How Long Do I Have to File a Claim After a Car Accident?

In most cases, two years

By the book, a victim usually has two years to file a claim after a car accident. The statute of limitations protects defendants and plaintiffs in personal injury matters. Both have equal protection under the law. Plaintiffs, usually personal injury victims in this context, should act quickly and strike while the iron is hot. Defendants, usually insurance companies, should not look over their shoulders for years to come.

The statute of limitations expands in a few car accident cases, usually if the accident caused a latent injury or long-term disease. More on that below.

Regardless of how long the SOL lasts, it’s always a short time. A Sarasota personal injury lawyer must take lots of time and diligently build a strong evidence-based case before even thinking about filing legal paperwork. Legal actions thrown together at the last minute are doomed to failure. An effective personal injury lawyer will also guide clients through their legal options and explain potential outcomes. Most car crash victims have multiple legal options. A lawyer explains these options in language a client understands.

Car Crash Injuries

Most car crash injuries are easily visible, or at least easily detectable, injuries. These wounds allow a Sarasota personal injury lawyer to get a fast start on a case. These injuries include:

• Internal Injuries: “Easily” detectable is a relative term. Although car crashes cause immediate internal injuries, such as internal bleeding, doctors may not detect this bleeding for several hours or even several days. By that time, slow internal bleeding has caused massive blood loss.
• Broken Bones: The sheer force of a car crash usually shatters bones, especially arm and leg bones that airbags and seat belts don’t protect. Shattered bones are more expensive to treat than broken bones. When doctors use metal parts to surgically reconstruct these bones, physical therapy is much longer and more difficult.
• Head Injuries: These wounds are also easy to detect, but only some doctors know how to spot them. Initial head injury symptoms, like confusion and neck soreness, are identical to accident shock symptoms. Therefore, many car crash head injury victims see doctors and don’t get the treatment they need.

The average economic losses, mostly medical bills, in a catastrophic (life-threatening) injury case usually exceed $100,000.

A Sarasota personal injury lawyer obtains compensation for these losses, as well as noneconomic losses, such as emotional distress.

The Discovery Rule

As mentioned above, the statute of limitations establishes fairness. If the two-year SOL is unfair, it stands to reason that it must be changed. In Florida, the discovery rule is the engine of change. Sometimes, the aforementioned two-year clock does not start running on the date of the accident. Instead, it starts counting down when victims:

• Discover their injuries, and
• Connect those injuries with a tortfeasor’s (negligent actor’s) wrongful conduct.

This rule often comes into play in toxic exposure injuries, such as mesothelioma cancer and other asbestos exposure illnesses.

This rare form of lung cancer has about a 70-year latency period. So, if John was exposed to asbestos in 1975, he may know nothing about his illness until 2025. Furthermore, many mesothelioma victims initially ascribe their cancer to bad luck. So, John may not connect the dots between asbestos exposure and his cancer until 2027.

Under these facts, John probably has until 2029 to file a legal action and obtain compensation for his losses.

Reach Out to a Compassionate Sarasota County Attorney

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Sarasota, contact Carman & Finegan, P.A. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.