How Long After my Accident Can I File an Injury Claim?

Mercer County Injury Lawyers Providing Council to Clients in Trenton, Princeton, Pennington, and across Mercer County NJ

Many of our Mercer County personal injury clients ask us how much time they have to file their claim. The answer to this question is two-fold, the answer by the letter of the law and the answer that any experienced accident or injury attorney would urge you to advise you with.

By law, a personal injury claim must be filed within 2 years of the injury occurring. This is what is known as the statute of limitations.

In practice however, the longer you wait to file your Mercer County personal injury claim, the more difficult it becomes to successfully resolve the claim. Not only does it become easier for the defendant to deny responsibility for your injuries, you also open yourself up to suspicion of an intervening cause for your injury. An intervening cause is the idea that your injuries were actually caused by another accident you were involved in sometime after the initial accident.

Intervening Cause Attorneys Princeton, NJ

The  best way to remove doubts or suspicions about intervening cause is to seek medical attention as soon as possible after your accident. Especially in cases of car accidents, individuals don’t immediately feel their injuries, and only at a later time realize the effects the accident has had on their health. Latent injuries such as spinal injuries or brain injuries can have serious long-term effects on your health, and you deserve to be compensated for these injuries if someone else’s reckless or negligent actions caused them.

Understandably, many people are worried about the cost of an emergency room visit, but by speaking with medical professionals who can diagnose, treat, and document all of your injuries sustained in any accident, you are protecting yourself from accusations of intervening cause, something which can very negatively impact any personal injury settlement you may be entitled to. Every hour you delay seeking medical treatment makes claims of intervening cause that much more plausible and difficult to disprove.

Beyond seeking immediate medical attention when you are involved in an accident, your best option is to retain an experienced Mercer County personal injury attorney. Your attorney can consult with medical experts to help prove your injuries were caused when and how you say they were, and can work to disprove all false claims of intervening cause by finding and showing the necessary evidence to the court.

Contact a Mercer County Personal Injury Attorney Today

At The Law Office of Cohen & Riechelson, we have extensive experience helping clients across Mercer County, Trenton, Princeton and Hamilton recover the compensation they need and deserve for their injuries. We work closely with investigative and medical experts to help prove your claim, and provide honest, intelligent, and diligent service to all of our clients.

If you or a loved one has been injured by another party’s reckless or negligent actions in any kind of accident including car accidents, medical malpractice, product liability, premises liability, or a slip and fall, contact our offices today for a free and confidential consultation. Call our Hamilton office at 609-528-2596 or contact us online.