Video Summary
This video explains the timeline and process of car accident settlements in Louisiana. The process begins with determining insurance policy limits, which vary by state, and tracking the client’s medical treatment to ensure the settlement covers expenses while leaving money for the client. Settlements can occur during the pre-litigation phase (up to two years) or after a lawsuit is filed.
Once a settlement is reached, the insurance company has 30 days to issue payment. The funds are deposited into a highly regulated attorney trust account. The attorney then prepares a settlement statement itemizing all fees and expenses for the client’s approval. The entire process from settlement agreement to the client receiving funds typically takes about 60 days. However, delays can occur if there are medical liens from government or private insurers, such as Medicare or Medicaid, which the firm negotiates down to maximize the client’s final payout.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What are the minimum insurance policy limits in Louisiana compared to Texas?
In Louisiana, the minimum policy limit is $15,000, whereas in Texas, the minimum is $25,000. - When is a demand usually sent to the insurance company?
A demand is generally sent when a doctor has treated a client for three to six months, and the case value meets the minimum policy limits, or when the client is done treating, and there is a substantial amount of insurance available. - What happens if the two-year deadline approaches but the client is not yet fully recovered?
If the two-year mark is reached and the client is not better, the firm files a lawsuit to protect the client’s interests. They will budget anticipated future medical treatment into the demand, so future expenses are covered. - Can a claim be settled without filing a lawsuit?
Yes, a claim can be settled in the pre-litigation process, from day one up to right before the two-year mark, without ever filing a lawsuit. - How long does the insurance company have to make a payment once a settlement is reached?
The insurance company has 30 days from the date of settlement to make payment. - What triggers the waiting period for the insurance payment?
The waiting period is triggered by either a verbal agreement to settle or the signing of documents, such as releases stating that the client will not sue the insurance company or the driver again. - Where is the settlement money held before it is given to the client?
The money is placed in the lawyer’s trust account, which banks and the state bar highly regulate. - What is a settlement statement?
A settlement statement is a spreadsheet prepared for the client that itemizes all funds in the case, including case expenses, lawyer fees, and payments to medical facilities. - What is the expected total timeframe from the settlement agreement to case closure?
You can expect roughly 60 days from settlement to closure: 30 days for the insurance payment, plus a week or two for the check to clear and be processed. - What is a “lien” and how does it affect the settlement timeline?
A lien is a claim for reimbursement by health insurers like Medicare, Medicaid, or Tricare for treatment they paid for. Dealing with these liens can slow down the process because it involves navigating the bureaucracy of big companies or government entities. - Why does the attorney negotiate with health insurers regarding liens?
The attorney negotiates discounts on the amount owed to the health insurer. This is done to put dollar-for-dollar savings back into the client’s pocket.
Transcription of the Video
How long does a car accident settlement in Louisiana really take after all parties agree? Let’s talk about the claims process and how to resolve a claim. Depending upon the state, there are minimum insurance policy limits. In Louisiana, the minimum is 15,000. In Texas, the minimum is 25,000. And it varies across states, 15, 25, 30. It depends. Generally speaking, if you go to a doctor for anywhere from 3 to six months, your case will have value that will meet the minimum insurance policy limits.
And when that happens, your attorney should send a demand to the insurance company saying, “We want you to pay out the full policy limits.” What we do at my firm is go out in the beginning and determine, using a bunch of different resources we have, what those policy limits are. Cuz what we don’t want to happen is for you to go to the doctor too much, to the point where all your money goes to the lawyers and the doctors, because you’re the one who got hurt. The more information we have, the better positioned we are.
And what we want to do is make sure we put some money in your pocket for all the inconvenience, pain, and suffering you’ve experienced. We’ll track your case. We’ll see where the medical bills stand, and we’ll let you know whether your case is ready to be resolved at this point. Or if there’s a substantial amount of insurance, we wait until you’re done treating and then say, “Okay, now we can make a demand.” Or if the deadline is running out, if we get to that 2-year point and it’s time to file a lawsuit, and you’re not better yet, we say, “Hey, we have to file this lawsuit so that we can protect your interests.”
It’ll move along with your treatment. So your treatment will be ongoing, but so will the case, and we wait and see whether you know a resolution of the case comes up first. And if it does before you’re better, we’ll talk to your doctors. We’ll figure out whether there’s future medical treatment they anticipate, and we’ll budget that into whatever demand we send, so your future medical expenses are accounted for again. You’re not coming out of pocket when your case is resolved to fix what somebody else did to you.
In the pre-litigation process, we can settle your claim from day one to two years before a lawsuit is filed. And even when a lawsuit is filed, there is always an opportunity to resolve your case all the way through. Trust me, nobody wants to fight when we can decide. Sometimes it takes some fighting or some information gathering to reach that middle ground, but every time, it’s in everybody’s best interest to get it as soon as we can, whenever that is.
In terms of getting to a settlement and then putting money back in your pocket. When a settlement is reached, the insurance company has 30 days to make a payment to you. That’s so the settlement is reached. Depending on the language of the settlement, it might require that we get some documents signed to dismiss the case, or to sign releases saying you won’t sue the insurance company or the other driver again. That’s a formality, but either the signing of the documents or the verbal agreement to settle will trigger that waiting period.
When the money is sent to us, it’s sent to the lawyer, and it usually includes the lawyer’s name, the law firm’s name, and the client’s name. So that check needs to be signed by both parties and then deposited into a lawyer’s trust account. And that trust account is highly, highly, highly regulated. The banks see it, and the state bar can see it. So the worst thing you can do as a lawyer is mess around with your trust account and with other clients’ money. We take it very seriously. We take our client’s money. It goes into the trust account. It is not to be released from the trust account until a spreadsheet is prepared. We call it a settlement statement.
It gets shown to the client. The client looks at it and says, “Okay, I see where all of the money went In my case, did it go to pay for certain case expenses like a police report or a lawsuit getting filed? Did it go to pay the lawyer his fees? Did it go to pay sure doctors or medical facilities? It’s all itemized for you. You look it over, make sure everything checks out, sign, and usually, at the same time or shortly thereafter, you get your money. Whether it’s a handwritten check, uh, we send our money to our clients electronically in a variety of ways. You know, our job is to make the process as easy and convenient for our clients as possible. Depending upon what you prefer, you could have money any which way as long as we can accommodate it.
So you’re really looking at 30 days, let’s say another week to two weeks for the check to clear once it’s signed, just days after that. So, from settlement to closure, you can expect 60 days.
If you went to a facility that you pay for through health insurance, Medicare Medicaid Tricare, or some of these other government or private insurers, there may be delays, and medical leans can take time because you’re dealing with big companies or government entities and their bureaucracy. We try to start dealing with leans from the first day that we know they exist. So if we know you came to us on day two, and you said you went to a hospital. I paid with my Medicaid we will start inquiring of all the different entities that work with Medicaid and may have paid for that treatment and figure out what do you owe back to Medicaid because even though you have health insurance your health insurance is not supposed to be paying for treatment that you underwent because of someone else’s fault and when there’s someone else to pay.
So in this scenario, the other driver’s car insurance is responsible, and your health insurance will want to be reimbursed. What we do is figure out how much they paid, and we try to negotiate that number down because if it weren’t for us, they wouldn’t have any money coming back to them. So we say to them, look, we should get something for the fact that we chased after your money and got it back for you. So we request discounts on behalf of our clients. And frankly, that money goes right back in their pockets. We don’t see any of that discount. It’s dollar-for-dollar back to the client.
It’s just a service we provide to put as much money back in the injured person’s or our client’s pocket. The leans are the only things that can sometimes slow down this process. It’s no different at our firm than anywhere else. We are beholden to the whims of Medicare and Medicaid. We have contacts there, and again, we try to get out ahead of it. We use different vendors who have long-standing relationships cuz we know that’s the last thing you want holding up your money from getting into your bank account or your pocket. So we try to get ahead of that.
