After being seriously injured in an accident, whether it be a motor vehicle crash, slip-and-fall accident, medical malpractice mistake, or other incident, you are probably feeling confused and unsure of what you should do next. Many injury victims don’t even consider the thought of contacting an attorney until the enormity of what they have experienced comes crashing down in the form of severe financial, emotional, and physical losses.
But an attorney can help make the claims process easier to navigate. Kooi Law can give you the peace of mind you need to feel confident in your decision to move forward with a personal injury lawsuit. As you prepare to move forward with your case, there are several Indiana personal injury laws you will want to be aware of. We go into further detail about three of these laws below.
The Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims
One of the most important personal injury laws that could impact your case is the state of Indiana’s statute of limitations. This is the law that sets the amount of time an injury victim has to get their civil lawsuit filed within the Indiana civil court system. Accident survivors will have up to two years from the date of the accident to get their claim filed.
However, this deadline could be pushed back depending on a number of different factors. Maybe you thought you were fine after the accident but ended up suffering a severe traumatic brain injury that went undiagnosed for a week after the accident. This is just one example, but it gives you a good idea of the situations in which the statute of limitations may not be quite so obvious.
If you are unsure of how much longer you have to get your claim filed, you can ask your attorney for more information. It is critical for your lawsuit to be filed before the Indiana statute of limitations expires. If your claim isn’t filed and the statute of limitations runs out, you can expect to have your case dismissed.
Modified Comparative Negligence and Its Impact on Your Claim
Another Indiana personal injury law that could affect your lawsuit is the contributory negligence system in place. In Indiana, the civil courts follow a modified comparative negligence system. Here, if you are partially at fault for causing your accident, you are in luck. You can still be awarded compensation for your suffering. But this is only true if you are less than fifty-one percent culpable for the accident.
However, there is one caveat. Your injury settlement will be reduced by your percentage of fault. So let’s say you were t-boned in a failure to yield accident. But you weren’t wearing your seat belt at the time of the accident. The judge might find you ten percent at fault for your injuries, since you made the risky decision to drive without a safety belt.
The jury could award you $250,000 in your lawsuit. But because modified comparative negligence applies, your $250,000 will be reduced by ten percent, and you will actually be awarded $225,000. That’s a $25,000 loss! For this reason, it’s important you have an attorney who can make sure no unwarranted fault is placed on you.
What It Means to Live In a Fault State
Car and motor vehicle accidents are some of the most common types of cases seen in civil court. Indiana is a fault state for car accidents and insurance purposes. This means if you were involved in a car accident, you will need to file your insurance claim with the liable party’s insurance company as opposed to your own.
The insurance company will be responsible for covering certain types of losses, such as property damage and medical expenses. But anything the insurance company doesn’t compensate you for will need to be sought after in court.