If you’ve been injured in a car accident, a slip and fall on someone else’s property, or in some other way harmed by somebody else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. For many injury victims, that compensation is critical to:
In other words, a lot is riding on your car accident lawsuit. So, it’s important to understand exactly what’s at stake, what can derail your case, and what your options are if you lose your case.
You generally get just one shot at holding the person or entity that caused your injury responsible. If you lose that case, you’ll have to find other ways to cover your medical expenses, make up for lost income, repair your vehicle, and cover other injury-related expenses.
This can be a challenge for anyone who was injured and accumulated medical bills or experienced a significant gap in income. That’s especially true if the injuries are long-term or permanent, meaning that future income capacity is impaired.
If the outcome of a personal injury case is not what you hoped for or expected, you can appeal the verdict. An appeal is a formal process in which the injured victim can ask a higher court to review the case and overturn the decision based on legal errors.
However, appeals are only options in some situations and are often challenging. Whether or not the appeal is a viable option or worth pursuing depends on the circumstances of the case. One crucial consideration is how the case was resolved.
Most personal injury cases are resolved through an out-of-court settlement before the trial begins. The case is considered closed when the injured victim settles with the defendant.
Most settlements contain clauses that bar the injured victim from filing a lawsuit against the defendant once they accept payment. As such, victims who participate in an out-of-court settlement generally cannot appeal a settled case.
There are some rare exceptions when you might have a settlement agreement overturned, such as when an insurance company acted in bad faith and coerced you into signing an unfair agreement when you did not have legal representation. These situations are not the norm.
Therefore, it is critically important for injured victims to begin working with an experienced personal attorney who can determine the right time to settle or negotiate for a fair settlement value before you accept anything. Once you accept a settlement, it is very difficult to change it.
When a personal injury case goes to trial, the case gets resolved through a jury verdict or a judgment. Victims can appeal a verdict or a decision reached in a personal injury case if qualifying factors exist.
Injured victims who wish to file an appeal must have a valid reason to do so. Appeals deal with legal issues during the case or trial instead of focusing on simply believing the verdict was wrong or unfair.
For instance, your personal injury attorney can cite arguments in court for not allowing specific evidence, courts not allowing certain witnesses, or judges making legal errors.
If you can’t agree to a settlement with an insurance provider, you have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit to enforce your right to compensation. Even so, a successful trial requires many calculated steps and strategies.
That said, filing a personal injury lawsuit may only sometimes bring you success. You could potentially lose a personal injury lawsuit for many reasons, including:
The judge could dismiss the personal injury lawsuit on technical grounds such as missing deadlines such as the statute of limitations, or failing to submit paperwork in the prescribed manner.
Your doctors and other healthcare professionals and facilities are providing services directly to you, which means you are ultimately responsible for those bills. In an injury lawsuit, you ask the court to order the responsible party to pay those bills, and to compensate you for other damages. Usually, it’s the responsible party’s insurance carrier that actually makes those payments.
If a court determines the other party isn’t legally responsible for your injury, they won’t be ordered to pay those bills. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re stuck with the full balance.
Ideally, some or all of these costs will be covered by other insurance.
MedPay may cover some of your medical expenses. MedPay covers medical costs for you and your passengers regardless of who was at fault in the accident. The catch is that MedPay covers expenses only up to the total amount specified in your policy. And, Ohio auto insurance law doesn’t make MedPay mandatory, which means whether and how much coverage you have depends on the choices you made when you purchased your insurance policy.
If you don’t have MedPay coverage, you should seriously consider adding it to your insurance policy right away. Though it won’t help you with an accident that’s already occurred, it does provide a safety net for the future at a relatively low cost.
Your medical insurance provider should have been paying their regular share of your medical bills throughout your treatment. Typically, when you’ve been injured in an accident where a third party may be liable, your health insurance company will ask you for information about other possible responsible parties. But, they should not hold off on making payments to your medical providers.
Under Ohio law, your medical insurance carrier has a right of subrogation, meaning that if they pay medical bills and you receive a settlement or award of damages that covers those medical bills, they’re entitled to recoup what they’ve paid. If the third party is found not liable, then there’s no recoupment–the medical insurance provider should have made payment as the expenses were incurred, and you aren’t responsible for paying them back.
However, with most medical insurance policies, you’ll be responsible for partial payment. In some cases, that’s a flat-rate co-pay for a certain type of service. In others, it’s a percentage of the total cost. Depending on the type of insurance you carry, the amount you’re responsible for may depend on whether or not the medical provider is in a network. In other words, your medical insurer will likely pay some–even most–but not all of your medical bills.
Depending on your financial circumstances, the amount of your medical bills, the type of medical provider, and other variables, the healthcare facility may be willing to write off some or all of the post-insurance balance. So, if you lose your personal injury case and you have a significant post-insurance balance, be sure to reach out to your medical providers to find out whether they can offer assistance.
If you’ve been out of work for a significant time while recovering from your injury, or if you have permanent disabilities from the injury, losing a personal injury case can be a serious blow. You may have been counting on that compensation to fill a significant gap in income, or to provide for living expenses moving forward.
Some possible options for replacement income include:
Securing disability benefits–private or Social Security–can be its own challenge. Most SSDI claims are initially denied. So, securing these benefits may take time, and may require the assistance of a disability attorney.
The best way to prepare for a car accident lawsuit is by identifying, collecting, and preserving evidence.
Here are a few pieces of evidence that can strengthen your case:
If you’re genuinely convinced of making a case appeal, there are a few things you should consider.
First, you must pay filing fees when submitting an appeal. There are also further expenses for paying an attorney to represent you. You can discuss with your lawyer whether filing an appeal is worth it in your case based on your chances of success.
This post explains some of the most common options for getting your medical bills paid and securing income if you lose your personal injury case. But, of course, the goal is to ensure that you give yourself every opportunity to win your case and secure the compensation you deserve. Here are some steps you can take to improve your chances of prevailing in your personal injury case:
Filing a lawsuit against the at-fault party requires many calculated strategies. If you apply inappropriate strategies, you could lose a car accident lawsuit, and you may need to pay for your car accident-related losses out of pocket.
You can take control of the outcome by working closely with a personal injury attorney. An attorney can provide legal advice on the appropriate time to settle and on the merits of your case.
At Dyer, Garofalo, Mann & Schultz L.P.A., we’ve been fighting for Ohio injury victims for more than 30 years. If you don’t know what to do if you lose a car accident lawsuit, schedule a free, no-obligation consultation right now. Call 937-222-2222 right now, or click in the bottom right-hand corner of this page to chat.
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Before establishing Dyer, Garofalo, Mann & Schultz L.P.A., Doug Mann, a top Ohio Injury Attorney served as a bodily injury claims adjuster at a major insurance firm. With over 40+ years of experience, Doug’s background has proven invaluable in securing maximum cash settlements for his clients swiftly. Since leaving the insurance industry, Doug has devoted his entire legal career to assisting injured clients during their times of greatest need.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, Doug Mann who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing personal injury attorney.
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