Thousands of people every year die from car accidents and many others sustain serious injuries that can affect them for the rest of their lives. If you have suffered a car crash in California, remember that a personal injury attorney can help you recover compensation that helps pay your medical bills or covers the cost of damaged property.

In some cases, car accident victims delay to file their injury claim right away. If you wait too long, you may not be able to receive compensation after the accident, possibly leaving you injured or with damaged property and no financial relief.

The best course of action is to contact a personal injury attorney as soon as you can after an accident. The sooner you call an attorney, the sooner you can get the help you need.

How Long Can I Wait To File A Car Accident Injury Claim?

Ideally, you should file a car accident injury claim immediately. But if you do need to wait for any reason, there is a statute of limitations that sets the timeframe in which you must take action.

Statutes of limitations exist for both civil and criminal causes of action, and begin to run from the date of the injury, or the date it was discovered, or the date on which it would have been discovered with reasonable efforts. Many statutes of limitations are actual legislative statutes, while others may come from judicial common law.

In the state of California, there is a two year statute of limitations for filing a car accident injury claim. This means, you have exactly two years from the date of your car accident to file a lawsuit for the injury or wrongful death caused by the negligence of another person.

Should I Still Call A Lawyer Even If The Accident Was Partially My Fault?

It’s never simple to determine fault in a car accident case. In some cases, both drivers were operating negligently and therefore contributed to the accident equally. In other cases, one driver can be deemed thirty or forty percent responsible. In cases where a driver was texting while driving or driving while intoxicated, it may be found that they are deemed one hundred percent at fault in this case.

If you are at fault to any degree, and choose not to work with a lawyer, you run the risk of getting slammed with fault for the entire accident. You may be required to pay a sum of money to the other driver, and your car insurance payments might rise. But if you team up with a lawyer, you can defend yourself in court and demonstrate precisely why you should not be held responsible for the whole accident.

It’s best if you call a lawyer right away to get started building a strong case for your defense. The soon you call a lawyer and schedule a consultation, the stronger your case will be. Your lawyer will help you collect evidence of the accident, help you bring a strong case before a judge, and will liaise with your insurance company to take the burden off of you. The sooner you call, the sooner you can get relief.

How Does A Lawyer Help After A Car Accident?

By hiring a personal injury attorney, you are taking the best first step to securing justice after your car accident. The option does exist for you to defend yourself in court, but only a personal injury attorney in California understands the specific guidelines laid out by California state law, and can apply them to the facts of your case in a way that ends up in your favor. By securing a lawyer, you ensure that you understand every step of the car accident claim process, and don’t make any costly mistakes on accident.

A personal injury attorney will first speak with you at a consultation in order to understand what happened. Not all car accident attorneys in Riverside offer a free consultation to car accident victims, but The Accident Network Law Group does. At your consultation, you can expect to have your initial questions answered by a legal representative who cares.

Your lawyer will then begin building your case by collecting evidence, eyewitness testimonies, and insurance information of the other party. With all the details of the car accident in place, your lawyer can demonstrate before a judge that you deserve leniency, as the accident was not entirely your fault.

If the negligent party in your claim is not insured or underinsured, it can also complicate and delay you from getting the damages you are owed. Your personal injury lawyer can help manage this situation so that it does not negatively affect the outcome of your case.

In the event that you are offered a settlement after your car accident and you feel that it does not sufficiently cover the cost of your medical bills or property damage, your lawyer will help you renegotiate that settlement with the judge. Best of all, you pay no fees unless you win your case.

Schedule A Free, No Obligation Consultation With The Accident Network Law Group Today

As a reminder, the statute of limitations for filing a car accident claim in California is two years. Any car accident victim has two years from the date of the accident to contact a lawyer and begin the process of filing a personal injury claim. If you or a loved one had suffered an accident in California, call The Accident Network Law Group as soon as possible. The sooner you call, the sooner you can get financial and emotional relief after a car accident.

Not all personal injury attorneys in Riverside, California offer a free consultation at no obligation to you. But at The Accident Network Law Group, our attorneys are compassionate and dedicated to helping car accident victims when they need it most. That’s why our team of attorneys take no fees unless you win.

Call The Accident Network Law Group today at (951) 291-0976 to get the help you need.