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When you’ve been injured in an accident, filing a claim against the at-fault party can allow you to recover damages. Many personal injury victims, however, will elect to negotiate with an insurance provider before escalating their complaint to civil court. 

Although there are advantages to this approach, plaintiffs can still encounter difficulties. Sometimes, the insurance company may not reply in a timely manner. Knowing how long the insurance company has to settle a claim in North Carolina can help you formulate a plan of attack. 

North Carolina Insurance Claim Timeline 

Often, both the plaintiff and defendant will seek to reach a settlement before ever filing a formal lawsuit in order to limit the cost of legal fees and/or speed up the process. Letting the insurance claims process play out allows the insurance adjuster to investigate the facts of the case, as well as the severity of your injuries. Your medical records related to the injury will also be considered. 

From there, you will eventually submit a demand letter to the insurance company. Working alongside an experienced lawyer and a trusted doctor can help you reach an understanding of the true value of your damages. At this point, it will be up to the insurance company to submit an offer in return. 

The important thing to understand is that there’s no specific time by which the insurance company will be obligated to reply. The process can be different in every situation, and there’s no law mandating a deadline. One thing you can do is request that the insurance company reply by a certain date, such as within thirty days of receipt. 

Following Up with the Insurance Company 

Even after indicating a timeline to the insurance company, there’s no guarantee it will reply. After a few weeks have passed, you can consider following up with the insurance adjuster directly, either through a follow-up letter or by calling the company and asking about the status of your case. 

If you’ve followed all these steps and still have been unsuccessful in soliciting a response, you always have the option of going ahead and filing a formal lawsuit in civil court. In some instances, working with a reluctant insurer will  force your hand into filing the formal case. 

Staying in the game and negotiating with the insurance company is often a good way to increase the value of any settlement offered. But if your losses exceed what the insurer is offering to cover or you believe the company is acting in bad faith, filing a personal injury claim in court is a good option to consider. 

Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer in Charlotte

Problems negotiating your settlement with the insurance company? At The Nye Law Group, our experienced legal team can help you earn the settlement you deserve. Our consultations are free. 

Call 912-200-5230 or fill out the form below to reach out to an experienced Charlotte personal injury lawyer with The Law Nye Group. 

When a loved one’s passing is caused by the negligence of another, it’s understandable to feel lost. A wrongful death claim could help you get a sense of direction and justice. Read on to learn about civil claims versus criminal charges for a wrongful death case. 

Civil Claims vs. Criminal Charges: The Basics

By definition, a wrongful death case is a civil lawsuit intended to allow the family or dependents of a deceased individual to recover economic damages from the liable party. These civil suits differ drastically from criminal cases, which are brought by a prosecutor in order to punish a criminally guilty party with a fine, jail or prison time, or other punishments. 

Criminal charges like murder, homicide, or manslaughter do not afford the victim’s family the right to a financial settlement. 

Who Can Receive the Benefits of a Wrongful Death Claim?

According to Georgia law, only certain individuals related to the deceased are eligible to file a wrongful death claim after the passing of their loved one. The first person that this right defers to is the spouse of the deceased. In cases where the spouse and the deceased shared custody of minor children, the spouse must be the one to represent the interests of the suit in court. 

On such occasions where there is no surviving spouse or children to bring the case, the parents of the deceased or the estate’s personal representatives may bring the case. 

Wrongful death claims can allow the deceased’s next-of-kin to recover both economic and non-economic damages, including: 

• Lost income
• Loss of companionship 
• Medical or funerary expenses
• The deceased’s conscious pain and suffering

In cases where a personal representative brings the suit, damages may be held by the deceased’s estate until the time when the next-of-kin is eligible to receive them. 

Deadline to File a Wrongful Death Claim

Many people make the understandable mistake of confusing the wrongful death statute of limitations with similar statutes relating to criminal charges, such as homicide or manslaughter. For example, there is no limit to the amount of time that can pass for a murder to be tried in the state of Georgia. Even felonies of lesser magnitude can be tried years after the crime occurred. 

This is not the case for wrongful death claims in civil court. Generally speaking, the deadline to file such a claim is two years from the date of the death of your loved one. 

In some limited cases, this deadline may be extended. If you’re wondering about the implications of the statute of limitations for your loved one’s wrongful death case, an experienced attorney in Savannah can help.

Contact a Wrongful Death Lawyer in Savannah, Georgia 

No amount of money could ever really make up for the loss of your loved one. At The Nye Law Group, we know how hard it can be to lose a loved one. That’s why we fight for the rights of families when someone else is responsible for their losses. 

Call 912-200-5230 or fill out the form below to schedule a free consultation with The Nye Law Group. 

 Personal injuries can dramatically impact your ability to live your life as you once did. You might be dealing with physical setbacks, mounting medical bills, and the emotional turmoil of knowing that someone else is responsible for your accident. 

Fortunately, a personal injury lawsuit can help you recover financial compensation for your damages. If you’re wondering whether it’s better to go to court or accept a settlement offer, read on to see which option makes sense for you. 

Personal Injury Claims That Can Lead to Settlements

Personal injury lawsuits come from the area of tort law, which establishes that victims have the right to file a claim when their damages are caused by someone else’s negligence. 

As such, personal injury law encompasses a variety of case types. Although they are related, they are also distinguished by things such as caps on the amount of damages available to be collected, the statute of limitations, and other considerations. When talking about personal injury cases, people may be  referring to one of the following types of cases: 

• Car accidents
• Premises liability 
• Medical malpractice
• Wrongful death
• Defective products
• Workplace accidents

No matter the context of your personal injury claim, partnering with a personal injury lawyer can increase your chances of winning a maximum settlement. 

The Advantage of Accepting a Settlement Offer

The costs of litigation increase as the legal process continues, which means that both plaintiff and defendant have a mutual interest in resolving their dispute as soon as possible. 

Frequently, once you’ve sent a demand letter to the at-fault party’s insurance company, an insurance adjuster will send a settlement offer for your review. 

Insurance adjusters are often authorized to offer you only a portion of the true value of your claim in a first offer, so negotiation is the path that most accident victims will take to secure a higher settlement.

Furthemore, an insurance company might feel emboldened to present a lowball offer when a plaintiff represents themselves without the help of a lawyer. 

For these reasons and others, most personal injury victims would benefit from the services of an experienced personal injury lawyer who can negotiate a settlement that truly reflects the sum of your physical and emotional damages. 

Speak to a Savannah Personal injury Lawyer Today

Choosing to represent yourself during settlement negotiations can be a risky proposition. Retaining the services of a lawyer tells an insurance company you’re not going to let them boss proceedings. The Nye Law Group is passionate about fighting for the rights of their clients in Savannah, and can get you justice for your damages. 

Want to reach out to an experienced personal injury lawyer from our firm? Call 912-200-5230 or fill out the quick form below for a free, no-hassle consultation. 

We’re excited to announce the latest great result we’ve secured on behalf of a client.

After almost two years of detailed investigations and complex insurance policy negotiations, The Nye Law Group has recovered over $8.1 million in a wrongful death claim involving a trucking company.

Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer 

For serious injury and wrongful death cases, call The Nye Law Group today at 912-200-5230.  It will not cost you anything to see if we can help.  If you do not recover, you owe us nothing.

Have you recently been hurt in an accident in or around Savannah, Georgia? You are probably devastated and worried about how to put your life back together. One way to get started rebuilding your life is to file a personal injury claim for an accident. If you didn’t cause the accident you were hurt in, you could bring your claim against the person who harmed you.

When someone is negligent or engaging in wrongful behavior, they could be held legally responsible for their actions if they hurt someone. Even if the person didn’t intend to cause you harm, they can still be held to account. The way to do this is through the civil claim process. Filing a claim is your right, but it’s not easy.

Figuring Out Your Claim’s Worth

You know you are owed money for your accident, but you have no idea how much you’re owed. You have probably missed out on income due to your injuries. You have probably accrued medical expenses due to treatment of your injuries. These losses are compensable, but so are many others.

You could be compensated for the cost of physical therapy expenses, transportation expenses, and property damage.

Did you know you could also be compensated for non-financial losses? Pain and suffering, mental distress, scarring, disfigurement, loss of mobility, permanent injury, and lost life enjoyment can be compensated through an injury claim.

So how do you calculate all of these losses to come up with a settlement amount? Your personal injury lawyer will help you, but the basic process is this:

• Add up all your financial losses, including future financial losses.
• Assign a value to non-financial losses. Here you are trying to calculate what amount of money would make you feel whole again. This isn’t easy to do. 
• Put your financial and non-financial losses together to come up with a total amount. That is the amount of money you would demand the at-fault party’s insurer pay you.

Other Considerations

You must have proof of your losses if you hope to receive a fair settlement. Keep in mind that different people place different values on similar experiences. For instance, a broken arm for one person could be a different experience than it is for someone else. Each case is handled on an individual basis.

Your lawyer’s job is to help you obtain fair compensation for what you went through. You don’t have to calculate a claim on your own.

Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer in Savannah

You didn’t cause the accident that hurt you. You shouldn’t have to suffer more than you already have. A personal injury claim could result in a settlement for you. You could use the money from a settlement to repair your life and move on from this accident.

If you feel overwhelmed after your accident, understand that you don’t have to do this alone. A Savannah personal injury lawyer at The Nye Law Group is ready to help you get through this experience. Call 912-200-5230 or use the form below for a free case review.