by Zayed Al-Sayyed

Personal InjuryDecember 3, 20240 comments

How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Arizona?

How long do you have to file a personal injury claim in Arizona? Unfortunately, accidents do happen. When you’ve been involved in an accident, it’s important to understand how long you have to file a personal injury claim.

Knowing the statute of limitations for different claims helps ensure you submit a claim for damages rightfully owed to you. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about filing a personal injury claim in Arizona.

Why Does Arizona Have a Statute of Limitations?

The statute of limitations is the amount of time you have to bring a lawsuit or claim forward. Since Arizona is a fault-based state, you must prove that another party’s actions caused your injuries in order to recover damages. In many cases, personal injury claims are paid out through insurance carriers. However, if you can’t reach an agreement, you may need to file a personal injury claim.

The statute of limitations is in place in Arizona to encourage prompt settlement of disputes, prevent someone from using the legal system to bring up old matters, and prevent court backups. For example, evidence can be lost or destroyed over time. The statute of limitations ensures that lawsuits are brought forward timely to leverage available evidence.

How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Arizona?

The statute of limitations is generally two years from the incident date in Arizona. This deadline includes injuries related to dog bites, bike accidents, wrongful deaths, truck accidents, slip and fall accidents, car accidents, motorcycle accidents, and medical malpractice.

There are some exceptions to the two-year statute of limitations. First, the Arizona Tort Claims Act reduces the timeline you have to file claims against government entities. A notice of claim against a government entity or employee must be filed within 180 days of the injury or accident. If your notice of claim is denied, you have one year to file a formal lawsuit.

Another exception occurs when a minor is involved. Since minors do not have the legal capacity to file a lawsuit, they must wait until their 18^th birthday. The statute of limitations then begins on their 18^th birthday. However, parents and guardians of minor children are allowed to file personal injury lawsuits on the child’s behalf.

The Impact of the Discovery Rule on the Statute of Limitations

Another notable exception to the two-year statute of limitations is found under the Discovery Rule. This rule extends the timeline for filing a lawsuit or claim until the injury is discovered. This commonly applies to medical malpractice claims. Let’s say a surgeon makes a mistake during a procedure that results in harm, but you don’t know about the injury until one year later. In this case, you will have two years from the date you discovered the injury to file a lawsuit.

Summary

Do you believe you have a personal injury claim? If so, contact our team at The Law Office of Zayed Al-Sayyed today to schedule your free consultation. We can help you sort through the facts of your case to maximize your settlement.