Many times, if a person is an accident and the other party is clearly at fault, the insurance for the party who is at fault will make a quick offer to settle their case.  The insurance company will receive your medical records and bills, take a look at your property damage, if you have any, and make you a quick offer to try and settle the case.

The purpose of the insurance company to do this is to try and limit their financial responsibility in the case.  It’s very possible that you may not have fully recovered from your injuries, that you may need physical therapy, that you may need chiropractic treatment, that you maybe need surgery.  However, the insurance company wants to get the case out of the way, they want to settle it fast and they want to settle it for as little money as they possibly can.  

The insurance company may even just send you a check in the mail with an offer to settle the case.  So you have this check in front of you, a nice, big, fat check, which may or may not be an appropriate settlement, but they’re hoping that you will take the check, cash it and they will be done with the case.

In situations like this, it’s possible, maybe even likely, that you shouldn't settle so quickly.  You should determine whether or not your injuries are permanent, do you need physical therapy, do you need to go to specialists of any kind, do you need other treatment, do you need surgery of any kind and take the time that you need to settle with the insurance company.  

The only thing that you need to keep in mind is that three years from the date of the accident is the longest time period that you’re going to have to file suit against the person that's responsible.