The best time to call a lawyer for an injury caused by an accident
The best time to call a lawyer for an injury caused by an accident is as soon as possible after an accident.
Reasons to call immediately after an accident:
- There are many short time deadlines to protect various benefits. The time to file a lawsuit, known as the statute of limitations, varies from state to state but is usually 2 or 3 years for personal injury. The time to file a claim against a government agency may be as short as 90 days, and after that, only 1 year to file a lawsuit. The time to file a lawsuit for medical malpractice may be shorter than for personal injury. Other benefits, such as medical payments and disability payments from No-Fault, can be just a matter of 30 or 90 days. You need to call a personal injury lawyer immediately to find out the time deadlines for your case in your state.
- It is usually better to speak with an accident attorney before giving any statements to your insurance company or anyone else. You should never give a statement to the insurance company for the person or company you are thinking of suing.
If you didn’t call a lawyer immediately after your accident
If you didn’t call a lawyer immediately after your accident, call right now. While it’s better to call immediately after an accident, it doesn’t mean that you screwed up your case or that a lawyer would not be interested.
What prompted this article is that I eagerly agreed to represent someone who just called about an accident she had seven months ago. She was hit in the rear by a car with $25,000 insurance, and she has $250,000 underinsured coverage, which she didn’t even know about. I should be able to get the entire amount within 8 months.
Even if you think you may have missed the statute of limitations, you should still call a lawyer.
If a minor was injured
If a minor was injured, the statute of limitations does not start to run until the minor reaches the age of majority.