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When Can You Figure Out a Case's Value?

It's almost impossible to estimate the value of an injury claim until the injured party has ended medical treatment and is either well or is as healthy as he or she is going to get. There's nothing worse than settling too soon because once you settle, it's final. In personal injury claims, there's no such concept as "open medicals." Open medicals means that after you settle your case, the insurance company continues to pay your future medical bills. Unfortunately, this concept only applies to workers' compensation claims. In personal injury claims, once your case settles, you cannot force the insurance company to also pay for your medical care in the future.

The following is our favorite example of why you shouldn't settle too soon. We often share this example with our prospective clients:

A few years ago Mark had a client who was hurt in a truck wreck. When he first hired our firm, he was going to physical therapy treatment for a hurt knee. And even though he had also made complaints to his treating doctor of pain in his neck and shoulder, the doctor didn't seem too concerned about those body parts. Despite the injuries to three different parts of his body and as he was still undergoing therapy to his knee, Mark's client wanted him to try and "wrap up" his case. So Mark called him to a meeting and explained to him what his strategy was-to wait until his medical treatment was completed before trying to settle his case for full value. Mark convinced him to focus on getting better (all parts of his body) and to let Mark handle the timing and legal side of the claim. The client reluctantly agreed. The patience turned out to be a blessing. Ultimately, our client had to have major surgery on all three injured parts of his body. The wreck turned out to be devastating, but luckily there was ample insurance to get him fully compensated and prepared for the future. He was so glad we didn't settle the case early when he wanted to as there was about a half-million dollar difference in his case's value.

Settlements are permanent and irreversible, and as you can see, patience can pay off.

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