Findlay Personal Injury Lawyers | January 26, 2026 | Personal Injury

If you’ve suffered a serious injury, one of your first questions is likely about the timeline for resolution. The honest answer is that a personal injury case involving long-term injuries typically takes between 18 and 36 months to settle. Cases requiring long-term care for traumatic brain injury or other catastrophic harm can sometimes take 3-5 years to reach appropriate compensation. However, these timelines can vary depending on several factors, including the severity of your injuries, the clarity of liability, and the approach of the insurance company involved.

Key Takeaways

  • Personal injury cases involving long-term injuries typically take 18-36 months to settle, but complex cases may require additional time.
  • The settlement timeline is directly proportional to the severity of injuries; more serious injuries generally require longer timelines to assess damages.
  • You should wait until reaching Maximum Medical Recovery (MMR) before settling to ensure all future costs and income losses are accounted for in your settlement.
  • Insurance companies may deliberately delay settlement proceedings, particularly in high-value claims.
  • Working with an experienced personal injury lawyer can help manage expectations and potentially expedite parts of the settlement process while ensuring fair compensation.

Table of Contents

  • What is Considered a Long-Term Injury?
  • The Timeline of a Personal Injury Case
    • Minor Long-Term Injuries
    • Serious and Permanent Injuries
  • Factors That Can Affect the Timeline of a Personal Injury Case
    • Severity of Injuries
    • Medical Treatment and Recovery
    • Insurance Company Cooperation
  • How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help Manage Your Long-Term Injury Settlement
  • FAQs About Long-Term Injury Cases
    • How Long Does a Personal Injury Case Take to Settle on Average?
    • What Factors Can Delay My Personal Injury Case?
    • Will My Case Settle Faster If I Accept a Lower Amount?
    • How Does a Brain Injury Affect the Timeline of a Personal Injury Case?
    • What Documentation Do I Need to Help Settle My Case Faster?

What is Considered a Long-Term Injury?

A long-term injury refers to physical or psychological harm that persists beyond the typical recovery period and substantially impacts a person’s quality of life, earning capacity, or daily functioning. These injuries often require extensive medical intervention, rehabilitation, and occasionally lifelong care.

Long-term injuries commonly included in personal injury claims include:

  • Spinal cord injuries resulting in partial or complete paralysis
  • Traumatic brain injury with cognitive or physical impairments
  • Fractures requiring surgical intervention
  • Severe burns with permanent scarring or limited mobility
  • Amputations or loss of limb function
  • Chronic pain syndromes that persist despite treatment
  • Psychological injuries such as severe PTSD, that impair daily functioning
  • Internal organ damage requiring ongoing medical monitoring

Unlike minor injuries with clear recovery trajectories, long-term injuries require a comprehensive assessment of both current and future impacts. This extends the timeline for resolving your case, as proper valuation depends on understanding the full scope of your injuries.

The Timeline of a Personal Injury Case

The process of settling a personal injury case has three phases. In the initial stage (typically the first 2-4 months after the incident), focus centres on medical stabilization and preliminary evidence gathering. During this period, your legal team will document the accident scene, collect witness statements, and preserve evidence.

The middle phase, which can extend from 6 to 18 months, involves a comprehensive medical assessment, treatment, and documentation of your injuries. This phase continues until you reach Maximum Medical Recovery (MMR), which is the point where your condition has stabilized, and future medical needs can be reasonably predicted.

The final phase involves formal settlement negotiations or litigation. This typically takes an additional 6-18 months, depending on case complexity and whether court proceedings become necessary.

Minor Long-Term Injuries

Cases involving relatively minor yet persistent injuries, such as soft tissue injuries that don’t heal properly or fractures with lingering complications, generally follow the more predictable end of the timeline spectrum. These cases typically resolve within 12-24 months from the date of injury.

The primary determining factor in these cases is reaching medical stability. Attempting to settle before your condition has stabilized risks undervaluing your claim, as future complications may not be adequately accounted for in the settlement amount.

Serious and Permanent Injuries

Cases involving serious, permanent injuries follow considerably longer timelines. These include catastrophic injuries such as severe traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, or injuries requiring multiple surgeries or permanent accommodations.

For these severe cases, the medical assessment phase is extended, often taking 12-24 months as specialists conduct detailed evaluations and prognosis assessments. The settlement negotiation phase is also extended in these cases. Full resolution of complex cases can take 3-5 years, particularly if litigation becomes necessary.

Factors That Can Affect the Timeline of a Personal Injury Case

Severity of Injuries

The severity of injuries directly impacts settlement timelines. More severe injuries require:

  • Longer periods of medical treatment and assessment
  • Input from multiple specialists to determine prognosis
  • Comprehensive evaluation of future care needs
  • Assessment of long-term impacts on earning capacity
  • Consideration of life-care planning for permanent disabilities

Cases involving catastrophic injuries require extended medical evaluation and often necessitate input from experts to value the claim. This comprehensive assessment process extends the timeline, but it is necessary to secure appropriate compensation.

Medical Treatment and Recovery

The legal standard in injury cases is that settlement should not occur until you’ve reached Maximum Medical Recovery (MMR) or your condition has stabilized enough to allow a reasonable prediction of future needs.

Settling before reaching this point presents risks. If complications arise after settlement, you cannot return for additional compensation. For this reason, your legal team will typically advise waiting until medical providers can offer reasonable certainty about your long-term prognosis.

Insurance Company Cooperation

While some insurers work reasonably to resolve valid claims, others employ strategies deliberately designed to extend proceedings and pressure claimants into accepting reduced settlements. Common delay tactics include:

  • Requesting excessive documentation beyond what’s reasonably necessary
  • Rotating claim adjusters to disrupt case continuity
  • Making unreasonably low initial offers to extend negotiations
  • Disputing causation despite clear medical evidence
  • Delaying responses to correspondence and settlement offers
  • Unnecessarily prolonging the discovery process if litigation begins

An experienced personal injury lawyer recognizes these tactics and can implement strategies to minimize their effectiveness, potentially shortening your overall timeline to settlement.

How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help Manage Your Long-Term Injury Settlement

Engaging qualified legal representation is important in long-term injury cases. Your lawyer serves as an advocate and guide through what can be a lengthy and complex process.

An experienced personal injury lawyer manages the procedural aspects of your claim, ensuring all filing deadlines are met, evidence is preserved correctly, and communication with insurers follows established protocols. These procedural elements, while seemingly minor, can affect both the timeline and the outcome.

Your lawyer can provide a realistic timeline expectation based on their experience with similar cases. This guidance can help you make informed decisions about whether to accept settlement offers or proceed with litigation. Understanding that serious injury cases may take years rather than months to resolve allows you to plan accordingly.

Perhaps most importantly, qualified legal representation ensures your long-term interests remain protected throughout the process. There can be pressure to settle quickly, particularly when facing financial strain from lost income and mounting medical bills. Your lawyer maintains a focus on securing compensation that addresses not just current needs but also future requirements.

At Findlay Personal Injury Lawyers, our experience handling complex injury claims allows us to provide realistic guidance while working toward appropriate compensation. If you’re dealing with a serious injury and have questions about the settlement process, contact us for a free consultation to discuss your situation and options.

FAQs About Long-Term Injury Cases

How Long Does a Personal Injury Case Take to Settle on Average?

The average personal injury case involving long-term injuries typically takes between 18 and 36 months to settle. Minor long-term injury cases may resolve in the shorter end of this range (18-24 months), while serious permanent injuries often require 3-5 years to reach appropriate resolution.

What Factors Can Delay My Personal Injury Case?

Several factors can extend the timeline for resolving your personal injury case:

  • Disputed liability requiring additional investigation and evidence gathering
  • Medical complications or slower-than-expected recovery
  • The need for specialized medical assessments with limited expert availability
  • An insurance company employing delay tactics or stonewalling settlement discussions
  • High-value claims that trigger additional scrutiny from insurers
  • Court backlogs if litigation becomes necessary
  • Missing documentation requiring additional time to obtain
  • Difficulty quantifying future care needs or earning capacity impacts

Working with experienced legal counsel can help anticipate and address many of these potential delays.

Will My Case Settle Faster If I Accept a Lower Amount?

While accepting a lower settlement amount may resolve your case more quickly, this approach typically results in financial disadvantage. Insurance adjusters often present early offers to capitalize on financial pressure and uncertainty before the full extent of injuries is known.

Once a settlement is accepted, you cannot return for additional compensation if your condition worsens or requires more extensive treatment than anticipated. This is particularly problematic with long-term injuries where complications frequently arise months or years after the initial incident.

The best approach is to wait until your condition has stabilized and future needs can be properly assessed, even if this extends the timeline. The additional compensation secured through proper case valuation outweighs the benefit of receiving a smaller amount sooner.

How Does a Brain Injury Affect the Timeline of a Personal Injury Case?

Brain injuries introduce additional complexity to personal injury cases, typically extending the settlement timeline. Brain injury long-term effects may not become apparent for months or even years after the initial injury, making early settlement particularly risky.

It is generally recommended to wait at least 12-18 months after a traumatic brain injury before attempting to evaluate permanent impacts. During this period, neuropsychological testing, cognitive assessments, and functional evaluations provide a clearer picture of long-term deficits.

What Documentation Do I Need to Help Settle My Case Faster?

Compiling documentation can help move your personal injury case along faster. Documents to maintain include:

  • Complete medical records from all providers involved in your care
  • Diagnostic images such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans
  • Detailed treatment notes and therapy records
  • Employment records documenting missed work and income loss
  • Correspondence with insurance companies
  • Photographs of injuries, accident scenes, and recovery progress
  • Accident reports from police or other authorities
  • Assessments regarding future prognosis and limitations
  • Receipts for all expenses related to your injury
  • Personal journal documenting pain, limitations, and recovery progress

Your lawyer can advise on additional documentation specific to your case circumstances.