What Is the Statute of Limitation for Car Accident Injury and Loss Claims in Georgia?
When you are injured in a car accident in Georgia, you have many issues that you must address. The first and foremost priority is to seek medical treatment for your injuries. It is in your best interest to see a doctor as soon as possible after a car accident, regardless of the severity of your injuries. You need to see a doctor to protect your health and any potential personal injury claim you may have against the other driver or another third party.
At some point a few weeks or a few months after your accident, you will begin to think about how you will pay these medical bills that are piling up. You may also have substantial loss of income if you had to be out of work while you were recovering from your accident. Who pays for these expenses?
Filing an Injury Claim Against the Other Driver
If the other driver is at fault for the accident, you can file a claim against that driver’s insurance company. Georgia requires all drivers to carry liability car insurance to protect others if a driver causes an accident. The at-fault driver’s insurance company should compensate the victims for damages including medical bills, lost wages, property damages, pain, and suffering.
Unfortunately, it is not always as easy as filing a claim with the other driver’s insurance provider. Some insurance companies try their best to deny or devalue car accident claims. The companies do not want to pay large settlements because that impacts their bottom line and profit margin.
Therefore, if the insurance company for the other driver is not negotiating in a fair manner, you may need to file a car accident claim to recover compensation for your injuries. The key thing to remember about filing a car accident lawsuit is that Georgia law restricts your time to file the lawsuit. If you fail to file the lawsuit before the deadline, you lose your right to recover compensation from that party.
What is a Statute of Limitations in Georgia?
Each state in the country has laws that limit the time you have to file a lawsuit. Georgia’s statute of limitations on personal injury claims for injuries sustained in a car accident is two years from the date of the car accident. This deadline covers damages including medical bills, lost wages, physical pain, emotional suffering, permanent disability, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and scarring.
The two-year deadline to file a lawsuit does not apply to the property damage to your vehicle. The deadline to file a claim for the cost to repair or replace your vehicle is four years from the date of the accident.
Exceptions to the Georgia Statute of Limitations for Car Accident Claims
There are a few limited exceptions to the deadline to file a lawsuit for a car accident in Georgia. For instance, if the victim is under the age of 18 years at the time of the accident, the two-year period does not begin until the child reaches the age of 18 years. Claims against government entities and agencies also have time limits that can be shorter than the two-year period to file a lawsuit.
You must be careful because there are instances where the two years is shorted, stayed, or extended. It is always best to file your lawsuit as quickly as possible if you are not using an attorney so that you do not run into a problem with the deadline expiring before you can file your lawsuit.