If you are involved in an Arizona car accident, there are a number of laws and statutes that you should be aware of in order to make sure that you are able to claim any injuries or damages you have incurred. Of course, if your claim is serious, you will want to contact a lawyer, who can guide you through the process, but in the meantime, knowing certain things will help.
Filing a Car Accident Injury Claim in Arizona
In Arizona there is a statute of limitations on auto accident claims regarding injuries. The personal injury statute of limitations in Arizona is two years from the date of an accident, or two years from the date you discovered you had an injury if the injury was not immediately apparent. If you have not filed a personal injury claim related to the accident within that time period, you will not be able to file one to recover any damages or medical costs resulting from that accident.
In Arizona, auto accidents are handled on a fault basis, meaning that the courts will decide who was at fault in the accident in order to determine whose insurance is required to pay the damages. If you have been determined to be at fault in the accident, your insurance will have to pay the costs related to the claim, and if you were determined not to be at fault after police and/or court examinations of the case, then the other driver’s insurance will be liable. There are no caps on the amount of monetary bodily-injury damages which can be recovered in the state of Arizona.
You can sue for recovery of damages in the state of Arizona if you have been injured in a car accident where you were not determined to be the party at fault. You may need to sue if the at-fault driver’s insurance company is unresponsive, or if you were hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist and your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages were exhausted in the process of treating your injuries.
Getting Help
If you need to sue the other driver, you should definitely contact an attorney immediately to preserve your rights and make sure that you do not exhaust the statue of limitations on your claims. Even if you are simply filing a claim with your own or the other party's insurance, it is a good idea to have an attorney help you to ensure your rights are protected.
