While most drivers are familiar with what happens after a car accident, not everyone knows what to do as a passenger in a car accident.
Compensation for car accident damages is generally available to both car drivers and passengers, provided they are not at fault, through insurance claims, negotiations, and, if necessary, lawsuits.
If you need to file a car accident passenger lawsuit, you might consider taking out a lawsuit loan.
Lawsuit loans are a powerful tool for plaintiffs because they can help you get the most out of your car accident settlement or jury award.
At Injury Wallet, we can connect you with some top lawsuit lenders in the nation.
We put together this summary to explain what lawsuit loans do and how you can apply for one.
If you have questions, please contact us today.
How Car Accident Lawsuit Loans Help You Keep More of Your Settlement
Lawsuit loans are a form of pre-settlement funding. They’re available to plaintiffs in many different types of civil cases.
Taking out a lawsuit loan can help you get the most out of your car accident passenger lawsuit by keeping you away from high-interest debt and giving you leverage in settlement negotiations.
Car accidents are expensive. Until you win or settle the case, you will likely bear the initial costs of the injury.
You might have expensive medical bills, including surgery, hospitalization, or rehabilitation costs. You may end up missing work during recovery.
This all adds up to put you in a difficult financial position, and you’re left with a few bad options:
- Take on high-interest credit card or payday loan debt to pay for your bills and expenses;
- Let the bills pile up, accrue interest, and risk going to collections; or
- Accept the first settlement offer you receive so you can take care of some bills now but resolve the suit without recovering all of your damages.
None of these options is all that great because you end up in a worse financial position after settling your claim than you were in before the accident and injury. Not only is this bad for you, but it is also unjust.
There Is Another Option
There’s another option: take out a lawsuit loan.
With a lawsuit loan in your pocket, you can take care of the additional expenses you face as they arise and avoid taking on high-interest debt while holding out for the settlement you deserve.
How Pre-Settlement Funding Works
Compared to most typical loans, lawsuit loans are relatively risk-free. Lawsuit loans are similar to other loans, but with one major difference.
The difference lies in the securitization or collateral for the loan itself.
Most loans are recourse loans. Some examples of typical recourse loans are personal loans, mortgages, and automobile loans.
If you default on a recourse loan, your lender can seek recourse by seizing or otherwise repossessing just about any of your assets: your house, your car, money in your savings account, anything.
Lawsuit loans, including car accident passenger lawsuit loans and other forms of pre-settlement funding, are non-recourse loans.
When you default on a non-recourse loan, the only recourse your lender has is to seek repayment from the specific item or asset (i.e., the collateral) you and your lender agree upon.
For lawsuit loans, the specific item securing the loan is the eventual settlement or jury award.
Thus, if you default, your lender can seek repayment only through your settlement money.
If you fail to win or settle your claim, the collateral itself no longer exists. Because there is no collateral, you don’t have to repay your lawsuit lender a single penny.
And that’s why lawsuit loans are a relatively low-risk proposition.
How to Qualify for a Car Accident Passenger Lawsuit Loan
Compared to qualifying for a traditional loan, qualifying for a car accident passenger lawsuit loan is a piece of cake. Most recourse loans require you to show your income, your total assets, and your credit score.
But for a lawsuit loan, all you have to do is fill out an application that asks about:
- Your personal information,
- A short summary of your case,
- Whether you have an ongoing lawsuit, and
- Your lawyer’s contact information.
Once you submit your application, the lender will use the provided information to contact your attorney.
In talking with your attorney, potential lenders will verify whether the attorney is representing you in an ongoing lawsuit and ask a bit more about your case.
Lenders are interested in your case’s chances of success and the amount of money sought in the lawsuit—information that will help determine whether the lender will approve your loan application.
The case’s chances of success will impact your interest rate. Typically, the higher your chances of success, the lower your interest rate.
This information will help determine how much you can borrow in a car accident passenger lawsuit loan.
Save Yourself Time and Money with Injury Wallet
While we at Injury Wallet do not offer pre-settlement funding ourselves, we can save you time and energy in the settlement funding process by doing the shopping for you.
At Injury Wallet, we have relationships with many of our nation’s top pre-settlement funding providers.
We use those connections to get you the best possible loan offer with the lowest possible interest rate.
Instead of you having to find different potential lenders, going through their application processes, and trying to make sure you are getting the best deal possible—all while trying to fight a legal claim and recover from injuries—Injury Wallet takes care of the shopping for you.
All you have to do is fill out one application on our website, and we come back to you with the best offer we could find. Call us at Injury Wallet today to get started!
