27 Oct How Long After Car Accident Can You Claim Injury?
The search phrase “how long after car accident can you claim injury” is popular among those who find themselves injured in a car accident. There is a good reason why you would search for this phrase if you were hurt by a negligent driver in Yuba City or elsewhere. You cannot wait indefinitely to take legal action if someone else caused you harm.
“How long after a car accident can you file a claim?” is a question answered by California law. Those injured in motor vehicle wrecks anywhere in the state need to remember the answer in the aftermath of their collision. If you do not, you can find yourself unable to obtain compensation for any of your injuries or losses.
The Reason for Time Limits on Injury Claims
At first glance, it may not appear fair to injury victims to limit their time to bring a compensation claim. After all, the days and weeks following a car accident can be hectic, especially if you sustained severe or life-threatening injuries. You might not even know the extent of your physical, emotional, or financial injuries until months later.
Nonetheless, there are legitimate reasons why all states, including California, place a limit on filing insurance claims and lawsuits for compensation after car wrecks.
Ease of Adjudicating Claims
Your memory — and the memories of witnesses who saw your wreck happen — will be the freshest and most reliable in the moments and days after the crash. People’s recollections of events can change and become less reliable as time passes. Your memory of events can also change if you talk to other witnesses who might remember things differently than you.
Not only do memories change with time, but objective evidence that tells the story of your crash can also become more difficult to locate. This evidence includes photographs, diagrams, accident reports, witness statements, and relevant videos. The more time that passes, the greater the chance that such evidence can be damaged, lost, or otherwise unavailable.
When witnesses’ memories are not reliable and objective evidence is unavailable, there is a greater risk of an erroneous decision being made. Therefore, one of the goals of encouraging you to bring an injury claim sooner rather than later is to increase the opportunity for the insurance companies and the courts to make the right decisions on claims.
Reduction in Disruptions to Life and Business
Even the threat of a lawsuit can be disruptive to individuals and businesses. People might put off making large purchases or moving for new jobs out of fear that they will soon be sued and have to pay damages to someone else. Or, if a lawsuit is not filed quickly, they may conceal their whereabouts and attempt to avoid responsibility for their actions.
Similarly, insurance companies and businesses that fear an impending lawsuit might delay hiring new employees. They might also refrain from making large purchases or investments until they know what liability they might face. These decisions can have negative repercussions not only for the business but also for the greater economy.
State lawmakers want to give injury victims like you a reasonable opportunity to bring a claim for damages. However, lawmakers do not want the threat of a lawsuit or claim for damages to linger over individuals and businesses forever. That’s why there are limits on how long you have to file an injury claim.
Can You Sue Someone for Car Accidents in California?
In California, individuals injured in a motor vehicle accident may file an insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance company for damages. They may also file a lawsuit and seek to hold the driver personally liable for any additional losses or harm that is not covered by that person’s insurance benefits.
Succeeding with a claim or lawsuit largely depends on making sure your claim is filed within the appropriate statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is a state law that sets forth how long you have to file your auto accident lawsuit and insurance claim.
Just as the other legal elements of a car accident claim, like negligence and causation, must be present, your claim must also comply with the statute of limitations.
California’s Statute of Limitations for Car Accident Claims
According to California’s statute of limitations, insurance claims must be brought within two years. Think of this two-year period as a clock that begins to count down to zero on the day your accident happens. When the clock runs out and two years have elapsed, the statute of limitations has expired, and your legal rights can be impacted.
The statute of limitations applies to insurance claims and lawsuits, and the time period for each runs simultaneously.
For example, suppose that you are hurt in a car accident caused by another driver on October 1, 2023. You would have until October 1, 2025, to file an insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance company. You would also have until October 1, 2025, to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver personally or any other person you believe caused your injuries.
Effect of Expired Statute of Limitations
The two-year statute of limitations does not automatically prevent you from filing an insurance claim or lawsuit. While an insurance claim form will ask for the date the accident happened, most insurance companies will not stop you from submitting a claim out of time. Similarly, a court will not stop you from submitting a lawsuit because your accident occurred more than two years ago.
This is because an expired statute of limitations is an affirmative defense. The person or business against whom you are bringing your claim must raise the issue for it to have any effect.
In theory, an insurance company could pay your claim and a court could grant you a favorable judgment even if the statute of limitations has expired, as long as the other party never brings the issue up.
In practice, insurance companies and individuals represented by competent attorneys know about the statute of limitations. If they see that the statute of limitations has passed in your case, they will promptly point this out to the court and raise the issue as a defense.
Once the matter is properly raised, an expired statute of limitations means that the at-fault party does not need to pay your claim and cannot be held liable in a lawsuit. This is true no matter how strong your case is against the other party or how severely you were injured.
Statute of Limitations Does Not Apply to Reporting Accidents or Completing Claims
The statute of limitations is a legal filing deadline. It does not impact any legal obligation to report a crash to law enforcement. For example, the question, “How long do you have to report a hit and run in California?” is not answered by the statute of limitations.
Another California Law, Section 20008 of the California Vehicle Code, says you must report certain accidents within 24 hours to law enforcement. This includes accidents that result in injury, death, or more than $1,000 in property damage.
Similarly, the statute of limitations does not answer the question “How long can a car insurance claim stay open?” Some insurance claims and lawsuits might stay open for a year or more after they have been filed. As long as they were initially started within the statute of limitations, they can continue past the second-anniversary date of your accident.
Exceptions to the Statute of Limitations
If you are wondering, “How long after an accident do you have to file a claim?” the general answer is two years. It is important to know that there are exceptions to the statute of limitations. These exceptions act to extend the deadline for filing your claim or lawsuit.
How much extra time you might have depends on your specific circumstances, but it could mean the difference between recovering compensation and receiving nothing.
Physical or Mental Incapacity
First, the statute of limitations does not run when you are physically or mentally incapacitated and unable to understand or exercise your legal rights. Instead, the statute of limitations is paused during these periods and does not begin to run again until your condition improves.
For instance, suppose that you are hurt in a severe truck crash on October 1, 2023, that leaves you in a coma for several months. You do not emerge from the coma until February 1, 2024. In this situation, the statute of limitations would not begin to run until this later date, and you would have until February 1, 2026, to file any claim or lawsuit.
The Discovery Rule
How long after an accident can you file a claim if you do not know you are hurt? In some accidents, you may not feel like you have been injured. It can take days or even a week before you feel enough pain or discomfort that you begin to suspect you might be hurt. You might not receive a diagnosis for several more weeks after that.
The Discovery Rule holds that the statute of limitations does not run when a reasonable person in your situation would not have known they were injured.
The key to understanding this rule is the phrase “reasonable person.” This phrase means that if you took steps that a reasonable person would have taken in your situation and you did not know you were hurt, the statute of limitations can be extended.
This rule does not mean you can ignore obvious signs of injury or take unnecessary risks. You should still go to the hospital or visit your doctor as soon as possible after most car accidents. If you do so and are not immediately diagnosed with an injury, the Discovery Rule will extend your statute of limitations if you are later diagnosed with a condition.
The At-Fault Party Is Concealing Their Whereabouts
Identifying and serving an at-fault party can sometimes be challenging, especially if you were hurt in a hit-and-run accident. You and your attorney may spend weeks or months attempting to identify who it was that caused your accident. Once you identify them, it can take longer to serve them with your lawsuit or determine who their insurer is.
When an at-fault party tries to conceal their identity or their whereabouts, the statute of limitations may be paused for a period of time. Courts do this so individuals are not rewarded for attempting to run out the statute of limitations and thereby escape liability for their actions.
As long as you are taking reasonable steps to identify and serve the at-fault party, this exception should ensure the statute of limitations does not expire before you can find the at-fault party and serve them.
Take Prompt Action to Protect Your Legal Rights
Although two years may seem like a long time, this car insurance claim time limit can pass quickly if you are not careful. It is always better to file a claim as soon as possible after an accident rather than run the risk of the statute of limitations expiring.
If you or a loved one has been hurt in a Yuba City car accident, let the Law Offices of Steve Gimblin help you. Speak to us immediately about your case, and we will get to work. We can ensure your insurance claim and lawsuit are filed in time and protect your rights while you focus on your recovery.
Contact the Law Offices of Steve Gimblin today for assistance.
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