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Cincinnati motorcycle accidents and injuries happen daily. For many riders, it’s not their fault, and they are left with serious injuries and often unable to work. So how can you make sure that you don’t fall behind on bills and pay your medical bills? The answer is simple. You need to file a claim.
While most vehicle drivers will file a claim and accept whatever settlement offer the insurance company gives them, motorcyclists don’t have that luxury. Because of the moderate risk involved in riding a motorcycle, many insurance companies will argue against a claim and offer extremely low settlements. Here’s how you can handle the claim quickly without missing out on too much of your compensation.
When Should Victims of Cincinnati Motorcycle Accidents File a Claim?
You should file your claim right away. After your motorcycle crash, you’ll want to contact your insurance company and a Cincinnati motorcycle wreck attorney. Working with a motorcycle accident attorney may not impact your time frame; in fact, it may make it seem like it’s taking longer than it would without them. However, these attorneys act as a key role in fighting for fair compensation.
Filing your claim right away will start the process off quickly and get things moving in the right direction. The sooner that you file your claim, the sooner that the insurance companies can begin their evaluations and assessments of the crash. The sooner that you contact a motorcycle accident attorney in Cincinnati, the sooner they can begin their own investigation.
Under Ohio law, you have two years to file a personal injury claim, which is what you’re doing here. However, your insurance company may have a much smaller window, such as a 30-day window for filing your claim.
How Fast Should You Expect a Resolution?
The process will usually take 6 or more weeks to resolve, and it could take months. Depending on the extent of your injuries, full resolution may take a year or two. If you have injuries that don’t have a clear dollar value for recovery, then a medical team may not have a clear path on treatment. That means that you’ll experience significant delays in an effort to get compensation for all of your medical bills relevant to the injury.
If you rush through the settlement process in the hopes of a fast resolution, you can leave yourself with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills that you can’t pursue compensation for afterward. When you accept a settlement from an insurance company, you often sign something or in some way, acknowledge that you cannot pursue further compensation related to this crash.
So, if your injuries are extensive, then you need to consider allowing the claim to have more time. That way, you have the best chance possible of recovering all the financial loss associated with your injuries.
Why Do Insurance Claims Take So Long to Process?
Insurance claims take a long time to process because of the many steps involved. First, you and the other driver involved must file your claims. Then each insurance company will conduct an investigation of the crash to determine who is at fault. After deciding who is at fault, both companies will look at the damage done.
The damages involved in the crash will include the property damage to the vehicle as well as the physical injuries. The damages done to the car will go through a claims adjuster where an insurance representative will estimate the cost of repairs or the remaining value of the car for a partial replacement.
But, when it comes to assessing your medical needs, the company will go through their private appraisal team to identify what they believe is necessary and what is not. Meaning that they may say particular procedures were unnecessary and refuse to pay for them. The insurance company could even argue that your ambulance ride was unnecessary.
At that point, you need to involve an attorney, if you haven’t already, to fight for your medical treatment and needs.
Will a Motorcycle Accident Attorney Speed Up the Process?
An attorney can speed up the process because they can head off questions that you may take a few days or weeks to respond to. If you’re getting treatment for your injuries, you may not have time to go digging through paperwork or lost information, whereas your attorney can.
Young, Reverman, and Mazzei Helps Victims of Cincinnati Motorcycle Accidents
The law offices of Young, Reverman, and Mazzei have helped many victims of Cincinnati motorcycle accidents. Contact our offices to learn more about closing your case quickly while still fighting for fair compensation.
