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Is There A Deadline For Submitting A Personal Injury Claim?

I must warn you that waiting too long to make the decision to pursue a claim can hurt your case. Most cases need some sort of investigation performed. This might mean interviewing witnesses or taking photographs of the injuries or vehicle damage. The longer you take to decide whether to pursue a claim, the more chance that potentially important evidence will disappear. After all, memories fade, witnesses move away, accident scenes change, cars get repaired...you get the picture. The quicker you decide to pursue a claim, the sooner any potentially important evidence can be secured for future use in the claim or ultimately at trial, if your case is not settled before then.

I realize it takes some people longer to make important decisions, and that's perfectly okay. However, those who struggle with the decision sometimes simply wait too long before they decide that making a claim is in their best interest. Some people wait to contact a lawyer because they are hoping that the injury will go away and it never does. But whatever you do, please don't call me after the two-year anniversary of your injury. The Statute of Limitations on personal injury cases in Texas is two years. This means your case must be resolved or filed at the courthouse within two years of the date of the accident or it expires. The insurance company will not remind you of this important deadline.

Over the years I have received numerous calls from injury victims who waited past this very strict two-year deadline before they called me. When I inform these folks that they have waited too long and that their right to pursue a claim is lost forever, I always sense the disappointment in their voice because there is nothing I can do for them.

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