Statutes of Limitations in Accident Cases

Statutes of limitations are laws setting out time limitations for filing specific kinds of lawsuits. These laws provide that no lawsuit can be filed unless it is done so within a specific period of time. If the plaintiff fails to file his or her lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations, the suit is barred and cannot be pursued.

Personal injury actions and insurance claims must be filed within the statutes of limitations as set out by state law. For example, if you are injured in an automobile accident and the state law provides that personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the date of the injury, you must file your lawsuit within two years of the date of the accident or lose forever the right to sue the responsible party.

If you want to file an insurance claim against your insurance company or the insurance company of the other driver, you should file this claim within the time limits stated in the insurance policy. States also have statutes of limitations for filing insurance claims. Check with your attorney to determine what those limits are.

Claiming No-Fault Benefits

No-fault insurance is a type of insurance in which each person's insurance company pays for injury or damage up to a certain limit regardless of whether the insured was actually at fault.

There are certain time limits for filing claims. Generally, the injured party should obtain and file the required claim notice with the no-fault insurer within the first 30 days following the accident. If the specific claim form is not available, the insured should file a written claim anyway, and then obtain the specific form. If the accident created multiple sources for payment of no-fault benefits, for example, if the injured person had several insurance policies, file claims with every insurer.

The injured party should promptly notify the insurer, because shortened statutes of limitations are quite common in no-fault laws. Basically, there is no penalty to an injured party for submitting a non-fraudulent claim that is ultimately denied, but the penalty for failure to submit a timely claim may mean the entire loss of benefits. The courts have upheld the limitations provisions in statutes as genuine statutes of limitations, and not mere requirements for notice.

Recovery and the Monetary Threshold

If you cannot obtain payment from an insurer, you may need to file a personal injury lawsuit, which is also called a tort action. Under traditional tort law, the time for filing the lawsuit begins to run from the time of the accident that caused the injury. However, in some states, lawsuits cannot be filed until the plaintiff's damages exceed a certain monetary level. In states with a monetary threshold, the date when the statute of limitations begins to run might not always be clear. Check with your attorney so that your action will not be prohibited by the statute of limitation.

Uninsured Motorist Actions

In a lawsuit by an insured for the failure of the insurance company to pay uninsured motorist benefits provided in an auto insurance policy, an insurer may raise the defense that the lawsuit was not filed within the statute of limitations. The applicable time limitation depends on whether the action is considered to be a personal injury lawsuit or one involving a contract dispute. Most of the time, when the insurer refuses to pay uninsured motorist benefits, the dispute is likely to be viewed by the courts as an alleged breach of contract by the insurer, and the statute of limitations for contract actions applies. Note that in some states, an insured's action against the insurer is considered to stem solely from the car accident, and the statute of limitations for tort actions will apply.

Additionally, in lawsuits for uninsured motorist coverage, court decisions vary as to whether the defense of the statute of limitations can be used by an insurer or only by the uninsured motorist.

Subrogation Rights and the Uninsured Driver

If an insurer compensates its insured client in compliance with the state's uninsured motorist laws, the insurer can be reimbursed through a lawsuit against the uninsured driver. The insurer is "subrogated" to the rights of its insured, meaning that the insurer is substituted for the insured in the lawsuit against the uninsured driver. The insurer's subrogation rights are also subject to a statute of limitations, which starts to run when the insurer pays the insured on a claim under the uninsured motorist terms of the insurance policy.

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