the injury may never
quite heal and fractures invariably never heal and could result in
complications and ultimately death.
In a motorway accident there are usually fatalities and the nature and
extent of injuries for survivors are much greater. This usually
involves multiple fractures including arms, legs hips and skull
fractures and resulting brain damage.
So just looking at the above factors and you begin to get a feel for
the magnitude of the complexity in answering the question about how
long it takes to settle your claim.
However, I still don’t believe that a flippant response to
the question is justified under any circumstances. The circumstances of
each case must be looked at individually by the solicitor or claim
consultant and based on your experience you should be able to provide a
good reply to the question.
About the author:
Matrix Jones is a graduate of the University of East Anglia and an
Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute.He has accumulated more
than 25 years in the evaluation and settlement of personal injury
claims.
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Disclaimer:
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in
the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not
warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate
due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site
is a common sense guide to How Long Should Your Personal Injury Claim
Take To Settle. In practical advice websites, like anything else in
life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to
reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act
accordingly.
This site
is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or
financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent
professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any
perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
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