Understanding Some Facts About the Statute Of Limitations in Personal Injury Cases

If you have been injured in some way and think that you may be eligible for some compensation, then you do want to talk to a personal injury attorney about this. The professional can help you with your claim, and you should be sure that you are filing your paperwork with plenty of time to spare. Specifically, you need to be careful about the statute of limitations. Keep reading to learn about a few important things you should know about the statute of limitations.

They Do Vary By State

Each state will have its own statute of limitations or time frame in regards to filing a personal injury claim. So, you need to check to see what the time frame is in your state. You can go directly to a personal injury attorney to ask about this, you can contact a legal aide in your area, or you can call your state law board. 

Typically, you can expect the statute of limitations to be about one to two years and to start when you were actually injured or when you discovered that there was an injury. This is an important distinction in malpractice cases, where you may not know that there was an issue with a procedure. For example, you may not know right away that a surgical sponge was left in your abdomen during a routine appendectomy. 

Keep in mind that your personal injury claim does not need to be completed within the statute of limitations. You simply must file the paperwork for the personal injury claim by this time. 

You May Need To Notify Early

In some cases, you will have to file some paperwork well before the statute of limitations is up on your injury claim. This is true if you feel as though you have been injured by any sort of government agency. This is likely to include injuries at schools, on the premises of a town hall, or even at the DMV. 

When these types of injuries happen, you will need to file a notice that explains how, where, and when the incident occurred and also what type of injury was caused. You may also need to indicate your intent to sue and you may be asked to go through an arbitration process to settle the claim out of court.

The notice typically needs to be drafted and sent to the government agency within six months of the injury.