Case has been in litigation for months and I feel completely in the dark — is this normal?

Oh man, I felt this in my bones. My case dragged on for almost 18 months after treatment ended and I thought I was going to lose my mind. The waiting is its own kind of injury honestly. What I found out eventually is that the other side's insurance was doing exactly what you suspected — stalling, hoping we'd blink and take less than limits. We didn't. It resolved, but not on my timeline at all. Hang in there.

When policy limits are on the table, the other driver's insurance company has every incentive to slow-walk everything. They're earning interest on that money while you're sitting there stressed. Don't be surprised if they come back with a lowball offer right before a trial date just to see if you'll fold under pressure. Classic move.

I'll be straight with you — from the inside, when a claimant's attorney is demanding limits, we'd sometimes sit on it and wait to see if they'd negotiate down. If your attorney isn't budging and has a solid file, the carrier eventually has to make a decision. The closer you get to an actual trial date, the more serious they get about resolving it. A trial date on the calendar changes everything for them.

Mediation is actually a real option here and worth asking your attorney about specifically. A lot of cases that seem stuck will get pushed toward mediation by the court or requested by one of the parties — it's a structured way to force both sides to the table. If your attorney hasn't mentioned it, ask directly: "Are we considering mediation, and if not, why not?" That's a totally fair question and shouldn't make you seem difficult.

Not legal advice, but — when limits are being demanded, the defense carrier sometimes needs to investigate whether their insured might be personally exposed beyond those limits. That process can add time. It's also possible they're waiting on internal approval from a supervisor or committee before authorizing a limits settlement. None of that helps your frustration, I know, but it's not always bad news that they're slow. A slow "yes" beats a fast "no."

The mental toll of this kind of prolonged stress is real and I don't think people talk about it enough. I've seen patients whose physical recovery was going fine but the ongoing legal limbo was genuinely making them worse — elevated stress hormones, sleep issues, anxiety flares. Please make sure you're taking care of yourself during this stretch. The case will end. Your health has to keep going regardless.

Ask your attorney to put a deadline in writing to the other side. Not a suggestion — a deadline. If they won't respond by X date, you proceed to trial prep. Sometimes the only thing that moves an insurance company is feeling like the other side is serious about going all the way.

Quick question — has your attorney actually filed with the court and gotten a trial date scheduled yet, or is it still in pre-trial stages? Because there's a big difference between "in litigation" and "actually on the court calendar." That detail matters a lot for how much leverage your side really has right now.

I know it doesn't feel like it, but your attorney asking for full policy limits and not backing down is actually a good sign. It means they believe in your case enough to hold the line. Attorneys who don't think they'll win tend to nudge clients toward quick settlements. The wait is brutal but it might mean you're in a stronger position than it feels like.