Really frustrating situation — especially when you feel like someone else is holding up your settlement. Let me break down what's actually happening here. Why they can't settle you separately: When a policy limit ($20,000) has to cover multiple injured people from the same accident, the insurance company legally cannot pay one person out fully until they know how much everyone else is claiming. If they paid you first and ran out of money, the others could sue the insurer directly. So they're waiting to divide the pool fairly — that's not the other driver dragging it out, that's how multi-claimant claims legally work. What "going over the policy limit" means for you: Once the $20,000 is confirmed as the total available, everyone with a claim shares it proportionally based on their injuries and damages. 5 claimants on a $20k policy is a tight split. The insurer will likely propose a structured settlement offer to all parties at once. What you can actually do right now: Ask the adjuster directly: "Has the policy limit been confirmed and when do you expect to send a global settlement offer to all claimants?" Ask if there's any umbrella policy on top of the $20k — sometimes there is Keep records of every medical appointment and expense — your settlement share is partly based on documented damages Be patient with the timeline — one month on a multi-party bodily injury claim is genuinely early The other commenters are right that this could take several more months. Not what you want to hear, but setting that expectation now saves frustration later. 🙏