What is a Personal Injury Claim?
A personal injury claim entitles an individual who has suffered an injury at the hands of another’s negligence, to claim for compensation in the state of Vermont. The injury may be due to an accident or any deliberate wrong doing by another individual. A personal injury attorney can help the victim pursue his or her claim in an appropriate manner.
Statute of Limitations
Every state has set its own time limits for filing a personal injury claim and receiving the compensation from the negligent party. The state of Vermont is no different and has its own set of rules and regulations which needs to be followed. Some guidelines in Vermont that need to be considered are as follows:
- In Vermont, the statute of limitations for the victim suffering personal injury is THREE YEARS from the date of accident.
- If the injured party waits over three years to file a claim, the claim will not be heard in a court of law.
Motor Vehicle Insurance Criteria for Filing Claims Pertaining to Personal Injury
Vermont is known to be a ‘fault state’ in dealing with cases of personal injury. This means that a victim is eligible to receive compensation from the individual who is at fault. When an individual is involved in an accident resulting in a personal injury, he or she has several options for resolving the case:
- File a claim under his or her own insurance policy which may either be a car insurance policy or health insurance policy.
- File a claim under the negligent party’s insurance policy, also known as third insurance claim.
- File a personal injury lawsuit directly against the negligent party.
Analyzing the Fault in a Personal Injury Case
Often times the negligent party might blame the injured party in case of a personal injury. If the individual suffering with a personal injury is also found to be partially at fault, then the compensation amount to be received gets reduced by the percentage he or she is partially at fault. However, if the injured party shares 51% or more of the fault, he or she will be unable to collect any damages. This is due to the modified comparative fault rule implemented in Vermont.
Here is an illustration of comparative modified fault rule: Suppose a person gets severely injured by a speeding car while he was walking outside the area for pedestrians. In the trial, it was found that the victim shared 30% of the fault. Due to this, his personal injury compensation gets reduced to $7000 from what would have otherwise been $10,000. This decision complies with Vermont’s modified comparative fault rule.
Damage Caps in Vermont
Some states place limits on the amount of money that can be awarded in personal injury cases. In Vermont however, there are no damage caps on personal injury cases. This includes every personal injury case including medical malpractice. Below notions give a brighter picture in this regard.
