M.D: The statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits in Texas is two years. Consult with a personal injury lawyer to successfully file your case on time.
After suffering minor or severe injuries in a car accident, the last thing on your mind could be filing a personal injury claim. Unfortunately, the Texas statute of limitations requires that you must think about filing a lawsuit sooner rather than later. These are a set of laws that determine the period of time that a victim of an accident has to file a case in a civil court.
If your personal injury claim passes this period of time as directed by these laws, you automatically lose your ability to pursue compensation successfully regardless of who was negligent and what caused the accident. That means understanding the Texas statute of limitations could be the difference between getting fair compensation for the damages you suffered and losing your ability to get compensation or hold the responsible parties accountable for their negligent actions.
Statute of limitations for auto accident claims
The statute of limitations for auto accident claims is the same as the one used for many different types of personal injury lawsuits. If you were involved in an auto accident in Texas, you have up to two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. This limit also applies to plaintiffs who want to file a claim for property damage caused by accident.
If you’ve suffered severe injuries and didn’t realize that the period you had to file a claim has passed, you shouldn’t give up. Instead, consult with an experienced Houston personal injury lawyer to see if you still have other options to obtain compensation.
If you intend to file a lawsuit on behalf of a person who died in a traffic accident, this is commonly known as a wrongful death claim. These lawsuits have the same two-year statute of limitations. However, the statute of limitations doesn’t begin on the day of the accident but on the day of the individual’s passing.
Time limits for accident claims caused by state government employees
There is an important exception to the time limit on auto accident claims in Texas. If a Texas government employee was responsible for a traffic accident, they have six months to file a personal injury claim. The process of filing this claim involves more steps as it requires the victim to submit an injury claim to the specific department of the state government they were working for when they caused the traffic crash.
Keep in mind that this report must provide more details regarding when the accident happened, where it happened, who was involved, and other details that can help Texas state address your personal injury claim.
Settle or go to court?
Don’t settle with the insurance company before you consult with your lawyer. This is because insurance companies are business organizations looking to protect their profits. So, your insurer is likely to make a low settlement offer or try as much as they can to deny your claim, and that means you lose the amount of compensation you are seeking.
An experienced Houston personal injury lawyer can help you calculate the amount of economic and non-economic damages to accurately determine the total amount of settlement you should ask for. During settlement negotiations, your attorney can advise you whether to accept a reasonable settlement offer or go to court if the offer is too low, and the insurer isn’t willing to revise it upwards.
If your claim ends up in court, the attorney can also help you handle the complex personal injury claim paperwork, the time-consuming court processes, and fight for your interests to get the amount of compensation you deserve.
