COVID-19 Impact on Car Accident Cases

COVID-19 has affected nearly everything in 2020, and if you’ve had the bad fortune of being involved in a recent car accident, you’re probably wondering how your claim might be affected. Car accident claims will still continue, but you will likely see some changes to how proceedings are conducted, and the financial stability of both parties is going to be more influential on case outcomes.

Impacts on Medical Treatment

If you’ve been the victim in a car accident, you probably know how important it is to seek medical treatment for your injuries. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has impacted the medical community perhaps more than any other, and this can make seeking treatment for your car accident injuries challenging. However, it is still important to do so to the best of your ability.

Taking precautions to protect your health is more important now than ever. So you may be hesitant to go to the hospital or the doctor’s office, but you do need to realize that skipping medical evaluation could have dire consequences for your car accident claim. Skipping out on treatment will give the insurance company a perfect excuse to deny your claim or minimize the severity of your injuries. It is, therefore, vital to be evaluated by a medical professional to properly and accurately document any injuries you’ve suffered or continue to suffer from. This information is crucial to your claim and, more importantly, to your life and health.

Court or Settlement Negotiations

Courts continue to suffer delays and backlogs due to COVID-19, and the situation is unlikely to significantly improve for quite a while. So if you’ve gotten to the point of filing a lawsuit, this may not be great news, especially because your case is a prime candidate for being pushed back due to its being less essential and vital to public safety. However, most courts have expanded their repertoire to include virtual proceedings, and this may be an option for your case.

Fortunately, most car accident claims never see a courtroom. Approximately 95% of these cases are settled before a trial becomes necessary. What does this mean for your car accident case? Most likely, your lawyers and the defendant’s insurance company lawyers will be able to negotiate a settlement that both sides can agree on. Of course, in the era of COVID-19, it’s likely that these proceedings will take place remotely. But since this type of negotiation can easily be done over the phone or internet channels, your case shouldn’t be impacted much by the pandemic if you’re at this stage.

Financial Problems

An important thing to consider during COVID-19 is that both your and the defendant’s financial situation may have been significantly changed by the pandemic. With so many people out of work or forced to close the businesses that provide their livelihoods, many people are finding themselves struggling financially. This may affect how much money the defendant’s insurance company has been able to take in, which in turn may greatly influence how much they’re willing to offer you to settle for your injuries.

Similarly, your own personal financial situation may be far more dire than before the pandemic, and this will surely influence how much and how long you’re willing to hold out for a more generous settlement. This all adds up to the conclusion that you’ll probably end up with a bit less money than you otherwise would have.

Don’t worry about how to pay for a lawyer, though. Click here for more information about dedicated personal injury attorneys in Harrisonburg, VA, who will take your case on contingency. This means you don’t have to pay until your case is settled, so you at least have one fewer thing to worry about in these crazy COVID times.