Personal Injury Lawyer

If you are injured because of the negligence of another individual or entity, you might be contacting a lawyer for help making a claim. Whether this means you’re filing an insurance claim or a lawsuit against the responsible party, you might need help getting it done. The following are some deadlines you should know and understand so everything has a better chance of working out to your advantage.

Reporting to the Insurance Company

After you have been injured, you typically have about 30 days to report the injury to the insurance company. This is not making an insurance claim. It’s just calling the insurance company of the responsible party to inform them a claim is in the foreseeable future. This gives the company time to conduct an investigation to ensure you are being honest about the situation before they hand over any money.

An insurance company’s investigation will most likely include a claims adjuster contacting you, so be prepared for that. If you don’t feel like you are being treated fairly, you can contact your lawyer to have him or her deal with the claims adjuster.

Filing the Insurance Claim

The time limit you have to file your insurance claim really depends on the insurance company. Some require you do it within a year of the accident, and others might allow you three years to file the claim. In any case, it’s important you speak with a representative to understand how long you have so you don’t miss out on the opportunity. There’s also a possibility there’s no time limit set forth, but you should still get it done as soon as possible.

Filing a Lawsuit

If you don’t feel things are working out with the insurance company, or there is a second party responsible for your injuries as well, you might look at filing a lawsuit. In that case, there is a specific time limit called the statute of limitations. Each state carries a different statute of limitations, and it varies by type of case as well.

For example, the statute of limitations for personal injury in Minnesota is six years. Just over the border in Wisconsin, it’s only three years. It would be important for someone to know their own state’s time limit if they had a lot of friends living in a neighboring state who might tell them otherwise.

Contacting Your Attorney

Deadlines are an important aspect of a claim that you need to understand. To learn more, contact Elizabeth, NJ personal injury lawyers, such as from Rispoli & Borneo, P.C., who can answer your questions.