Personal Injury - Time Limitation

Time Limitation

In England and Wales, under the limitation rules, where an individual is bringing a claim for compensation, court proceedings must be commenced within 3 years of the date of the accident, failing which the claimant will lose the right to bring his or her claim. However, injured parties who were under the age of 18 at the time of their accidents have until the day prior to their 21st birthdays to commence proceedings. A court has the discretion to extend or waive the limitation period if it is considered equitable to do so. Another exception is if the accident caused an injury, as an example industrial deafness, then the three-year period will start from when injured party knew or ought to have known that he or she had a claim.

In the United States, each state has different Statutes of Limitations - laws that determine how much time you have to file a claim. In the state of Oregon, for example, most car accident injury claims must be filed within two years of the date of the injury. And, just like it depends which state you are filing a claim in, it also matters which type of personal injury claim you are filing. Rape claims, for example, often have a much longer statute of limitation than other injuries.