You do not have unlimited time to file a claim or lawsuit after your car accident. A court only has a certain amount of time to hear your claim. This legal term is known as a statute of limitations. If you do not file your case in this timeframe, your legal rights go away forever.
While you might have a few years to file a case in court, you should not take this long to start the legal process. Waiting too long can harm your case. However, you should also not rush to file a claim before consulting with a car accident lawyer, If you have the necessary proof and evidence, as you must put your best foot forward.
Knowing Your Longer Statute of Limitations
Statutes of limitations vary widely from state to state, with deadlines ranging from one to six years across the U.S. Many states have more abbreviated statutes of limitations that can constrain the time you have to sue. In many states, the statute of limitations is two years, which can present some real challenges to car accident injury victims as they seek to negotiate a settlement with the insurance company.
A handful of states give car accident victims longer than two years to file a lawsuit. For example, Missouri has one of the longest statutes of limitations in the entire country. If you have suffered an injury in a car accident, you have five years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit or claim. You should not take this extra time as an extension of your legal rights because waiting too long to file a claim can harm your case in other ways.
The Clock Starts When You Discover Your Injuries
The statute of limitations begins to run when you discover the injury. In a car accident case, you do not always know that you suffered an injury at the time of the crash.
For example, you may suffer a whiplash injury from the force of the accident. Whiplash injuries are not always apparent at the time of the accident. You may not have begun to feel symptoms until weeks after the accident. That is when you realize that you have suffered an injury because you may not have felt pain at the accident scene.
However, the statute of limitations will begin to run when you should have known that you had an injury. If you felt symptoms after the accident but did not see a doctor, the law presumes you knew of the injury. In other words, you cannot pretend that nothing is wrong in the face of obvious symptoms of an injury. The law will not give you extra time because you took extra time to get medical help.
If the car accident resulted in the death of a loved one, you might have a shorter period to seek financial compensation. For instance, the statute of limitations in a wrongful death case is three years from the time of death in Missouri, which is two years shorter than for personal injury lawsuits.
Missing the Deadline by a Day Is Fatal to Your Case
The court is very unforgiving about the statute of limitations. It does not matter whether you miss the deadline by a day or a year. If you miss the statute of limitations, even by a day, you can completely lose the right to obtain a settlement or jury award for your injuries.
The statute of limitations is a question of court jurisdiction. Your legal rights have a shelf life – they will completely go away after the statute of limitations expires. You will not have any legal rights at all at that point. A court cannot hear your case, even if it wanted to, unless some very limited exceptions apply. The court cannot listen to your lawsuit on the merits because it will likely dismiss the matter at the outset of the case, either because the defendant has filed a motion or the judge does it on their own.
There are very few exceptions to the statute of limitations, especially in a car accident case. Courts construe these exceptions very strictly since they are a matter of jurisdiction. A judge is very careful about not hearing a case that has no legal right to be in court.
You Should Not Wait that Long to File Your Case
In reality, there are very few reasons you might wait so long to file a claim or lawsuit, especially in light of the longer period you have under certain state laws. You are doing yourself a disservice if you wait too long to file your case. The same reasons why the statute of limitations applies in the first place (loss of evidence and difficulty proving a case) will apply to you as the plaintiff.
The only reason you may wait longer than one year to file a lawsuit is that you have been trying to negotiate with the insurance company and have been unable to reach an acceptable settlement agreement. The insurance company is known to drag out settlement negotiations for many months, stringing you along while you wait for them to gradually raise their offer.
At a certain point, your lawyer may advise you to take your case to court because the insurance company is not serious about reaching an agreement. You may need to file a lawsuit to put legal pressure on the insurance company.
Hire an Attorney as Soon as Possible After an Accident
It is in your best interest to contact an attorney as soon as possible after your accident, regardless of the amount of time you have under the law. Losing time will not just affect your ability to file your case in time, but it can also harm your ability to win the case you file.
Many things can happen while you are waiting to contact an attorney. The insurance company may try to contact you and pressure you into giving a statement that can undercut your case. Once they have you on record, it is difficult to undo the damage, even if the insurance company is taking something out of context. You can also lose valuable evidence that you need to prove your claims that someone else should be legally responsible for your car accident injuries.
It Can Take Time to Get Compensation After Your Car Accident
The legal process takes time from start to finish. It is not uncommon for a car accident case to stretch for longer than a year, even if you do not need to go to court. The insurance company may take months to even respond to your claim at all. When they do, it may be with a paltry settlement offer that only compensates you for a fraction of what your claim is worth.
The sooner you begin the legal process for your car accident case, the sooner you may get your money. The insurance company will not speed up its own timetable to respond because you have delayed filing a claim. On the contrary, the insurance company may delay things even further, knowing that you may already be stressed because you are well past the accident.
You Should File Your Claim When You Are Fully Ready
You have bills to pay and expenses that are piling up after a car accident. You need to start the process of obtaining compensation to make up for your actual losses. Medical providers may send you bills, and you will be responsible for your share while you wait for a car accident settlement.
At the same time, you also do not want to rush your case and file it before you are ready. If you are in a state with a longer statute of limitations, you do not need to rush to file your claim because of the deadline. As a result, your lawyer should have enough time to fully investigate the cause of your car accident and gather all necessary evidence. They should also have an adequate opportunity to fully estimate the number of your damages. Your lawyer can present the strongest claim possible on your behalf.
When to file your car accident claim is a matter of legal tactics and strategy. An experienced attorney can help you determine the right time to act. First, your lawyer will need to fully prepare your claim and supporting evidence, which takes time. Some evidence might not come to light immediately, and your attorney knows how to properly build a persuasive case.
They will also know the rules of dealing with the insurance company and navigating the legal process. When you file your claim might depend on your attorney’s experience in dealing with the individual insurance company. Some companies may take longer than others to respond to a claim, which can dictate when you begin the legal process.
You Can Control When to Begin the Legal Process
In the meantime, the insurance company may be trying to rush you into the legal process by either pressuring you to make a statement or coaxing you into accepting a settlement that pays you pennies on the dollar.
You can take control of the legal process when you hire an experienced car accident lawyer. Even if you do not immediately file a claim, the attorney can begin to prepare your case by gathering evidence and estimating the amount of your damages. Hiring an attorney can also keep the insurance company off your back because you can simply refer them to your lawyer if they try to pressure you.
Hire an Attorney to Begin the Legal Process
Car Accident Attorney, Phillip J. Barkett
In addition, getting an attorney on your side is also good for your stress level and peace of mind. On your own, you may procrastinate or not take any action because you dread the legal process. You may feel overwhelmed and let valuable time get away from you.
When you hire an attorney, all you need to do is hand your case over to them. Your lawyer will handle all the details and the communication with the insurance company. You will still make the key decisions in the case in consultation with your attorney.
The best thing about hiring an attorney right after your accident is that you do not need to pay them anything when you bring them on your case. You only pay an attorney if your case is successful, and that will come from the proceeds of your case.
If you do not win your case, you will not pay your attorney for their effort and time, meaning there is little risk to you. The only thing that you should not do is wait too long to hire an attorney. Then, you may lose the ability to prove your case.