Sometimes, you don’t know about an injury until a later date. After a car accident, it’s common to exchange insurance information and then move on without checking your health. Then the back or neck pains start. You find out that you have whiplash, and you can’t work. How do you go about recovering what you’re owed? That’s where the Indiana statute of limitations and working with a Merrillville personal injury lawyer from Lerner and Rowe comes into play.
Indiana Statute of Limitations Defined
Simply put, the statute of limitations is the amount of time you have to file a case. When you are injured, a clock starts ticking. During that time, you might be pursuing a settlement with the insurance agency. Yet you haven’t filed your case. This impending deadline is the statute of limitations, and it is slightly different in each legal jurisdiction. Here is how Indiana’s legal guidelines spell out the statute of limitations:
- The Indiana statute of limitations states that plaintiffs generally have two years from the date of the injury to file a claim.
- It can start on the discovery date of the injury.
- If someone is incapacitated, the statute is tolled (to stop or suspend).
- If either party leaves the state, the statute is tolled.
For minors, the statute is tolled until they are 18. A minor can have a legal guardian file on their behalf. Sometimes, the legal guardian does not know the full rights of a minor to pursue their case. This gives minors the right to act once they are an adult.
Why Does the Indiana Statute of Limitation Get Tolled Until an Injury is Discovered?
Sometimes, a person only discovers an injury at a later date. There are many situations where this could apply:
- For head injuries, a concussion might be missed right away. For spine or neck injuries, like whiplash, someone might not notice their case until a few weeks after the fact.
- Some injuries happen over a period of time. Let’s say someone works an assembly line job. A repetitive stress injury could take months or years to develop.
- In medical malpractice claims, someone might not discover the injury until after the fact.
- Sometimes, a defendant might try to conceal their involvement in an injury.
- For something like asbestos, the injury happens at a very slow rate over the time of exposure. It can take a decade for asbestos to cause lung cancer.
The Indiana statute of limitations is designed to be fair, yet flexible. For a defendant, they shouldn’t have to wait for two decades to know if they are going to get sued. But, if an injury is discovered much, much later, the plaintiff still has an avenue to pursue their case. Over time, the quality of evidence for a personal injury degrades. Witnesses don’t remember details as clearly and become harder to contact, documentation can be lost, and parties can move out of the jurisdictional area.
Why Is It Important to File Your Claim Quickly?
There is one landmark case in Indiana where the statute of limitations hurt a case. In Wehling v. Citizens National Bank. While not a personal injury case, this case shows what happens if someone misses the statute of limitations. This case took place years after the alleged incident. However, this case involved a tax sale. The court determined that the date of the offense was ascertainable (even though they were unaware of it).
Theoretically, the same issue could apply in an injury case. Let’s say that after an accident happened, you had whiplash. You had pain but didn’t see a doctor. A good defense attorney could argue that the plaintiff should have discovered the injury when they noticed the pain.
In Indiana, there is not a minimum time to present a plaintiff with a settlement offer under the insurance policy. If you get a settlement offer 18 months after your injury, your time to file a case is only four months. Therefore, it is important to start thinking about a claim relatively quickly.
How Do You Prove the Statute of Limitations?
You can prove the statute of limitations with medical records and other documentation. This is called the reasonable diligence standard. If you want to bring a case, you must prove that you acted promptly when you became aware of an injury. If there is any question about the statute of limitations, it ultimately is the plaintiff to make the case, as the burden of proof is on the plaintiff.
“Proactive measures” are the responsibility of the plaintiff in a personal injury case and the statute of limitations. The plaintiff must actively pursue justice for their injury.
Work with Lerner and Rowe to Overcome the Indiana Statute of Limitations
If you’ve been injured, you must act on your case quickly. A personal injury lawyer from Lerner and Rowe can help you move your case along in Merrillville, Indiana. Their team will help you determine whether or not you have a case and can file on your behalf within the statute of limitations.
Call Lerner and Rowe now at 219-999-0122 to set up your free case evaluation and consultation. Or fill out this FREE online form. You also have the option to reach out via LiveChat, where professional representatives are available to schedule your appointment.