How Do You Get Paid After a Car Accident Settlement in Massachusetts?

If you have recently been injured in a Massachusetts car accident caused by another driver, chances are that you have heard from the other party’s insurance company. If you haven’t, you likely will soon. The representative may offer you a deal to settle your claim. But how long will it take to complete the settlement, and when will you get your money?

Once you agree to a settlement, it should take one to two weeks for the settlement payment to reach your lawyer, and about a month to reach your account. If it takes longer, you should speak to your attorney. The actual process of evaluating a settlement offer should also take time. You should never rush into something as important as waiving your right to go to court.

You can benefit from the help of the Boston car accident attorneys at the Law Office of John J. Sheehan before you even reach a courtroom. We offer free consultations to clients so that they can assess what their case is worth and compare that to settlement offers. to hear more about what you may stand to gain and how a settlement might work in your case, call (617) 925-6407 today.

How Long Does a Car Accident Settlement Take to Process in Massachusetts?

Once a settlement is agreed to and the release is signed, the settlement check is issued and sent to your attorney within 7 to 14 days. Your attorney will then handle any outstanding debts on your settlement or payments made through insurance for your care. If you are using a contingency fee structure to pay for your legal representation, your lawyer will collect their percentage and distribute the settlement payment to your account immediately.

There are some instances where a settlement payment may be delayed. For example, if you used Medicare to pay for some related medical treatment, those expenses would need to be reimbursed first. Medicare efficiency is typically unpredictable but has improved over recent years. All in all, settlement payments may take up to two months to get from the insurance company to your bank account.

You may negotiate and accept a settlement without the assistance of an attorney, but we strongly urge you to enlist experienced legal guidance while dealing with your claim. Some insurance companies may act in bad faith and delay settlement payments where they know that an injury victim is not represented. If you agreed to a settlement offer without the assistance of an attorney and have not received your payment in the expected time frame, you should speak to a Somerville car accident attorney as soon as you can.

How Can You Make the Settlement Process Move Faster?

One way to expedite your car accident settlement process is to notify any potential lienholders that a settlement is being negotiated. Lienholders in your case may include large providers such as MassHealth, private health insurance, or Medicare. These massive operations may move slowly on resolving outstanding payments for your claim and cause unnecessary delays in the settlement process.

If the lienholder is notified early on, they can conduct any investigation and accounting efforts well in advance of the settlement. Therefore, once the settlement finalizes, the figures that you owe the lienholder are already calculated. From that point, all that is left is to factor in updates on any additional benefits paid following the lienholder’s investigation. These additional amounts are typically small and easy to factor in.

If this sounds complicated, that’s because it is. You shouldn’t attempt to shoulder the entire burden of dealing with lienholders and your settlement negotiations on your own, especially while dealing with the practical effects of your injuries. Call our dedicated Wakefield car accident lawyers today to get started.

What to Do When You Receive a Settlement Offer in Massachusetts

If you are injured in a car accident caused by another driver’s recklessness or negligence behind the wheel, their insurance provider will act quickly to stem the costs. In that effort, they will typically attempt to contact the victim.

The insurance company’s representative, often referred to as a claims adjuster, may attempt to get you to confirm their version of the story. The claims adjuster may additionally ask you for your side. These are not innocent attempts to get the story straight. The reality is that claims adjusters and their employers are only concerned with one goal: limiting their own liability, by every means necessary. This includes tricking you into accidentally admitting fault for the accident. The insurance company can use your statements to the claims adjuster against you to deny coverage or to defeat your potential court case.

Additionally, the claims adjuster may offer you a settlement immediately. The goal of these quick settlement offers is to shock a struggling victim into taking a much lower settlement amount than they actually deserve. These early settlement offers frequently contain much less in compensation than the victim could win if they brought their case to court. by agreeing to the initial settlement offer, you would be waiving your right to bring your case to court, so it is important that you don’t sign anything before speaking with your lawyer.

Attorneys can communicate with claims adjusters, review settlement offers, and negotiate the terms of the deal on your behalf. by using one of our Cambridge car accident attorneys before, during, and after your settlement negotiations, you give yourself the best chance to recover the compensation that you deserve for the injuries you sustained due to a negligent Massachusetts car accident.

Get Answers to All of Your Massachusetts Car Accident Settlement Questions Today

Whether you are considering a settlement offer, haven’t received one yet, or have already accepted one and are wondering where the money is, the Malden car accident attorneys at the Law Office of John J. Sheehan are ready and willing to help. Schedule your first free appointment with us to learn more by calling (617) 925-6407.