Car Accidents Questions & Answers
Straight answers to what people ask most. These hold wherever you were hurt — for the deadlines and rules that depend on your state, choose your state below.
How Long Does a Car Accident Settlement Check Take?
Once a car accident claim settles, the check itself usually arrives within a few weeks. After you sign the settlement release, the insurer issues payment to your attorney, who deposits it and handles the next steps before the money is disbursed to you.
Read the answer →Can I Reopen a Car Accident Claim After I Settled?
In almost all cases, no. When you settle a car accident claim, you sign a release — a document that gives up your right to seek anything more for that crash in exchange for the payment. Once it is signed, the claim is generally closed for good, even if your injuries later turn out to be worse than expected.
Read the answer →What Is Insurance Bad Faith?
Insurance bad faith is when an insurance company treats a valid claim unreasonably — denying it without a good reason, dragging it out, or offering far less than it is worth. Insurers owe a duty of good faith, and when they break it, they can face consequences beyond simply paying the original claim.
Read the answer →Do I Have to Pay Taxes on a Car Accident Settlement?
Money you receive to compensate for a physical injury is often treated differently from ordinary income, and much of a typical injury settlement may not be taxed the way a paycheck is. But settlements can include different types of compensation, and the treatment can depend on what each part is for.
Read the answer →Will Filing a Car Accident Claim Raise My Insurance Rates?
It depends on the claim. Being in a crash that was not your fault, and recovering from the at-fault driver's insurer, is treated differently from causing an accident yourself. You should not be penalized because someone else hit you, though insurance practices do vary.
Read the answer →Questions about the law in your state?
Filing deadlines, fault rules, and limits on damages differ by state. Choose where you were hurt for answers under that state's law.
General information, not legal advice. Every situation is different, and the law differs by state.