After getting into a truck accident, one of the most important things to know is that there is only a limited amount of time to pursue legal action to recover damages based on your injuries. While it is always better to pursue legal action sooner rather than later in order to preserve evidence and make sure that when parties are asked questions that everything is fresh in their minds, New York Civil Practice Law & Rules § 214 dictates that generally, the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit following a truck accident is three years after the date of the accident.
No fault insurance coverage in New York
In New York, every car and truck is required to have No-Fault Coverage or Personal Injury Protection, sometimes referred to as “PIP,” for regular medical expenses after a car or truck accident of at least $50,000.00, which is going to follow the vehicle that you are occupying at the time of the accident. For these benefits, you have just thirty days to file an application for No-Fault benefits with the relevant insurance company. It is very important that after a truck accident when you get your medical care, the No-Fault application is filed timely for you to get the proper care that you need. PIP coverage may not cover all of your medical expenses if you are seriously injured in a car accident.
The statute of limitations is not always three years in a trucking lawsuit
When recovering damages from another party, however, as stated above, the lawsuit must be filed within three years of the truck accident occurring; the deadline to file a claim will never be extended under any circumstances, but it can be shortened. If the truck that struck you is owned by a government or municipality, in that instance, the deadline changes significantly, requiring what is called a Notice of Claim to be sent to the relevant government or municipality within ninety (90) days of the accident, and subsequently a lawsuit to be filed within one year and ninety days of the accident. Hiring a lawyer as soon as you can after getting into a truck accident is essential to being able to recover the damages sustained in the accident.
Why is there a statute of limitations for truck accidents?
The statute of limitations is intended to make sure all parties are fairly able to be represented in court. New York has stated that after three years in a truck accident, there is no more need to defend an action for injuries caused based on the merits of the case, and instead, the court will likely dismiss the action as untimely.
Do I even need to hire an attorney in a trucking accident case?
Some may feel that it is more beneficial to just pursue a lawsuit on their own and keep the entire amount recovered; however, an experienced trial attorney can help you recover more or can even be the difference between recovering for injuries sustained in a trucking accident and not recovering any amount for yourself. This is because an insurance company is not going to want to pay every claim against them. There are several tactics that insurance companies take to avoid liability in the accident and several phases of the litigation process that an attorney can help you through. A lawsuit takes a huge amount of time and skill. Often in New York, after a trucking accident case is filed, it will not even be ready to go to an actual trial until at least a year has passed. During that time, the attorneys will work tirelessly to navigate through all phases of a lawsuit, from pleadings to discovery to motions and the trial itself. A litigation attorney needs to know the ins and outs of the litigation process and have experience litigating in every relevant court, as even in the same city, certain courts can operate in different ways. A person who pursues a case in Manhattan will have to go through a somewhat different process than one who may pursue the same case in Brooklyn. An experienced attorney that regularly appears in court will make sure you are in the right court and will know the process in that court.
It is highly recommended that if you need to pursue a trucking accident case, you retain an experienced litigation attorney.
Should I wait to hire a truck accident attorney?
Before even getting to the point of having papers filed in court, the preparation and filing of a lawsuit takes time and resources. Often, a plaintiff’s attorney helping someone pursue a truck accident lawsuit will have to ascertain the proper parties to file the lawsuit against, specify the time and place of the accident in a complaint, and review medical records to ensure that you have suffered what is legally defined as a “serious injury” under New York law. Therefore, if you have been in a truck accident and require the assistance of a lawyer, seeking out the right attorney for you as early as possible is essential for you to maintain your legal claim against the truck that caused your injuries.
Which attorney should I hire?
The right attorneys for you in a trucking accident case are those who have experience dealing with big trucking companies and the defenses which will be asserted in any trucking accident case.
You want an experienced team of attorneys on your side to help you recover the entire amount you are entitled to and avoid the proverbial minefield of defenses an insurance company will set forth to attempt to avoid paying for injuries sustained. Furthermore, with the various rules and complexities of litigation, you want an experienced team of attorneys who regularly go to court.
The team of attorneys at Tonalaw has the experience needed to aggressively pursue your claims and get you the maximum recovery after a trucking accident occurs. The attorneys at Tonalaw are experienced litigators who are dedicated to their clientele and regularly appear in courts all over the New York Metropolitan and Long Island areas. They have years of experience litigating cases and know the ins and outs of the litigation process. For a free consultation, call 1-833-TONALAW or contact us online.
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