After filing your personal injury lawsuit, you face a waiting game while you struggle to recover. It can take months, or even years, to receive a settlement or verdict. In the meantime, you have bills to pay. Pre-settlement funding in Louisiana can help tide you over until your case is settled.
Insurance companies often delay settlements for as long as possible, so injured parties are willing to accept less money. Louisiana pre-settlement funding may allow you to receive higher compensation since you are not desperate to pay bills.
While pre-settlement funding is sometimes called a lawsuit loan, that is an inaccurate description. Louisiana pre-settlement funding is not a loan. There is no credit check or income and employment verification as occurs with loans. The only collateral required is your pending personal injury lawsuit.
Pre-settlement funding works like a cash advance.
How Pre-settlement Funding in Louisiana Works
To qualify for pre-settlement funding in Louisiana, you must have a pending personal injury case and representation by an attorney.
You and your lawyer must agree to provide information regarding your case to the lender. That includes the nature of your injury and your lawyer’s estimation of the strength of your case and the potential settlement amount.
After reviewing your application, the lender decides about pre-settlement funding. Once approved, you can usually expect to receive the funds within 24 hours. It’s that simple!
Use the money to pay medical and basic living expenses or for anything you want.
Once you receive your settlement or verdict, your lawyer pays back the pre-settlement amount, with interest, to the lender.
Louisiana Pre-settlement Funding Laws
Pre-settlement funding is legal in Louisiana. These loans are considered non-recourse. The lender takes on all risks, not the plaintiff. That is why each pre-settlement application is carefully evaluated.
If it turns out that you do not receive any money from a settlement or verdict, you do not have to pay the money back.
Workers’ compensation cases do not qualify for pre-settlement funding in Louisiana. Damages in medical malpractice cases are capped at $500,000, although future medical expenses are not subject to the cap.
Personal Injury and Other Pre-Settlement Funding in Louisiana
In Louisiana, the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit is just one year from the date of the accident. That is among the shortest statute of limitations in the nation. Failure to file a personal injury lawsuit by the deadline means the claim cannot go forward and you will not receive compensation.
When it comes to liability, Louisiana operates under a comparative fault doctrine. Anyone contributing to the accident is liable for negligence as per their percentage of fault as determined by a judge or jury. For instance, if the jury finds you 20 percent at fault for an accident, a $200,000 award is reduced to $160,000.
Contact Us
If you would like to learn more about pre-settlement funding and whether you are eligible, contact Mustang Funding today. We serve New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Metairie, Lafayette, and other areas of the state.
