How to Settle a Car Accident Claim with a Fort Wayne Car Accident Lawyer

November 22, 2025

Car accidents are far from rare in Fort Wayne, IN, and many of them inflict punishing injuries requiring prolonged treatment that could stretch your finances to the breaking point. Fortunately, you may have grounds for a personal injury case if you get hurt on a Fort Wayne road like I-69 through no fault of your own, and a skilled attorney could improve your chances of success, so let us explain how to settle a car accident claim with a Fort Wayne car accident lawyer.

Why the Car Accident Settlement Process Is So Challenging

While you are certainly entitled to go through the settlement process by yourself, you could soon run into trouble if you do because of the significant challenges that these kinds of claims present, like the challenge of identifying every defendant who should be pursued for compensation.

Depending upon the circumstances, the candidates might include the driver who hit you, the owner of his or her vehicle (if separate from the driver), a business making use of that vehicle (if separate from the owner), and possibly other individuals, entities, and even government agencies too. Very often, multiple defendants will share varying degrees of blame for the same Fort Wayne car accident, and you could be forever barred from full fiscal recovery if you don’t go after them all within the time allotted by law, known as the Statute of Limitations.

Assuming you do somehow manage to track down each of the defendants, you will probably still face staunch opposition from their insurance carriers, who are typically the primary sources of economic recovery for automotive injuries. This may be your first car accident, but it won’t be the first for a veteran insurance adjuster, who could take advantage of your lack of familiarity with the settlement process to resolve your claim for less than it’s worth, especially if you and your family are already struggling to stay afloat.

What to Expect When You Retain a Fort Wayne Car Accident Attorney

As you can see, the deck can be stacked against you in the wake of a serious Fort Wayne car accident. However, you can deal yourself a winning hand by hiring the sort of knowledgeable legal practitioner you’d find at Hensley Legal Group, PC, a dedicated Indiana personal injury law firm whose experienced attorneys have been fighting on behalf of the wrongfully injured since 1998.

Just as it won’t be the first car accident for the adjuster, neither will it be the first for a seasoned Fort Wayne car accident lawyer, who will be much better equipped to fend off the tricks and tactics frequently deployed against novice claimants and get you what you deserve.

What can you expect when you retain a Fort Wayne car accident attorney? Your lawyer will begin by launching a comprehensive investigation to expose the root causes of your accident and the defendants responsible for it, then establish valid claims against them before the Statute expires. If warranted, a lawsuit can be filed as well in a court with the power to issue a binding judgment.

Your attorney will also amass the evidentiary materials needed to support your case, such as:

Police reports
Citations and dispositions
Photos and videos
Witness statements
Black box data
Phone records
Driving histories
Maintenance logs
Forensic analysis and accident reconstruction

Once an airtight case has been assembled, your lawyer will negotiate tirelessly for a settlement that reflects the totality of your damages, and an insurance company is likelier to tender it when confronted with irrefutable proof of the insured’s liability. This is a key reason why personal injury victims receive 3.5 times more on average with attorneys than they do without them.

What If Your Fort Wayne Car Accident Claim Doesn’t Settle?

In light of these and other factors, the vast majority of claims like this can reach amicable conclusions prior to trial, but a battle-tested lawyer will become indispensable if your Fort Wayne car accident claim doesn’t settle.

Whereas plaintiffs who represent themselves in the courtroom only win approximately four percent of their cases, plaintiffs with professional representation are statistically favored to prevail. And if your attorney can convey everything that this accident has taken from you to a receptive jury, you could potentially be awarded the funds necessary to get back to normal.

Get in Touch with Our Fort Wayne Car Accident Lawyers

Hensley Legal Group has been making a difference for hardworking Hoosiers like you for over a quarter century. If you’re uncertain what to do after being badly injured in a collision in the Fort Wayne area, get in touch with our Fort Wayne car accident lawyers to explore your legal options.

You can schedule a free consultation with an accomplished Fort Wayne car accident attorney by calling us at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form today.