If you have suffered an accident or personal injury, you may be under the assumption that you can file a claim at any time. However, you should be aware that Florida law determines time limits on a diversity of lawsuits, among them, personal injury claims. Also, there are different prescription periods for different types of personal injuries.
What Do These Time Limits Mean To You?
In legal terms, a prescription refers to a time limit to file a claim for a crime or injury. Once this amount of time has gone by, you, as the victim, cannot make a claim. The prescription for specific personal injuries ranges from one to six years. For this reason, it is very important for you to consult a personal injury lawyer in Fort Lauderdale as soon as possible after having suffered an injury by a third party.
You may be hesitant at this point, thinking that you need to have a lot of money to be able to hire a personal injury lawyer, but that is not necessarily the case. Many lawyers will review your case and make a recommendation on how to proceed without charging you a fee. They will wait until you receive payment for your claim to collect their fees.
Prescription Times For Personal Injury In Florida
The statute of limitations in Florida varies according to the type of personal injury you have suffered, although in general terms, most have a statute of limitations of four years. This includes product liability, vehicle accidents, and other common types of personal injuries. Yet, this time period is reduced to two years in cases of negligence, including wrongful death and medical malpractice. You must discuss the particulars of your case with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after your incident in order to find out what statute of limitations applies to your situation.
Are There Any Exceptions To This Time Frame?
In many states, when it comes to filing a claim for an injury suffered by a minor, the clock does not start to run, so to speak, until the child has turned eighteen. This reflects the fact that minors cannot file claims on their own behalf. Hence, minors who have suffered an accident or personal injury have the opportunity of filing a claim several years after the fact, once they have become adults.
Another exception of personal injury cases that take longer to prescribe, is known as the “discovery of harm” rule. This means that if a personal injury is discovered years after it happens (such as when a medical mistake leaves a person infertile and this person does not discover this problem until they try to conceive some years later), the prescription period may be extended, allowing the time to start running from the moment when the injury was discovered. It is imperative to directly consult a personal injury lawyer in Fort Lauderdale if you believe any of these exceptions apply to you or your minor child.
The laws of Florida regarding personal injury lawsuits are quite complex. That is why it is so important to talk to a personal injury lawyer, like the ones you’ll find at Friedland & Associates in Fort Lauderdale, that can help you complete the process of filing a claim so that you can receive the compensation you deserve.
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