Are There Time Limits To Making A Personal Injury Claim?
To prevent people from being sued many years after an event and to prevent claimants holding a claim over a potential defendant indefinitely there are time limits in place for making a personal injury claim. Before making a personal injury claim you should ensure that you aware of these time limits to make sure that you are not precluded from bringing a claim.
To prevent people from being sued many years after an event and to prevent claimants holding a claim over a potential defendant indefinitely there are time limits in place for making a personal injury claim. Before making a personal injury claim you should ensure that you aware of these time limits to make sure that you are not precluded from bringing a claim.
The time limits from bringing a personal injury claim are set out in the Limitation Act 1980. The general rule under this piece of legislation is that the claimant must bring his or her claim to court within three years of the date of the accident. You should be aware that this does not mean you should seek legal help within three years, but rather the claim must be issued at court. Accordingly, you should seek legal guidance well before the three year limitation so that our personal injury solicitors in Wakefield have enough time to gather evidence, establish liability and either negotiate a settlement or issue the claim at court before the end of the three years.
Injury Claim Time Limits
There are some exceptions to this rule. In the case of a child the claim can be brought until three years after the child’s 18th birthday i.e. before the child turns 21. In the case of a deceased the claim must be brought within three years of death. Where the injury is a medical condition where the symptoms do not appear immediately the three years begins from the date of knowledge, which is usually the date the symptoms appear or from when the condition is diagnosed.
In other cases the claim must be brought within two years and this is common with accidents that have taken place abroad and those that have occurred as a result of a criminal act and the claim is being made against the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
The time limits are not always the same and therefore you should seek the guidance of one of our personal injury solicitors in Wakefield as soon as possible who will be best placed to inform you of the time limits.
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