Issues When Negotiating a McKinney Truck Accident Settlement

Many truck accident cases end in settlements long before reaching a courtroom. Settlements avoid many of the risks of a jury trial and may allow each side in a particular case to achieve favorable outcomes. Still, settlements are not necessarily easy solutions, and there are issues that attorneys and claimants should be aware of. Call an experienced truck collision lawyer today to learn more about the issues when negotiating a McKinney truck accident settlement.

Indemnity Clauses

One of the most common issues when negotiating a McKinney truck accident settlement is the terms of the indemnity clause. Negotiations are based not just on the monetary amount of the compensation, but also on the terms of any indemnity or subrogation agreements. Those terms could be critically important in negotiating these cases because defendants want payment agreements to be as broad as possible.

The plaintiff, on the other hand, has to be careful, because very often the insurance companies for these trucking companies may make this indemnity agreement intentionally broad. Even an overly broad agreement could be enforced against the injured party and harm a portion or even all of the recovery.

Structured Settlement

Very often with catastrophic accidents, a plaintiff needs medical care for many years, and sometimes for a lifetime. In those situations, it sometimes makes sense to structure a settlement or payment over time rather than issue a payment all at one point in time. Structured settlements may be very complicated because they have to take into account the time value of money and the long-term stability of the insurance companies. Most people need an accomplished attorney to help them understand what the structure provides and what the risks of the particular structure are.

Liens and Third Parties

Another one of the issues when negotiating a McKinney truck accident settlement is dealing with liens or subrogation interest. These are interests that third parties have in the recovery of damages. Sometimes health insurers have an ability to get either all or a portion of its money back that it had paid for medical care. Workers’ Compensation carriers, for instance, if there is a workers’ compensation claim involved in the third party liability claim, may be entitled not only to the medical bills that have been paid, but also the loss of earnings or lost wages that have been paid.

There are other potential issues with governmental entities that have provided benefits, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and CHAMPS for military personnel. Of those insurers have subrogation interest and would inevitably delay the actual payments to the claimant.

It is imperative that attorneys understand these types of situations that could slow down a settlement. Attorneys who deal with personal injury matters as a primary part of their practice will generally do everything they can in advance to have the claim ready to go, so as soon as they have a settlement amount or settlement agreement, they could submit the appropriate numbers to a governmental entity to get the subrogation issues worked out.