If you’ve been injured in an accident and are waiting for a settlement, you may be wondering if pre-settlement funding is right for you. In this video, personal injury attorney Michael Ilyaich explains what pre-settlement funding is, how it works, and whether or not it’s a good option for plaintiffs.

Speakers: Michael Levitis, Michael Ilyaich

Good day, everybody. It’s Michael Levitis from JuriskQ.com, a legal network, and we have back with us a very experienced attorney in personal injury Michael Ilyaich, a founding partner in Gregory Spektor and Associates. Michael, welcome back. I hear that there is a product out there for people that got injured, usually in car accidents called pre-settlement funding, where from what I understand people can make some money even before their case gets settled or go to trial.

Michael Ilyaich  24:58

I wouldn’t call it made money. They put it out, there is such a thing as pre-settlement funding.

Michael Levitis  25:05

How does it work and what are the pros and the cons?

Michael Ilyaich  25:08

Pre-settlement funding is when a claimant borrows money at high interest rate against future settlement proceeds. There are cases where it’s inevitable and it needs to be done. But most of the cases are not those types of cases.

Michael Levitis  25:28

Give us an example so people can understand. Let’s say, I’m hoping to get $10,000 for my injury, I broke my pinkie in a car accident. How would that work?

Michael Ilyaich  25:41

Let’s say it’s $100,000 injury. So there is $100,000 policy and there is $100,000 worth of injuries. Obviously, insurance company isn’t going to part ways with a hundred thousand dollars without taking the time to make sure the money is actually owed. Sometimes people fall into financial distress, and they have no option. But to borrow money, it is usually some process. I’m not a big fan of it, just because of the high interest that’s involved with these loans, cash pre-settlement findings, whatever you want to call it. I’m not a defendant. So I always tell my clients: stay away from it. Unless it’s absolutely necessary. What’s absolutely necessary? We had a case where our client was hit by a tractor trailer, and the medical benefits were exhausted with $50,000 worth of medical benefits and they were exhausted. The injuries were so severe, client needed the surgery, surgery needed to be paid for. We have no option with our client want to borrow against future settlement proceeds to pay for the search. The money is owed back at the end of the test with interest. However, where my client is forced to borrow money for a medical procedure, we will always try to incorporate it into the economic was part of the claim. So when we present a personal injury claim, it’s not just pain and suffering most of the time, it’s also economics. One is in addition to another, not every personal injury claim has economic loss claim. But significant cases like the example I gave you before do, so sometimes it’s just inevitable, and sometimes people just want to borrow money against my advice. I suggest not to borrow money for a little vacation. That’s not a smart investment, because the money to pay back …. It’s not worth it. It depends on the issue. Why do you need the money should be the question, is it to go out and have fun?… then it’s a bad call. Is it to get the necessary medical treatment, then it’s a good call. It depends. What’s the reason you need to borrow money?

Michael Levitis  28:12

Very, very wise advice. Michael, can you get partial settlement, meaning, not assign or fail your whole claim but only partially or no? 

Michael Ilyaich  28:24

No, no. 

Michael Levitis  28:25

Zero or nothing?

Michael Ilyaich  28:28

There’s a lot of cases, let’s say it’s a three car accident. One of the car insurance companies wants to sell, the other one doesn’t want to, for whatever reason, doesn’t matter. Should you settle with one and fight the other? The answer’s no. Not if the case goes to trial, you will have an empty chair. You want to have a defendant that. So it depends on the case. But generally, the answer is – don’t do it. That’s not how you should sell it’s multiple car accident. One Insurance wants to set up the other one doesn’t know you have to do with with everyone together, otherwise, your case will start falling apart.

Michael Levitis  29:11

Michael, thank you so much for your advice, because people that don’t know and they get approached by these companies or sometimes even their own attorney may suggestion suggest that it’s always wise to listen to counsel. This is why we here do these videos for people can get educated on personal injury. What’s out there, what is happening, the pros and cons of every action that when you talk to your attorney, you are an educated client.

Michael Ilyaich  29:48

I always say informed client best clients because once the client is informed client and make the right decision. 

Michael Levitis  29:56

And the best decision they can make is to call the number on the bottom on the screen, because here we are, of course, because here we’re just giving a general advice. If you want to talk to Michael, and you want to get answers to your specific question, the consultation is free. Right, Michael? Consultations are absolutely free. I’ve also seen your vans, your cars all over New York City..

Michael Ilyaich  30:24

We provide courtesy transportation to our clients whenever we can.

Michael Levitis  30:33

If you see Michael’s face and Gregory Spektor’s face on the car, you know that there’s a client in there waiting to get into an office. And you could be also such a client in case you sustained an injury and you want to get property compensated. The number of the firm is on the bottom of the screen. Michael, thank you so much. We alwaysappreciate your time!

Michael Ilyaich  31:00

And yes, if you want real lawyers, if you want army of lawyers to represent your interests and fight for you, we are that law firm. Reach out.

Michael Levitis  31:09

Thank you. Have a great day and take care.