Answer: Last week, we spoke to an expectant mother who was badly injured in a pit bull attack. Her injuries were so severe that she was not going to be able to return to work for a long time, and she might even lose her child. One of her first questions was, “How long will all of this take to resolve?” That’s a difficult question to answer because, often, it depends on variables that are out of the person’s control.
One of the main factors of determining how long it takes to settle any case is how bad the injuries are. For someone like her, who was severely injured and who may need extended medical treatment, she would be doing herself a disservice to try to even talk about settling with an insurance company before she reaches what they call maximum medical improvement.
Another factor that can significantly affect the length of time it takes to settle an insurance claim is how reasonable the insurance company is being. Some insurance companies are more reasonable than other insurance companies. If you’re up against an insurance company that is unreasonable, then it can take a significant amount of time. As a matter of fact, it will most likely require the filing of a lawsuit, and that can take even longer.
Whatever happens in your case, you want to make sure that you have an attorney who is experienced in litigating cases against insurance companies. You want to make sure that you have an attorney who is focused on personal injury and who has specific experience in the type of case that you’re bringing to them; in this case, a dog bite case. You want to make sure that that lawyer has successfully prosecuted claims against insurance companies, too. I would urge anyone who has had any type of dog bite to immediately contact a personal injury attorney who has experience in dog bite cases. We would be more than happy to speak with anyone who has questions about their dog bite case.