When Should You Take Your PI Case to Court?
A personal injury claim is a legal request for compensation by the victim of an accident for the damages they’ve suffered. Personal injury claims cover a wide range of accidents, including workplace injuries and truck accidents.
Over 90% of personal injury claims are settled outside court; however, there are some instances where the plaintiff is left with no choice but to take their claim to court. In such cases, you must consult personal injury attorneys from reputable law firms like the TopDog Law Personal Injury Attorneys.
TopDog Law works with licensed lawyers across the country to give people in need access to good legal services. The founder’s mission is to give people a second chance through his work as a lawyer. The firm deals with a variety of personal injury cases and has a good success rate.
Let’s say you’re in the middle of a personal injury case and wondering whether to take your claim to court. We’ll help you find an answer to that question by going over some situations:
When a fair settlement is not offered
One type of damage that can be contentious in a personal injury claim is the pain and suffering clause. How much compensation can be awarded for a person’s pain is difficult to quantify. So, taking your case to court in cases where there is a great degree of emotional turmoil, like in a wrongful death case, is best.
When liability is disputed
Sometimes accidents can be complicated – the evidence may be unclear as to who is at fault, for example, if there are no witnesses to the accident or footage of it. Or you may be in a state where all parties in the accident are required to take on a percentage of the fault. In such cases, it is best to take your case to court, as liability is being disputed.
When you have strong evidence to support your case
Another case where you can consider taking your claim to court is when you have strong evidence to support your claim, and you have a better chance of getting a higher settlement in court. For example, if you have clear footage of an accident where it shows the other party is clearly to blame, but they’re refusing to settle out of court.
When the insurance company is acting in bad faith
Insurance companies tend to have a bad reputation, as they aim to reduce costs by giving out low payouts. In order to maintain that practice, representatives of insurance companies may also employ shady tactics to deny or lowball plaintiffs.
If the insurance company in your case is acting in bad faith by delaying payments or outright denying it, you should take the case to court.
When you’ve exhausted negotiation options
The last situation we’re going to consider in this article is when negotiation no longer works. If the insurance company is refusing to pay you what you deserve for a long-term injury, or if the other party is not willing to settle, or if the compensation being offered is too low, you should consider taking your claim to court.
Of course, how your claim pans out depends on the specifics of your case, and you should go over the possible course of action you can take with your lawyer before deciding on one.
The claims process for a personal injury accident can be daunting, and in some cases, you may be denied the rightful compensation you deserve. In such cases, it is better to take your claim to court and fight for your rights.