Filing A Personal Injury Claim After Expiry of the Statute of Limitation
The statute of limitation refers to the given period of time within which you can file a case. Once this time period expires, your cases become invalid.
For any type of injury cases, a personal injury lawyer can advise you on the time period set for your state. In some states, the time is one year. In other states, it may be more. However, in the event that you have been a victim of personal injury and your time to file a claim has run out, there may be some circumstances that would still render your case valid. A siegfried and jensen personal injury lawyer would still advise you to claim for compensation under such circumstances.
Here are some of the circumstances which can still make your case valid even after the statutes of limitations have expired.
1. Discovery Rule
Discovery rule refers to the fact that the statute of limitations does not start counting until you discover you have been injured due to negligence on the part of someone else.
A case in point is a case where you were exposed to asbestos while at your place of work. Most asbestos-related illnesses take years to manifest themselves, and you may discover these illnesses long after the statute of limitation has run out. The discovery rule applies that you can still file for compensation as soon as you discover that the illnesses occurred due to an unsafe environment at their workplace years ago.
2. Injured Minors
For children under the age of 18, the statute of limitations does not start counting until they reached the age of 18.
Therefore, if you were injured in an accident as a result of negligence of another party at the age of 15 and the statute of limitations expires after one year in your state, you still have a valid case until you get to 18 years. A personal injury lawyer will need to provide documentation supporting the claim for your injuries as a minor while filing for compensation on your behalf.More knowledge about personal injury lawyers at http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9321841/Drunk-driving.
3. Special Cases
There are some forms of personal injury that are considered special, under which the statute of limitations is extended. An example a child sexual abuse, where a victim is given up to the age of 48 to file for compensation.
You should get a competent siegfried and jensen lawyer to help you with an injury case. The personal injury lawyer will advise you on the rules, if any, that may apply to your personal injury case.
