When to File a Car Accident Lawsuit
If you suffer injuries in a car accident that was not your fault, your primary focus should be on trying to regain your health. However, you also need to think about whether and when to file a car accident lawsuit. When another party causes your injuries through negligent behavior that led to the car crash, you have the right to seek damages for your lost wages, medical costs, and pain and suffering.
When do you need to file the claim to meet your state’s car accident lawsuit deadline? And how do you know whether you have a strong enough case that you should even file an injury claim? Our local car accident lawyers can help you with both questions and more. Learn more about what you need to know about when to file a car accident lawsuit.
What Kinds of Injuries Do You Have?
When you’re wondering when and whether to file a car accident lawsuit, the severity of the injuries you suffered will play a role. If you have minor injuries that healed within a couple of days and you were able to return to work within the day after the accident, you might not need to file a lawsuit. You’re only eligible to file a car accident lawsuit if you have financial losses.
If your injuries are severe, though, you will probably have significant financial losses. You might miss several weeks of work, or you might never be able to work the same number of hours again. Your needs for medical care might extend well into the future, meaning you’ll have financial losses as your medical bills increase.
Although an insurance company might not pay your claim until the full extent of your injuries is known, you shouldn’t wait until you fully recover to file the injury lawsuit. You can file your car accident lawsuit at any time during the treatment for your injuries.
Is the Insurance Company Giving You the Runaround?
The insurance company representing the driver who hit you and caused your injuries might reach out to you within a few days of the accident. The insurer might begin asking questions about how the accident happened and the severity of your injuries. After a while, it may seem like the insurer is repeating the same questions to you.
Although the insurance representative might try to convince you that the insurance company is on your side and trying to help you receive a financial award, the opposite is probably happening. By asking you a lot of similar questions, the insurance company is hoping that you might contradict yourself. If you give different answers to these questions over several days of interviews, the insurance company might say your answers show you aren’t telling the truth about the accident. It may then try to reduce or deny your settlement payment.
If this tactic doesn’t work, the insurer might begin stalling and dragging out your case. The longer the insurance company takes to give you any payment, the more desperate you might be to settle the case for a low amount.
The insurance company also knows that once you agree to a settlement and take a check, the case ends. You cannot seek additional money if new injuries are discovered. Making you desperate to settle helps the insurer.
By hiring our injury accident lawyers to represent you soon after the accident, we will take over all correspondence with the insurance company. You do not need to speak to the insurers unless we are present. We can help you avoid making contradictory statements. Our lawyers can also file the lawsuit immediately and work to prevent the insurance company from stalling. We will fight for your best financial outcome.
Understanding the Car Accident Lawsuit Deadlines in Wisconsin and Minnesota
When considering when to file a car accident lawsuit, you need to understand the statute of limitations. This is a state law that specifies the amount of time a victim has to file an injury lawsuit. These statutes don’t require you to reach a settlement by the deadline, but they require that you and our attorneys at least start the process by filing the lawsuit.
The statute of limitations for personal injury in Minnesota is six years from the date of the accident, as spelled out in Minnesota Statute § 541.05. According to Wisconsin Statute § 893.54, injury victims have up to three years from the date of the accident to file the injury lawsuit.
If you wait to decide whether you want to file an injury lawsuit, you could miss the deadline. Although a few rare exceptions exist, victims who miss filing by the car accident lawsuit deadline nearly always forfeit their ability to seek an award. If you’re wondering when it’s time to file your claim, always keep the statute of limitations in mind.
Advantages of Filing a Car Accident Lawsuit As Early As Possible
One piece of advice we provide to all victims when they’re trying to decide when to file a car accident lawsuit is that filing earlier is better than filing later.
Deciding to file early means you and our attorneys can immediately begin building your case. Our legal team will start investigating the case as soon as you hire us, allowing us to look for evidence that the other driver was at fault for the crash through negligent behavior. It’s easier for us to find evidence when we start looking as soon as possible after the accident while the details remain fresh in the minds of witnesses.
Filing early gives our car accident attorneys a chance to start negotiating with the insurance company on a potential settlement to your claim. Negotiations can take a long time, so the earlier we can start, the better chance we have of a successful outcome.
Additionally, when you file early with the help of our injury attorneys, you don’t have to worry about missing the statute of limitations.
Our Team Can Help You Stay Within the Car Accident Lawsuit Deadline
Contact Tyroler Leonard Injury Law for a Free Consultation
When should you hire a personal injury lawyer? At Tyroler Leonard Injury Law, we always recommend contacting us as soon as possible after the injury accident. The sooner we can discuss your injury accident with you, the better advice we can give you. If you wait to contact us to represent you in your injury lawsuit, we might struggle to find evidence that proves you are the victim.
Even if you’re unsure when to file a car accident lawsuit or whether you have a strong enough case, we want to talk with you. Our Wisconsin and Minnesota car accident lawyers offer a free case review. During this review, we can provide advice on what you should do, and you are under no obligation to hire us afterward. Should you choose to hire us, we will begin working on your claim immediately. Call us today at (651) 259-1113.
Attorney Isaac Tyroler
Attorney Isaac Tyroler has been a strong advocate for injured people his entire legal career. He has a passion for righting wrongs, and he deeply cares about representing injured clients who may feel overwhelmed or uncertain about how to navigate the legal system. He is compassionate toward clients and aggressive with insurance companies and defendants. He is on the elected Board of Governors of the Minnesota Association of Justice (MAJ), the top personal injury lawyers’ group in Minnesota. And is currently the chair of MAJ’s legislative committee. [ Attorney Bio ]
