Arizona Auto Accident Law: Understanding The Statute Of Limitations For Filing A Lawsuit

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021

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UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021Fact Checked

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Jeffrey Johnson

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021

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It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

UPDATED: Jul 15, 2021Fact Checked

Every state has its own statutes of limitations for filing lawsuits’ and those statutes are different depending upon the situation. One of the biggest mistakes potential plaintiffs make is letting the statute of limitations pass before taking appropriate action. Dave Wattel, an Arizona attorney who has been handling plaintiffs’ cases exclusively for over 20 years, explained how they work in Arizona.

  • Standard automobile accident: When dealing with a standard automobile accident and not a public entity, it’s a two-year statute of limitations.
  • Uninsured / underinsured claim: When dealing with an uninsured motorist claim or an underinsured motorist claim, it’s a three year statute of limitations.
  • Public entity: If you’re dealing with a public entity, that is you’re struck while driving your vehicle by a police officer that’s on the job or another public employee, then you have six months with which to serve your claim form upon the appropriate entity and one year with which to file your lawsuit. Many people are unaware of this specific requirement in Arizona.
  • Workers’ compensation: If you are injured while on the job and workers’ compensation is paying your benefits, you must get a re-assignment of your workers’ compensation claim’ that is, you must get an assignment of your personal injury claim from the workers’ compensation carrier by the one year anniversary of the loss. Otherwise, you have to file the lawsuit within the one year. So if you’re injured on the job and cannot get a reassignment of your workers’ compensation, the statute of limitations for that claim is also one year.
  • Minors: A minor’s statute of limitations doesn’t start to run until after their 18th birthday. However, their claim for medical expenses while they’re a minor is not really their claim. It’s their parents’ claim’ and that still has the same previous statute of limitations. But for the minor to pursue their own personal injury claim, they have two years to file from their 18th birthday.

If you’ve been injured in an automobile accident, contact an experienced Arizona car accident attorney to discuss your situation, evaluate your options and make sure that your case is filed within the appropriate statute of limitations time frame.

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Jeffrey Johnson

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

Insurance Lawyer

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

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