Personal injury claims can take more time than some plaintiffs think. You may spend months waiting to reach a settlement or a verdict, but your bills and living expenses wait for no one. So you might feel anxious about when you’ll receive your settlement check. Once you reach a settlement, there are things your personal injury attorney needs to take care of before you receive the money. The staff at Certified Legal Funding can walk you through that process.
Certified Legal Funding helps plaintiffs expecting a settlement for their personal injury cases cover their expenses, regain a sense of financial stability, and focus on their recovery. But it’s important to understand the final stages of personal injury claims and the process involving settlement check timelines. The staff at CLF has explained this process here, as they often answer their clients’ questions about settlement checks.
How soon you receive your settlement check depends on the details of your case and your settlement agreement. Depending on those factors, receipt of your settlement check can vary from a couple of weeks to several months. Here are some of the most frequent reasons why your settlement check might arrive later than you expect:
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Is a legal agreement stating that you will not pursue additional legal action against the defendant in your case. Most insurance companies will wait until you sign the release form before releasing settlement money. If you have filed other lawsuits against the same defendant for a separate issue, you don’t have to give up on those particular claims because the release form states which claims you release the defendant from.
Is another factor affecting the timeline of your settlement check. When the defendant or the insurance company sends the check to your attorney, your attorney will hold it until the check clears. This can take between five and seven days for larger settlement checks.
Is the third factor affecting the timeline. If you sustained injuries and filed a personal injury claim, you likely have medical bills and liens to pay before you can receive the money. Your attorney will sort this out for you in most cases, but keep in mind that the timeline can drag out if the government has liens against your settlement. For example, liens from government-funded programs can take months to be resolved.
Settlement Check Process In A Florida Personal Injury Case
Waiting for your case to be settled can take longer than you may think. And bills still need to be paid while you wait for your settlement check. Personal injury attorneys cannot help you pay your bills, as they might lose their license. Some plaintiffs choose to apply for a bank loan, but there is a faster and easier option.
Pre-settlement funding, also known as legal finance loans and legal funding for lawsuits, is a financial product designed to provide plaintiffs with a lifeline while they wait for their settlement money. Legal funding for lawsuits in Tampa is non-recourse, which means you don’t have to repay it if you happen to lose your case.
Certified Legal Funding is a premier provider of legal settlement loans with thousands of satisfied clients throughout Tampa, Florida. To find out how you can apply for pre-settlement funding, call toll-free (800) 922-7439 or apply online.After months or even years of wrangling, you finally reach a settlement, but accessing your funds could take longer than you expected.
How Long After Settlement Do I Get My Money?
In the worst scenario, you could find an attorney holding your settlement check for months, delaying your access to cash when you need it most.
The timeline for settlement checks is just another hurdle to navigate as you work to resolve your claim. We’ll highlight what to expect in terms of delays so you have a clearer idea of when to expect your settlement check, as well as what causes these delays in the first place.
The specifics of your case and settlement agreement mean there is no fixed timeline for the delivery of your settlement check. Some settlements finalize in as little as six weeks, while others drag on for several months before being resolved.
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The release form is the first document you must sign to get your settlement check. In this form which constitutes a legally binding agreement, you state that you will pursue no further legal action against the defendant for this specific case. Signing this release form is normally a prerequisite for settlement.
Don’t panic if you have concurrent lawsuits against this defendant for a separate matter. Signing this release form for your settlement does not mean you must stop pursuing separate claims.
While it rarely happens, you might find your settlement check is delayed if the defendant disagrees with the provisions made in the release form. In this event, the release form needs redrafting and re-signing.
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The defendant will normally send the settlement check to your attorney. The attorney will typically hold the check in an escrow or trust account until it clears. This usually takes 5 to 7 days for bigger settlement checks.
Your lawyer then deducts the cost of their legal services, as well as paying any outstanding bills and liens on your behalf. When all financial obligations are honored, your attorney sends you a check, either by wire transfer or by mail.
Anyone involved in a personal injury case is liable to have outstanding medical bills, sometimes liens, too. It is your legal obligation to settle these bills as soon as your case settles.
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As outlined above, your lawyer should make these payments directly from your settlement check before issuing you with the remainder, after legal services are paid for.
Most liens can be settled expediently unless the government has placed a lien against your settlement. When liens involve government-funded programs like Medicaid and Medicare, resolving them can take months.
Most bills related to your case will have a fixed amount, but in some cases your attorney may need to negotiate payment for services like private investigations. This can take time and delay your settlement check being issued. Be patient and it should be in your financial interests.
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Occasionally, a defendant might pay via a structured settlement. Where a regular payment sees you paid in full, a structured settlement results in compensation paid over time.
If your case involves a minor, or if there was an especially severe injury requiring ongoing and extensive medical care, you could end up with a structured settlement.
When you are faced with the possibility of a structured settlement payout, ask your lawyer to review the terms of the agreement to establish whether this is the optimum deal. Blindly agreeing to a structured settlement without legal consultation could lead to added risk, financial complications, and unexpected delays in your settlement.
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After this, start working with your attorney to calculate your bills and liens. You can do this while the defendant is processing the claim release form.
This form of funding is a cash advance against your expected settlement in exchange for a portion of that settlement. Risk-free, you repay nothing until you settle your case, and you pay nothing at all if you lose your case.
The non-recourse nature of this financing means there is no credit check. You won’t need to provide proof of income or verification of your employment status either.
Can My Lawyer Settle My Case And How Does The Settlement Process Work?
You can use a lawsuit cash advance for any purpose at all, so you get some valuable breathing space when you need it most.
The downside of this type of litigation financing is the typically high rates of interest, compounding monthly and often mounting substantially if your case takes a long time to settle.
You should only consider a lawsuit loan as a last resort and if you have explored all superior alternatives for financing. As long as you are aware of the potentially high cost of a cash advance, and as long as you borrow only what you need, pre-settlement funding can provide a vital line of funding for those expecting imminent settlement.
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Jared Stern is an experienced financial professional with six years of experience in the pre-settlement funding industry. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in economics in 2014, Jared began his career in Morgan Stanley's mergers and acquisitions investment banking division. After working with another pre-settlement funding company for two years, Jared founded Uplift Legal Funding in 2017 to give injured plaintiffs a better choice in lawsuit loans. Check Jared out on: LinkedIn | Legal Reader | Attorney At Law Magazine
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