If you’ve been injured due to the negligence of someone else, whether that’s in a car accident or as a result of medical malpractice or an injury on property, you only have a certain amount of time to bring a personal injury claim here in Texas. Talk to a personal injury lawyer in Katy, TX as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss the window alllowed by the statute of limitations.
How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim?
Here in Texas you normally get two years to bring a personal injury claim. If you don’t file within those two years, in almost all cases, the court will refuse to hear your claim, and you will lose any chance of getting compensation for your losses and damages. It doesn’t matter how strong your case might be or how much you may have suffered: if you file outside this window, the defendant will just file a motion to dismiss the case and the court will have no choice but to do so.
That’s the simple answer: the long answer is that there are some exceptions to this rule, but they are difficult to qualify for. You should never rely on being eligible for an exception. You absolutely must talk to a personal injury lawyer in Katy, TX as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss out. Your lawyer is the only one who can give you a good idea of whether you might qualify for an exception or not.
FAQ About the Time Limits
What’s a “Statute of Limitations?”
The statute of limitations refers to the law that specifically delineates how long a person or entity has to bring a case against another person. There are statute of limitations on criminal charges which control how long the government has to bring a case against a private citizen. In civil law, for personal injury, the statute of limitations limits how long an injured party has to bring a case against the responsible party.
Every state has its own statute of limitations, so bear in mind that the two-year statute here in Texas only applies here. In addition, the statute of limitations is always shorter when it comes to suing the government, so if any government agency was involved in your accident, it’s even more imperative to contact a lawyer quickly.
What Are the Exceptions?
The Injured Person Is “Legally Disabled”
When the person who has been injured is considered legally disabled under Texas law, they have until their disability is ended to bring a lawsuit. A person who is under 18 is considered “legally disabled” for these purposes because they can not legally bring a claim because they are not of age. When they turn 18, they become “legally able” and can bring their lawsuit. At that point, the statute of limitations begins to run, and they have two years.
Other persons who may be legally disabled include those who suffer from a mental health issue generally or those who have been rendered disabled by the accident itself. So, for example, if an accident results in a person being put into a coma for six months, the two-year statute of limitations would not start running until they awakened from the coma and recovered enough mentally to understand and make decisions.
Wrongful Death Claims
Wrongful death claims are brought not by the injured party, of course, but by their family; and in these cases, the clock starts to tick not from the time of the accident but from the time of the person’s death.
First-Party Auto Insurance Claims
In many automobile accidents, the injured party will be seeking reimbursement from the insurance company of the at-fault driver. In other words, they are bringing a claim against a third-party insurer. But in some cases, you might be bringing a claim against your own insurance company, and in this case, you have between two and four years to bring your claim. This usually happens when you’re bringing an underinsured or uninsured motorist claim or a claim on your personal injury protection.
Could Not Be Discovered
In some cases, it’s not reasonable to expect an injury to have been discovered immediately. For example, if you are the victim of medical malpractice, you may not have realized that you were grossly misdiagnosed until several years after the original misdiagnosis.
If that misdiagnosis caused you to suffer injury because you were not getting the treatment you needed, you may be able to bring a personal injury claim, and the clock would start ticking from the moment that you discovered the injury rather than the moment the injury was actually caused.
Defendant Is Out of State
If the defendant has left the state of Texas before you can file the lawsuit, the deadline is paused until such time as they return. In other words, whatever time they are out of the state does not count as part of the two years. Check with your lawyer on this because sometimes it’s still possible to bring a lawsuit even if the party is out of state.
Sex Crimes Against Adults
Sex crimes are something we usually think of as being prosecuted by the state under criminal law, and they are; but the victims have also suffered a personal injury and thus can also bring a civil claim. For adult victims, the statute of limitations is five years from the time that they suffered the harm. In order to qualify here, the conduct must have been a violation of Texas Penal Code Chapter 21 or Texas Penal Code Chapter 43.
Claims Against the State of Texas
If your claim is against the state, you only have six months to bring action. It’s very important to contact a lawyer immediately if there is any chance your claim needs to be made against the state of Texas.
Why Does a Statute of Limitations Exist At All?
If you were the victim, it’s natural to wonder why there should be any time limits to getting compensation for what you’ve lost. However, these statute of limitations do have important purposes. They encourage you to bring your claim as soon as possible, which is very important because evidence tends to degrade. The longer you wait, the more the evidence deteriorates and the memories of the witnesses can fade. Witnesses can even die or move away. The longer you wait, the more difficult it becomes to discover what actually happened.
The statute of limitations also protects people and entities from false accusations. You can likely imagine how awful it would be for you to be suddenly hit with a lawsuit by someone claiming that you harmed them 10 years ago, and to have no way to fight it because there really isn’t much evidence either way. While you might win the lawsuit for lack of evidence, you would still have to go through all the strain and stress and possibly have your reputation ruined. The statute of limitations encourages everyone to deal with these matters quickly and efficiently, which is in everyone’s best interests.
Your Personal Injury Lawyer in Katy, TX
If you’ve been injured by someone else’s negligence, you have the right to bring a claim, but you only have so much time to do so. Contact us right away at the Law Office of Shane McClelland in Katy, TX for help.