A statute of limitations is a specific time limit on the right to assert a claim in court. If you or a loved one is injured by the carelessness or wrongdoing of another, your first and foremost consideration is, and should be, obtaining prompt and through professional medical care and treatment.
In such a case, when you seek medical attention, it quickly becomes obvious that medical care providers are not shy about asking exactly how and when the bill is going to be paid. There is certainly nothing wrong with this, as medical care providers deserve to be paid for their valuable services.
However, medical care providers are not the only ones who should be concerned about their finances. You owe it to your family to make sure they do not have to bear the burden of large medical expenses while the wrongdoer goes free.
The law can be very harsh to those who sleep on their rights. The law provides that you must prepare a claim in writing and file it in court within a specified time after your injury. In some situations you must also prepare and serve a specific and detailed Notice of Injury on the wrongdoer within a certain time frame our your claim will be lost even if you later file a claim in court within the applicable time. The time you have to file a claim varies according to the type of injury, the identity of the wrongdoer, and the age or mental capacity of the person injured. The determination of when a claim should be filed can be very complicated. In fact, legal disputes concerning whether individual claims have been timely filed have reached the Supreme Court of this State.
If you or a loved one is injured by a wrongdoer, a good rule of thumb is to contact an experienced law firm as soon as possible after the injury. In the meantime, do not talk to the wrongdoer or any representative of the wrongdoer’s insurance company.
