If you’re considering a lawsuit loan to ease your financial burden during legal proceedings, asking the right questions is crucial.
Lawsuit loans, also known as pre-settlement funding or legal cash advances, help plaintiffs cover expenses while awaiting a settlement. However, not all legal funding companies are the same.
In this article, we’ll outline five essential questions to ask to ensure you choose a reputable lender, understand how you can use the funds, know what happens if you lose your case, are aware of any fees involved, learn how quickly you can receive the money, and determine if you need a lawyer to apply.
What Is the Best Lawsuit Loan Company?
Settlement loan companies are like most businesses: there are good ones, and there are bad ones. Knowing the difference can mean everything when you’re trying to avoid defaulting on a home loan or pushing back your retirement plans.
Because not every pre-settlement loan company is created equally, you should ask questions and shop around to find the best. After all, you’ll want to avoid having to borrow from your 401(k), pull from your home equity, or take other extreme measures to come up with cash.
Suppose you are looking for pre-settlement funding to help you bridge the financial gap throughout court proceedings. Ask yourself these five questions to make sure you get a reputable legal lender.
1. What Can I Spend My Pre-Settlement Loan On?
As soon as you receive your pre-settlement loan funds, you can spend them however you see fit. There are no restrictions. Your cash advance is designed to help you with:
- Living expenses
- Extra medical bills and other healthcare
- Last month’s electricity bill and other utilities
- Missed rent or mortgage payments
- Food and groceries
- Car payments
Or any extra financial stress you are experiencing for the entire duration of your lawsuit.
2. What Happens to My Lawsuit Loan if I Lose My Case?
By default, a funded lawsuit means that you have a strong case. This is because legal financiers only extend lawsuit loans when they believe a case will reach a successful settlement.
However, in the slight chance unforeseen circumstances prevent you from winning, you will not be obligated to repay the loan. Pre-settlement loans have a non-recourse structure, which means you are not liable to repay the loan if you lose. This makes it 100% risk-free.
3. Do Lawsuit Loans Have Fees?
Lawsuit loans are designed to alleviate the plaintiff’s financial stress for the duration of the trial. Therefore, there are no upfront costs for pre-settlement loans.
Legal loan companies make money from interest charged on the loan amount. The loan interest and principal are then repaid from the settlement amount when your trial concludes.
4. How Fast Can I Get a Lawsuit Loan?
It can take up to 24 hours to receive your cash advance after you’ve been approved for pre-settlement funding. We’ve streamlined our application processes to better assist our clients with their pressing financial needs. Once your paperwork and supporting documents have been received by us, you could receive money in your account within a day.
This process moves just as fast whether you’re applying for legal funding in-state or out-of-state. Tribeca Lawsuit Loans offers nationwide coverage for our clients and can deliver the same fast service regardless of where you reside.
5. Do I Need a Lawyer for My Pre-Settlement Loan?
Yes. To support your lawsuit loan application, your legal lender will request documentation that only your lawyer can supply. Additionally, your attorney will be involved in your legal funding application and will likely need to sign documents to get your loan approved.
Therefore, to be eligible for your pre-settlement loan, you must already have a lawyer actively working on your case. At a minimum, he or she must have performed essential groundwork to get the ball rolling.
How to Get a Loan From a Lawsuit Settlement
Once you file your personal injury lawsuit, you apply for your pre-settlement loan with a lawsuit funding firm. The funding company you choose will then analyze your case to establish the amount you may get if you win your suit, or, since most injury cases are resolved prior to trial, how much your settlement will be.
The lawsuit loan company will then offer you funding, and in exchange, you’ll pay the lender using proceeds from your judgment or settlement. Thus, you typically won’t have to pay anything prior to the resolution of your case.
Start the Application Process With Tribeca Lawsuit Loans
Are you finding it difficult to make ends meet at the end of the month while waiting for a settlement from a pending lawsuit? Are you worried that even if you do win, you won’t see the money right away? These are questions that many plaintiffs ask before deciding whether to get legal funding.
Let Tribeca Lawsuit Loans give you peace of mind and access to funding to support you for the duration of your trial. We fund personal injury, product liability, medical device, and labor law cases. So, give Tribeca a call or contact us by filling out our online contact form today.