The personal injury victims of either a car accident or any other incident, always have this question in mind how long does it take to get paid after a settlement? The sentiment is natural as getting insurance money or settlement can be painful and tiring. 

So here’s the answer, depending on your state’s laws, it might take two to six weeks to get settlement money. However, a few factors are involved to make it a less tiring and more accomplished process. Before we get into the details, let’s quickly review a few important concepts.  

What is Personal Injury?

In legal terms, personal injury is any injury or harm suffered physically or psychologically by a person due to an accident, incidence, negligence, or malpractice. According to the law, the personal injury victim will be called a plaintiff and the at-fault person will be called a defendant.

What is Personal Injury Compensation?

Personal injury compensation refers to compensation claimed by the plaintiff for the damage he suffered in terms of bodily pain, trauma, medical bills, loss of income, or restrictions in daily life activities. 

What is A Settlement?

A settlement in legal terms is an agreement outside the court. It involves a mutually agreed financial compensation of damages (medical bills between the personal injury victim and the defendant (at-fault party). 

Why do you need a Settlement Compensation?

• To cover or refund medical expenses
• To overcome income losses
• To compensate medical bills for treatments of physical or psychological effects
• To refund property damages

Settlement or Court Trial: What should you choose?

Although, it varies from case to case about deciding to settle without a court trial or file a case in the court. Whenever the personal injury victim thinks about compensation for damages, he might take the case to court, seek legal help, and receive maximum compensation. However, legal experts advise making a settlement outside the court as it is more beneficial. 

Benefits of Settlement over Court Case

• It saves your money from spending to appear at court proceedings, including attorney fees, witness fees, court fees etc
• It saves your time and uncertainty of judgements as you never know what will be the court’s decision, so you can avoid the risk of loss of time and energy by opting for outside the court settlement. 
• Court trials are lengthy, often involve multiple hearings which require your promt presence and preparedness for every trial. 

What’s the best you can do to Get Paid After a Settlement quickly?

The answer is to hire an experienced attorney. He will guide you through each step, thus making the entire process less tiring for you. In the presence of an expert personal injury attorney, you will enjoy peace of mind as will take care of the procedures and increases the chances of getting maximum compensation in the shortest possible time due to the following qualities;

• Legal experience of resolving many alike cases, thorough knowledge of laws and codes
• Better representation in front of the third parties or insurance companies
• Better communication and negotiation with at-fault party’s attorney to bring the matter to a mutually agreed resolution. 

Steps Involved to Get Paid After a Settlement

1. Written agreement for settlement money

The first step to get paid after a settlement quickly is to make a written agreement inking all terms, signed by all parties involved, sealed and delivered by the attorney. 

2. Receiving money by at-fault party

Once the agreement is signed, now the insurance company of or the at-fault party has to send the mutually agreed money within the time written in the agreement.

3. Sending money to your attorney

The payor will send the money to the account of your attorney which is used to keep client’s funds.

4. Payment of liens first

Liens is any formal claim made my any entity you owe money to, for example a medical provider, your insurance company etc. Your attorney is obliged to pay all your liens from the settlement money that you might have incurred due to personal injury. 

5. Paying attorney’s fee

After clearing all the personal injury debts, now the personal injury attorney will deduct his fee from the settlement money. 

6. Receiving remaining money at last

After following all the above steps, now your attorney will transfer the rest of the money to you in a way you desire, a cheque or a wire. 

Additional

You might also ask what factors cause the delays in receiving settlement money. It usually involves;

• Agreement negotiations
• Bank delays
• Lien disputes
• Payor bad faith and
• Court approval

Therefore, in order to receive the settlement money, we suggest you to appoint an expert attorney and avoid legal complications.