If you’ve been injured, you may be contacted by the insurance company when you make your claim. They can offer you a settlement, saying that they just want to settle your claim so that you can get the money you need to pay your bills. This is often very attractive because you’ve probably been worried about these outstanding costs and the settlement can look like a lot of money upfront.
But what should you do? Should you accept that settlement for your claim or not? This is a big decision, and it may not be something you have ever had to consider before.
Every situation is unique
The key thing to remember is that every situation is different. There are certainly times when accepting a settlement is the right move, and there are also times when it could be a highly detrimental mistake. You have to consider the specifics of your case and what you’re going to need.
The problem with settling is that it closes your case. You always want to make sure that you’re getting what you really deserve. Once you accept it, there’s nothing more that you can do to pursue further compensation.
So, if you’ve talked with your medical team and they assure you that you are already on the road to recovery and you won’t have any future costs, then a settlement may work. You can take the money, pay off the bills that you already have and get everything squared away.
But if there’s a chance that you may have further bills in the future, then accepting the settlement is a serious risk. Say that you had back surgery and you believe it has healed. But what if complications arise and you end up being paralyzed? In a situation like that, where things suddenly become much more expensive, you don’t want to have accepted a settlement offer that means you can’t get compensation for all of these other costs – which are still related to your initial injury.
This is a very complicated situation to find yourself in, which is why you need to make sure you know about all of your options.
