Would it make any sense to file a claim for injuries 8 months after an accident?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Would it make any sense to file a claim for injuries 8 months after an accident?
I had a car accident 8 months ago. First I hit a car from behind then my car was hit from behind by another car. At first I thought that I didn’t have any injuries but 6 moths ago I started to get serious back problems. It turned out that I had a herniated disk. I had to go through a lot of pain and treatments. I didn’t think of filing a claim because I just moved here from Germany 2 years ago and over there it’s not common to file claims like this. There normally the health insurance pays for all treatments and time off work. Is there any chance to claim anything from the driver who ran into my car even though the accident was 8 months ago?
Asked on June 1, 2018 under Personal Injury, Florida
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
You can still file a personal injury claim with the at-fault party's insurance carrier.
Notify the insurance carrier in writing of your personal injury claim. It is not uncommon for auto accident injuries to manifest themselves sometime after the accident.
When you complete your medical treatment and are released by the doctor or are declared by the doctor to be permanent and stationary, which means having reached a point in your medical treatment where no further improvement is anticipated, obtain your medical bills, medical reports, and documentation of wage loss. Your personal injury claim filed with the at-fault party's insurance carrier should include those items.
Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports document your injury and are used to determine compensation for pain and suffering which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.
If the case is settled with the at-fault party's insurance carrier, NO lawsuit is filed.
If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the at-fault party's insurance carrier, reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the at-fault party.
If the case is NOT settled, your lawsuit for negligence must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
Florida has a four year statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit in a personal injury case. This means your lawsuit must be filed prior to the four year anniversary of the date of the accident.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.