POSSIBLE ISSUES IN COLLECTING YOUR PERSONAL INJURY SETTLEMENT

Even when you have won your personal injury case and the court has awarded you an amount as compensation for your injuries, there could be certain issues in collecting this amount. The party who has been ordered by the court to pay the compensation might not have the money or might simply fail to pay you. This means, you might have to take further steps and spend money from your pocket to secure your settlement funds. Here are a few issues that can crop up when you are collecting your personal injury settlement, and the possible solutions.

Remain Patient

When the opposite party has the required finances, you can expect no difficulties in collecting your settlement amount. People who have the finances generally do not want to damage their credit reputation or deal with collection agencies. However, it becomes very difficult when the person does not have money or is refusing to pay for some reason.

Just because they lost the case the same reason that drove them to have this trial or meet with an arbiter still remains instilled in their very belief. Some people cannot admit the truth. There are other people who live in their own Harry Potter world and deny basic truths that everyone else takes for granted. This stubbornness can still hamper your ability to bring closure to this case. There are ways around this but that does not mean you should be spending money you do not have.

Full Out Attack

When the party is not paying, your attorney can ask for a discovery session post-judgment, to find out about the assets and liabilities of the party. If the party in question is a person instead of a corporation, you ask the court for garnishing up to 25% of the person’s income. It is also possible to have the bank or business account of the person garnished, for collecting your settlement.

If someone remains hidden in their own little composite world you cannot change that. But you can take their money nonetheless. Hopefully they do not know where you live. They may believe they are right because they are in denial. If they want to not accept personal responsibility for their actions, they are immature.

You have ten years for collecting your awarded settlement, and you can have this term extended if you feel the person in question who does not have the required finances at present, will have it in future.

Terrible News

If the person who is asked to pay your compensation by the court files for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, then you will not be able to collect. This is because your court awarded personal injury settlement will be taken to be just any other creditor.