When you have a personal injury claim, the law says you must file it within a specific amount of time. The clock starts ticking when you suffer the injury.
The time limit is called the statute of limitations. It helps to ensure that cases are fresh when they get to court.
Importance
The reason for a time limit is to keep the legal process fair. Over time, evidence can disappear or become less effective. For example, witnesses’ memories will not be as clear or documents could become lost. By limiting the time in which you can file a legal claim, the law also helps ensure people do not end up in court many years later for something that they believed was resolved or was in the past. It can be difficult to defend against something that you thought was over.
Limitations for personal injury
The types of personal injury claims you may make include medical malpractice, injuries to your body and property damage. Under Indiana law, all of these personal injury claims have a statute of limitations of two years.
You should also note that if you receive a judgment in your favor for a personal injury claim, you have 20 years in which to collect it before the order becomes invalid. This is essential to understand because the court may make the order that someone must pay you damages, but that does not mean they will do so promptly or without hassle. So, once you get an order, you should seek to collect it as soon as possible.
The statute of limitations is essential to your case. If you should try to file your claim after the expiration of the time limit, the judge will throw it out.