What Usually Must Happen Before Payment
- Settlement terms confirmed: The parties usually confirm the amount being paid and what claims are being resolved. Insurers may call something a “final offer,” but you can still decide whether to accept it.
- Documents signed: A settlement typically requires signing paperwork (often including a release). Once you sign a release, it can limit or end your ability to pursue more money for the same incident.
- Liens/reimbursements addressed: Before money is distributed, the claim often has to account for medical bills, ambulance/EMS charges, and other potential reimbursement claims that may attach to the settlement funds.
- Disbursement: After the paperwork is complete and the settlement funds arrive, the funds are typically distributed with any agreed payments to lienholders and outstanding case-related expenses handled as part of the wrap-up.
What Can Cause Delays
- “Final offer” isn’t really final: Sometimes it’s a negotiation tactic; other times it reflects a real ceiling based on disputed fault, disputed injuries, or limited documentation.
- Liens and reimbursement claims: If a provider or other entity claims a right to be paid from the settlement, that issue often must be resolved before you can safely treat the remaining funds as yours.
- Missing paperwork: Incomplete signatures, missing settlement documents, or unclear release language can slow things down.
- Records and billing issues: Itemized bills, proof of amounts paid, and confirmation that charges are accident-related can take time to gather and review.
Liens and Reimbursement Claims (Plain English)
A “lien” (or reimbursement claim) is a way for certain medical providers or payers to assert that, if you recover money for your injury, they should be repaid from that recovery for injury-related services they provided or paid for. In North Carolina, medical providers can have a statutory lien on personal injury recoveries for injury-related care, including ambulance services, but they generally must provide your attorney requested itemized billing/records (without charging the attorney) and give written notice of the lien for it to attach. That matters because an offer that looks acceptable on paper may be too low once you account for what must be repaid, which is why “minimum I’ll accept” should be evaluated as a net number, not just the gross settlement amount.
How This Applies
Apply to the facts given: Because you were transported by ambulance, treated in the ER, and have accident-related bills, it’s common for medical/EMS charges to be part of the settlement math. If the insurer’s offer is below your minimum, one practical next step is to re-check whether your minimum is based on what you’ll actually receive after any valid medical/EMS liens are addressed. If the numbers still don’t work, rejecting the offer and preparing for litigation (while continuing to negotiate) may be the only path to pursue a higher value—keeping in mind that North Carolina defenses like contributory negligence can affect settlement posture in some cases.
Conclusion
If an insurer’s “final” offer is below your minimum, you can keep negotiating, reject it and prepare to file suit before any deadline, or accept it if it still makes sense after accounting for liens and other deductions. The key is to evaluate the offer based on your likely net recovery and the risks of proving fault and damages in North Carolina. One next step is to gather your current bills and any lien notices so you can make an informed accept-or-reject decision.
