Car accidents are no fun. Whenever you are involved in a car accident that someone else causes, you may find that you need to file a lawsuit against them in court. However, most cases like this are never easy wins for the plaintiff. Here are three things that can hurt your car accident case.
1. You are found to share responsibility for the accident.
Your ability to collect any money for damages or injuries can be greatly impacted if the court finds that you share in the fault for the accident. Of course, different states have different laws regarding this, but they all follow one of two legal doctrines: comparative negligence or contributory negligence.
In states that follow comparative negligence, you can only win compensation for the amount of the accident the defendant is responsible for. So, if your actions or inaction caused 25% of the accident, then you would only be able to get 75% of the amount you were requesting in compensation. However, some states have a modified version of this rule that states the plaintiff must have less than 50% degree of fault in order to collect compensation.
With contributory negligence, if you are found to share in any fault for the accident, you are usually barred from collecting any compensation. It doesn't matter how small your responsibility percentage is.
2. Your state has a no fault car insurance law.
Another thing that can hurt some car accident cases is if the state has a no fault car insurance law in place. No fault car insurance laws require all parties involved in an accident to seek compensation from their own car insurance company.
The only way you can file a lawsuit against the other driver or their insurance company is if your medical bills exceed the threshold your state has in place for damage to your vehicle. But, the amount you will be able to collect will be greatly reduced if your insurance company has already paid any money for those bills.
3. You failed to file a lawsuit in time.
Car accidents are personal injury cases. Personal injury cases, like any other legal matter, have a statute of limitations. Most people don't file a lawsuit immediately following an accident, but you do need to start contacting the party responsible or their insurance company so you can get compensation. If you delay doing this, the responsible party or their insurance company can wait around until the statute of limitations expires. Once that happens, you can't sue them for the amount you feel you are owed.
Every state has a different law regarding the statute of limitations for personal injury cases. You could have a year or you could have several years. You will need to contact a personal injury attorney, likeRichard M Altman, as soon as possible after an accident. This way you will know how long you can wait for a response from the responsible party before you need to file a lawsuit.
Share15 July 2015
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