Is a Personal Injury Insurance Claim the Same as a Lawsuit?

 Posted on March 06, 2025 in Personal Injury

You are probably aware that you could be entitled to compensation if you are injured in an accident caused by someone else. However, you may not understand how the personal injury process works, and that could lead you to make costly mistakes. While most of these cases begin with the victim filing an insurance claim, the insurance company is highly unlikely to pay a fair amount voluntarily. Sometimes, a civil lawsuit and trial are needed to force an insurer to pay as much as it should. For optimal results, you need an experienced Arlington Heights, IL personal injury attorney advocating for your best interests.

How Do I Know If I Have a Personal Injury Case?

Most personal injury claims require you to prove that someone else’s intentional acts or negligence caused your accident and injuries. If a defective product caused you harm, product liability claims may be based on strict liability. Many kinds of incidents could provide the grounds you need to file a claim, including:

• Car, truck, and motorcycle accidents

• Animal attacks and dog bites

• Medical errors

• Slip-and-fall accidents

• Assaults

• Food poisoning

• Pedestrian and bicycle accidents

• Nursing home abuse and neglect

If you think you have a valid case, call our office. We will evaluate your situation and explain your options.

How Do Personal Injury Cases Work?

Your attorney will investigate your incident, looking for evidence that supports your claim. We need to prove that someone else bears most of the responsibility for causing your injuries, that your degree of fault is less than 50 percent, and that the financial and non-financial losses you suffered resulted from the incident.

We will review your losses to calculate how much your case is worth, then file a claim against the at-fault party’s liability insurance company. That company may present a settlement offer or deny your claim. Your lawyer can negotiate for a higher payout, but the insurer may not budge from their lowball offer. At that point, we will help you decide if you want to file a civil lawsuit.

In Illinois, you only have two years to file a lawsuit for personal injury cases in most instances. While that may seem like a lot of time, the deadline can sneak up on you before you realize it. The investigation and negotiation processes can be lengthy.

Even the best attorney would find it challenging to build a solid case for a lawsuit if you do not involve him or her until shortly before your deadline expires. It is advisable to contact our office as soon as possible after your injury. We have more opportunities to gather evidence while it is fresh, and we have more time to facilitate your claim before the filing deadline. Your initial consultation is free of charge, so there is no reason to wait.

Call a Dedicated Rolling Meadows, IL Personal Injury Lawyer Today

Newland & Newland, LLP has deep ties to our community and decades of experience handling a wide variety of legal issues. Discuss your case with one of our skilled Schaumburg, IL personal injury attorneys by calling 847-797-8000 or sending us a confidential message online.