What is a Personal Injury?
A personal injury is any harm done to one’s body or property due to the negligent action of another person. A personal injury case can involve various types of accidents including, but not limited to: motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall cases, product liability, or even medical malpractice. A person who is a resident of Pennsylvania can file a lawsuit seek compensation for his or her personal injury from civil court.
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations is the time frame during which a person is allowed to file a claim for his personal injury in the court. In the state of Pennsylvania the statute of limitations is TWO YEARS to file a personal injury claim.
Insurance Claims in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania comes under the category of a ‘no fault’ state. This means that after a traffic accident, the insurance company of the injured party is liable to provide compensation for the damages. The rule does not take into account the person who is at fault in the accident. If someone is injured and wishes to take the case to the court, he or she need to meet certain requirements:
- His or her case should fall under serious injury threshold.
- The injured party has suffered serious injuries like disfigurement, dislocation or loss of body parts.
Shared Fault Rules in Pennsylvania
The state of Pennsylvania follows a modified comparative negligence rule when determining fault in an accident. The rule means that the amount of compensation the injured party is eligible to receive gets reduced if he or she is found to be partially at fault in the accident. If the person is found sharing 50 percent or more of the fault, he or she is not eligible to get any compensation at all.
Let’s take an EXAMPLE to know this rule better: Imagine that your car is are sitting by the side of road when you were rear-ended by a truck speeding through the road. It was found out that your break lights were not working when the accident happened. Since you are sharing the fault, your compensation will get reduced. The damage amount that would have been $10,000 gets reduced to $ 8,000 as it is determined that you are share 20 percent of the fault.
Damage Caps for Personal Injury Cases
Unlike other states, the Pennsylvania government has applied no damage caps on personal injury cases involving death and injury. The only limitation that might result in limits on damages is in the case of punitive damages. The limit for this is set to two times the amount of the actual resulting damages.
