New Legislation Ousts Pre-Settlement Finance Companies From Tennessee

By Thomas Greer | July 1, 2014

Victims of automobile accidents may now face a rougher road to recovery than they have in the past, now that pre-settlement legal finance companies are ceasing to do business in Tennessee because of the passage of new legislation. The new legislation, SB-1360, places price controls and other restrictions on pre-settlement legal finance products that would effectively force the companies which sell those products to operate at a loss.

If you think about what happens when someone is injured in an automobile accident, you will be able to see how the loss of pre-settlement legal finance products will affect Tennessee accident victims. When a person is injured in a car crash, they usually receive treatment for their injuries soon afterwards. From the initial visit to the emergency room or doctor’s office, medical bills begin to accumulate. Depending upon the type and severity of the injury, treatment may be followed by a period of recovery during which the accident victim may be limited as to what he or she may do. Some of these restrictions may make it necessary for the injured person to be absent from work, and the extent and type of injury will necessarily determine the likely length of that absence.

While the injured party is out of work, their income stops coming in. They are forced to make do with whatever financial resources they have in savings or other accessible forms, doing their best to pay the bills and put food on the table. They may have filed a claim for damages with an insurance company, but the insurance company may not have sent them a settlement offer that will adequately compensate them for the harm that they have suffered. They may even have retained an attorney, in the hopes that their attorney can help them to obtain a fair settlement offer from the insurance company.

As time goes on, if the injured party is not cleared to go back to work before their financial resources are all used up, they may begin to have trouble paying the bills. In the past, individuals in this situation who were both pursuing a claim for damages and were represented by an attorney could contact a pre-settlement legal finance company like the American Legal Finance Association to ask for help. Pre-settlement legal finance companies offered debt free non-recourse financial assistance to accident victims who needed funds to pay bills and take care of everyday expenses while they waited for their cases to settle. This gave the victims some leverage, because it enabled them to hold out for a better settlement from the insurance company.

Now that it has become cost-prohibitive for pre-settlement legal finance providers to do business in Tennessee, Tennessee accident victims may feel more pressure to accept settlement offers that will not pay for the full extent of their damages, simply because they need the money. Fortunately, you may still be able to recover a proper settlement from an insurance company if you begin working with a Tennessee Automobile Accident Attorney as soon as you can after your accident. The knowledgeable Tennessee Automobile Accident Attorneys at Bailey & Greer, PLLC offer top quality legal assistance to automobile accident victims and their families. To learn more about how we can help you, please call us at 901-680-9777 to schedule a time to discuss your case.  At Bailey & Greer, PLLC, we are small enough to care, big enough to fight, and experienced enough to win.

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