After a car accident that gives rise to a potential claim, timing is crucial. Your right to seek compensation is limited, and waiting too long could jeopardize your ability to recover damages.
States have different statutory time limits, after which the at-fault party is absolved from responsibility.
This guide outlines the key timelines for filing a claim and provides essential information to help ensure your claim is submitted properly and on time.
Insurance Claim vs. Lawsuit
The term claim is usually used in place of the word lawsuit. But the two are slightly different in definition, approach and timelines. A claim is just as the name suggests; it is a formal request or demand to an insurer for compensation for damages suffered in an accident.
Most car accidents are resolved through a claim, which can be filed through your insurer or the other driver’s insurer. After filing a claim, the insurance company assesses the damages and makes an offer. If the offer is fair and you accept it, the claim is resolved, and you sign release papers.
A lawsuit, on the other hand, begins when there are disputes about a claim. For example, if the insurance company’s settlement offer does not fairly reflect your losses, initiating a lawsuit may be the most appropriate course of action.
You can still agree to settle out of court with the at-fault insurer at any point but if the parties cannot come to an agreement, the lawsuit goes to trial, where the court decides on the settlement.
Deadlines for a Claim with Your Insurer
There are no statutory laws on when you can file a claim with your insurer. So insurers companies have the prerogative of defining these deadlines.
“Not many insurance companies have a specific timeline. Instead, they use terms such as prompt filing or within a reasonable time,” says attorney Brian Wallace of Foster Wallace Personal Injury Lawyers.
If you wait too long to file a claim, an insurer may argue that the delay makes it harder to determine key facts, such as the extent of your damages or the circumstances of the incident, and use this as a reason to deny your claim. However, for an insurer to use delayed filing as a reason for denying your claim successfully, they have to prove that the duration of the delay prejudiced your claim or harmed them (the insurer) in some way.
In no-fault states, policyholders file personal injury claims with their car insurer irrespective of who is at fault. In such states, you may have to follow statutory time limits, also known as the statute of limitations. States can also have deadlines for reporting an accident after it happens. For example, in New York, a no-fault state, you must report your accident to your insurer within 30 days of the accident occurring. Otherwise, you lose your right to compensation.
Deadlines for Filing a Claim
All states have a statute of limitations stipulating the time window for filing a claim after an accident. This window ranges from one year to six years, depending on the state.
After the statute of limitations expires, an accident victim loses their right to seek compensation. Therefore, it is important to review your state’s specific statute of limitations to ensure you do not miss the deadline to file your claim.
Besides the deadlines for filing a claim, you may also want to know the ideal time to file one. Most lawyers recommend waiting until you achieve maximum medical improvement (MMI), which refers to the point when your medical condition has stabilized and is unlikely to improve significantly with further treatment, making it easier to accurately assess your damages. However, that must still occur within the statute of limitations.