7 Important Factors to Consider Before Accepting a Car Accident Insurance Settlement

If you’ve been injured in a car accident, accepting an insurance settlement will allow you to start moving on with your life. But, if you settle your claim too soon, this could prove to be a very costly mistake. There are several factors you need to consider before you accept a settlement—and it is best to work with an experienced Florida car accident attorney who can help you make an informed decision with your long-term best interests in mind.

Factors that Will Directly Impact How Much You Are Entitled to Recover

What factors do you need to consider before you accept a car accident insurance settlement? Here are seven factors that will directly impact how much you are entitled to recover:

1. Whether Your Injuries Qualify as “Significant” or “Permanent” Under Florida’s No-Fault Insurance Law

While the Florida Senate is considering a bill that would eliminate the state’s no-fault insurance law, at present, the state’s no-fault insurance law still applies. This means that car accident victims are generally limited to seeking compensation under their own personal injury protection (PIP) policy unless they can prove that they suffered a “significant” or “permanent” injury.

What qualifies as a “significant” or “permanent” injury? Under Section 627.737(2) of the Florida Statutes, these injuries include:

• “Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function.”
• “Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement.”
• “Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement.”

Before you settle your car accident insurance claim, you need to know whether any of your injuries fall into one of these three categories. If they do, this could significantly increase the amount you are entitled to recover.

2. The Insurance Coverage that is Available to You

Determining whether any of your injuries qualify as “significant” or “permanent” will play a key role in determining what insurance coverage is available to you. If you have an auto insurance claim outside of PIP for your car accident, your Florida car accident attorney may be able to help you seek one or more of the following types of coverage:

• Bodily injury liability (BIL) coverage under the at-fault driver’s insurance policy
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage under your insurance policy
• UIM coverage under a family member’s insurance policy (including “stacked” UIM coverage)

Importantly, in some cases, car accident victims will have claims outside of auto insurance as well. For example, if the driver who hit you was working, you could have a claim against his or her employer or rideshare company. However, if you accept an auto insurance settlement, this could prevent you from seeking the full compensation you are entitled to recover.

3. The Out-of-Pocket Costs of Your Injuries

Speaking of “full” compensation, before you accept an insurance settlement, it is critical to ensure that you have a clear understanding of the lifetime out-of-pocket costs of your injuries. Until you have a clear understanding of these costs, you won’t know what constitutes “full” compensation in your case. Out-of-pocket costs that you may be entitled to include in your insurance claim include:

• Medical care, medical supplies and equipment, and prescription medications
• Temporary transportation costs, home modifications and other unplanned expenses
• In-home care, landscaping, housekeeping, childcare and other necessary services

Oftentimes, accident victims’ out-of-pocket costs are far greater than they realize—especially when taking their future costs into account. But, if you accept an auto insurance settlement before you have a clear understanding of your costs, the insurance companies won’t give you a second chance to go back and ask for more.

4. Whether Your Injuries Prevent You from Working (or Restrict Your Ability to Work)

If your injuries from the accident prevent you from working (or restrict your ability to work), you may also be entitled to just compensation for your lost income and benefits. However, unless you prove these losses to the insurance companies, they won’t be included in your settlement. Here too, an experienced Florida car accident attorney can help ensure that you are seeking the full compensation you need to cover your financial losses resulting from the accident.

5. The Severity of Your Pain, Suffering and Emotional Trauma

If you have a claim outside of PIP, you are entitled to just compensation for your pain, suffering and emotional trauma resulting from the accident. Calculating just compensation for these losses is not easy—and the insurance companies are not going to do it for you. To recover any compensation for these losses, you need to be able to prove how the accident has impacted (and is continuing to impact) your life on a daily basis.

6. The Severity of Your Other Non-Financial Losses

The same is true when it comes to the other non-financial costs of the accident. Serious traumatic injuries can impact your life in ways you could not have previously imagined. To seek just compensation for losses such as loss of consortium, loss of companionship and loss of enjoyment of life, you need to work closely with an experienced Florida car accident attorney who can prove these losses during the settlement negotiation process.  

7. Whether You Were Partially at Fault in Your Car Accident

If the driver who hit you was 100 percent at fault in your car accident, you are entitled to just compensation for 100 percent of your losses. But, what if you were partially at fault in the collision?

Being partially at fault can have a direct impact on the value of your auto insurance claim; and, if you were primarily at fault, this could prevent you from recovering any compensation at all. To make sure the insurance companies do not falsely accuse you of being partially at fault (and take this into account when calculating their settlement offer), you need an experienced attorney on your side.

Schedule a Free, No-Obligation Consultation with a Florida Car Accident Attorney Today

Are you dealing with serious injuries from a recent car accident in Florida? If so, we strongly encourage you to contact us for more information. To schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with a Florida car accident attorney at Searcy Denney, call 800-780-8607 or request an appointment online today.