When must I take legal action?
      Most personal injury claims are subject to a two year statute of limitations.  This means that in most cases you have to file a civil action within two years of the date of the accident or you may not recover any money.  In claims against a government entity usually, a claim must be filed within six months.
     There are a number of exceptions to the statue of limitations and you need to consult with an attorney as to what applies to your particular case. 

When should I consult with or hire an attorney?
      Immediately!  Normally there is no charge for an initial consultation, so you have nothing to loose by talking to an attorney.  Under most cases the attorney will accept the case on a contingency basis - that is the attorney will be entitled to an agreed percentage of what the case is resolved for and if there is no favorable resolution there would be no fee.  The fees are generally the same whether you hire the attorney one week or several months after the accident.  Delays in hiring an attorney may seriously jeopardize your claim.  There is often substantial preparation that needs to be done in terms of investigation, accident reconstruction, obtaining witness statements, special damages and reviewing medical treatment and reports.

What contact should I have with an insurance carrier?
     You should report your accident to your own carrier immediately.  You need to cooperate with your own insurance company but remember that they are not always on your side.  For example if the party at fault in the accident has no insurance or not enough to cover your claim you may eventually have to try to obtain a recovery against your own carrier.  No matter how polite the insurance representative is they work for a business that probably follows the policy - the less we pay you the better job we are doing. 
      Other than getting the initial claim information from the other party's insurance adjuster - you probably should not give any statements without having an attorney present.  If you do give a statement they may later use it against you and use it to contradict other statements that they are entitled to obtain from you once litigation has commenced.

Personal Injury FAQ Continued>>

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what's a FAQ?
FAQ stands for frequently asked questions, a term many websites use to describe a mock question/answer session that is used to help customers with their concerns.  This website uses a FAQ to answer many of your legal questions.