To know how long you have to file a car accident, car wreck claim, we call them wrecks in our office because that’s what they are. So, for a car wreck case, to know how long you have to file, it requires a little bit of investigation. And it’s another reason why you should contact us right away to figure that out. It depends is the answer. So here are the basic scenarios.
If it’s a car wreck involving another citizen of the community that is not a government worker or a government employee, state or federal, then you have two years to file your claim. Two years from the anniversary date of your claim, you must file it or you’ll be barred from ever pursuing that claim.
If, on the other hand, the other entity or the person that hit you or is responsible for the wreck is a government entity of any sort, and actually, the statutes are different for state and federal law, but we tell people to just stick by the state law. It’s the safe way to go. And to file a claim against any government entity, if a government employee was on work duty and hit you, is a six-month window. So, you must file what we call a notice of government claim within six months of the wreck actually happening.
So those are the two primary what we call statutes of limitations, or the time period within which you must bring a claim or you will be barred from doing so later.
In California and under California law, you have two years from the date of the wreck to file your lawsuit against another private citizen in California or a company in California.
You have six months in California to file your notice of government claim if the person that is responsible for your wreck or a government entity is responsible for your wreck, that is employed by a government entity that is responsible for your wreck. So, that’s whether it’s a state government, a municipality, federal government, or even in certain instances there are federally owned corporations, for example, like Amtrak.
View more Car Accident videos here.
Disclaimer: Attorney advertising. This is a dramatization. Past results do not guarantee future performance. Attorneys Mark Venardi and Martin Zurada are admitted to practice law in California only. This communication does not establish an attorney-client relationship, and Venardi Zurada LLP must accept your case before we will provide any legal services.
