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After a car accident in Georgia, receiving a settlement offer from the insurance company can feel like progress. You have dealt with the accident, medical appointments, vehicle repairs, missed work, and phone calls with insurance adjusters. When an insurer finally puts money on the table, accepting the offer and putting the accident behind you may be tempting.
But the first insurance settlement offer may not reflect the full value of your car accident claim.
Insurance companies evaluate claims based on many factors, and their interests are not necessarily the same as yours. Before accepting an offer, it is important to understand what your claim may include, what injuries and expenses you may face in the future, and what accepting a settlement actually means.
An insurance company may have several reasons for trying to resolve a claim quickly.
In some cases, liability is relatively clear, and the insurer recognizes that it will probably have to pay something. An early settlement allows the company to close its file and avoid additional expenses.
There is nothing inherently improper about an insurance company making an early offer. The important question is whether the offer fairly accounts for the damages caused by the accident.
This can be difficult to determine shortly after a collision because the full extent of an injured person’s damages may not yet be known.
For example, someone who initially believes they have a relatively minor neck or back injury may later need an MRI, injections, physical therapy, or evaluation by an orthopedic specialist. If the claim is settled before that medical picture develops, those additional damages may not have been considered.
One of the most important things to understand about accepting a settlement is that it generally involves signing a release.
The release typically ends the injured person’s claim against the at-fault party and insurer for the accident. Once the claim is resolved and the release is signed, you generally cannot return to the insurance company months later because your injuries turned out to be more serious than expected.
That makes timing important.
Before resolving a personal injury claim, you should have a reasonable understanding of your injuries, treatment, prognosis, expenses, and other damages.
Medical treatment is often one of the biggest reasons an early settlement offer can be difficult to evaluate.
Consider a person who goes to the emergency room after an accident with neck and lower-back pain. The X-rays do not show a fracture, so the person is discharged and told to follow up.
Over the following weeks, however, the pain continues. The person begins physical therapy. Their physician eventually orders an MRI, which reveals a disc injury. They are then referred to a specialist who recommends additional treatment.
The value of that person’s claim may look considerably different after the MRI and specialist evaluation than it did the week after the accident.
An early settlement cannot necessarily account for medical problems that have not yet been diagnosed.
People sometimes evaluate settlement offers by simply comparing the offer to their medical bills.
Georgia law allows an injured person to seek compensation for more than medical expenses.
Depending on the facts, damages in a Georgia personal injury case may include:
Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-4, damages are generally intended to compensate an injured person for the injury sustained.
Georgia law also recognizes damages for pain and suffering. O.C.G.A. § 51-12-6 provides that when the injury is to the peace, happiness, or feelings of the plaintiff, damages are determined by the enlightened conscience of an impartial jury.
There is no simple calculator that determines what pain and suffering is worth in every Georgia car accident case.
A serious accident can affect more than your health.
You may miss work for medical appointments, physical therapy, surgery, or recovery. Some injuries can prevent a person from performing the physical requirements of their job for weeks or months.
Those financial losses should be considered when evaluating the claim.
In more serious cases, an injury can also affect someone’s ability to earn income in the future. That can make the damages analysis considerably more complicated than simply adding up existing medical bills.
Future treatment can be especially important in cases involving significant orthopedic, neurological, or spinal injuries.
A doctor may recommend:
If future medical treatment is reasonably expected because of the accident, it may be an important component of the claim.
This is another reason why evaluating a settlement before the medical picture is reasonably clear can be risky.
The amount of damages is not the only issue.
Georgia follows a modified comparative negligence system.
Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, a plaintiff’s recovery can be reduced according to the percentage of fault attributed to that plaintiff. If the plaintiff is 50% or more responsible, the plaintiff generally cannot recover damages.
For example, suppose a jury determines that an injured person sustained $100,000 in damages but was 20% responsible for the collision. The recoverable damages would generally be reduced by that percentage.
Insurance companies may argue that an injured person shares responsibility for an accident, even when the injured person disagrees.
Evidence such as photographs, video, witness statements, vehicle damage, police reports, electronic vehicle data, and deposition testimony may become important in resolving those disputes.
A person’s damages and the amount of available insurance coverage are two different things.
A seriously injured person could have damages that substantially exceed the at-fault driver’s liability insurance limits.
That is why identifying all potentially available insurance coverage is important.
In some Georgia cases, an injured person may have access to uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) in addition to the at-fault driver’s liability coverage. Commercial vehicle, rideshare, or trucking accidents can involve additional policies and coverage questions.
Before settling a significant injury claim, it can be important to understand what insurance coverage may be available.
Insurance adjusters frequently contact people after accidents and ask questions about what happened and how they are feeling.
Statements made early in the claim can become important later.
For example, someone may tell an adjuster, “I’m doing fine,” intending only to be polite. If significant symptoms develop or persist, the insurance company may later point to that earlier statement.
You should be truthful when communicating with an insurance company, but you should also recognize that statements about the accident and your injuries can potentially affect the evaluation of the claim.
Before accepting a car accident settlement, some important questions include:
Do I understand the full extent of my injuries?
If you are still actively treating or waiting on diagnostic testing, you may not know yet.
Have all of my medical expenses been identified?
Make sure you understand the bills associated with the accident and whether additional expenses are expected.
Have I calculated my lost income?
Time missed from work can be an important part of the claim.
Will I need future medical treatment?
Future care can significantly affect damages.
Are there medical liens or reimbursement claims?
Hospitals, health insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, or other entities may potentially have reimbursement rights depending on the circumstances.
What insurance coverage is available?
This can include liability coverage and potentially UM/UIM coverage.
Am I being accused of contributing to the accident?
Comparative negligence can affect the value of the claim.
What am I giving up by signing the release?
A settlement should be evaluated with the understanding that it generally brings finality to the claim.
A first settlement offer should be evaluated based on the facts of the particular case rather than accepted or rejected simply because it is the first offer.
Some initial offers may be reasonable. Others may not fully account for the injured person’s medical treatment, lost wages, pain and suffering, future care, or other damages.
The important thing is to make an informed decision.
A properly developed personal injury claim typically involves gathering medical records and bills, documenting lost income, investigating liability, identifying available insurance coverage, understanding future medical needs, and presenting the damages to the insurance company.
At Kevin Patrick Law, we help people injured in Georgia car accidents understand the insurance claims process and evaluate settlement offers in light of the evidence and damages involved.
Our goal is not simply to reach the quickest settlement. It is to understand what happened, how the accident affected our client, what compensation may be available, and whether an insurance company’s offer fairly reflects the claim.
If you have received a settlement offer after a Georgia car accident and are unsure whether you should accept it, consider speaking with a Georgia personal injury attorney before signing a release.
Every case is different, and the value of a personal injury claim depends on its individual facts.
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
There is no universal answer. The offer should be evaluated based on your injuries, medical expenses, lost income, future treatment, liability issues, available insurance coverage, and other damages.
Settlement offers are often part of a negotiation process. An injured person may reject an offer and present additional evidence supporting a different settlement amount.
Generally, once a claim has been settled and an appropriate release has been signed, the claim cannot simply be reopened because injuries later become more serious. This is one reason it is important to understand your medical condition before settling.
Georgia does not use a single mandatory formula for calculating pain and suffering in personal injury cases. The nature and duration of the injury, medical treatment, limitations, and the effect of the injury on the person’s life can all be relevant.
Many Georgia personal injury claims are subject to a two-year statute of limitations under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, although exceptions and different deadlines can apply. Claims involving government entities can also have substantially shorter notice requirements. An attorney should evaluate the specific deadline applicable to a particular case.
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