What is a personal injury claim?
A personal injury claim is a lawsuit filed by a victim of a personal injury accident or crime. The accident usually happens due to the negligence of a person. The victim might seek for compensation in the civil court of North Carolina. If you have suffered a personal injury due to the actions of another party, you should consult with a personal injury attorney to discuss how to recover any losses you may have incurred.
Statute of limitation
As with every state, North Carolina has set limits to the time during which a person is eligible for filing a personal injury claim. The Statute of limitation in North Carolina is as follows:
- The time limit given for filing a personal injury lawsuit is THREE YEARS
- The time start right from the date when the injury occurred
- If the three year time passes and you fail to claim for your losses, you are no more eligible to get compensation in the court.
Insurance claims in North Carolina
North Carolina follows a ‘No Fault’ insurance policy in personal injury cases. If you are involved in a personal injury case involving motor vehicle accident, you can claim your damages in one of the below ways:
- Filing a personal injury lawsuit against the driver who is at fault in the accident
- Filing a claim with your own insurer who will then seek reimbursement form the insurer of the other party
- Filing a third party insurance claim with the driver who is at fault in the accident.
Comparative fault policies
In personal injury cases with shared faults, government of North Carolina follows a ‘modified comparative negligence rule.’ In simple words, this means that the amount of compensation the injured was entitled to get reduced if he himself shares fault in the accident. Let’s take an EXAMPLE:
Imagine you are being hit by a car in the back while standing by the side of the road. The other driver was over speeding and hence was found at fault. However, it was found that your break lights were not on and hence you are at fault as well. The compensation that had to be $ 10,000 gets reduced to $ 8,000 due to your own share of fault. If the injured shares less than 50 percent of fault, then he is not eligible for any compensation in the court.
A real example of personal injury case
In a rare personal injury case in North Carolina, a person was served with bleach instead of water in a restaurant. The injured suffered several gastrointestinal injuries due to this malpractice. The Lanier Law Group compensated $40,000 as the result of the litigation settlement.
Damage caps for personal injury cases
Damage caps are the limits placed on the compensation amount to be gained in a personal injury claim. Like all states, North Carolina has also placed damage caps in personal injury cases. These are as follows:
- Damages in medical map practice for non-economic damages is capped at $500,000
- There is no cap on other injury cases emerging from medical malpractice
- Caps for punitive damage is up to three times the actual damage or $ 250,000 (whichever is lesser)
