Where Is My Car Accident Settlement Check? Payout Timeline

When your attorney tells you the case has settled, the legal negotiation is complete, but the financial process is just beginning. The insurance company prepares a release document for you to sign, which formally closes your claim. After you sign the release, the insurance company processes the payment, which typically takes 7 to 21 business days depending on the insurer. The check is sent to your attorney's trust account, not directly to you, because there are usually multiple parties who need to be paid from the proceeds.

Once the check arrives and clears, your attorney deposits it into a trust account, which is a special bank account required by bar rules to hold client funds. The attorney cannot simply write you a check immediately because they first need to calculate and pay all obligations from the settlement: their contingency fee, case costs, and any medical liens or health insurance reimbursement claims. Disbursing funds before these calculations are complete could create legal and ethical problems for the attorney.

Medical liens are a common source of post-settlement delay. If your health insurance paid for accident-related treatment, they may have contractual or statutory reimbursement rights. If Medicare or Medicaid covered treatment, federal reimbursement rules can apply. If medical providers treated you on a letter of protection (agreeing to wait for payment until settlement), those balances typically must be addressed before final disbursement. Each party must provide final payoff amounts, which can take days to weeks.

Here is why the wait can be worth it: lien and reimbursement balances are sometimes negotiable, and errors in lien calculations can be challenged. Reductions are not guaranteed and depend on plan terms, governing law, and facts of the file. Every valid reduction generally increases your net recovery.

Before you receive your check, your attorney should provide a written disbursement sheet. This document shows the gross settlement amount, then subtracts the attorney fee, case costs, and each lien payment individually, arriving at your net payout. Review this document carefully. Make sure every line item matches what you were told during the case. Ask questions about any charges you do not recognize or amounts that seem higher than expected.

If you disagree with any item on the disbursement sheet, raise it before signing. Once you approve the disbursement and accept the check, it becomes much harder to challenge individual line items. Common issues to watch for include: case costs that are higher than originally estimated, lien amounts that were not previously disclosed, or fee calculations that do not match the retainer agreement. A transparent attorney will welcome your questions and explain every number.