Chicago Car Accident Lawyer – What is the Illinois Statute of Limitations
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Were you involved in a car accident in Chicago, Illinois and you want to know how long the Illinois personal injury statute of limitations is? Check out this short video to find out.
Hey all, Barry Zlotowicz here – I’m a Chicago car accident lawyer. You may recognize me from my other YT channel called LawFull – but on this channel you’re going to get information that is 100% focused on Illinois law. If you have any questions for me on this or any other legal topic, reach out to me. I’m an open book on this stuff. Here’s my contact info:
Barry Zlotowicz
847-305-4105
Barry@Chicagolegalgroup.com
BLOG ON THIS TOPIC:
0:00 Introduction
0:35 2 Year Personal Injury Statute of Limitations
0:55 Applies to slip and falls, dog bites, motorcycle accidents, car accidents
1:54 Exceptions to the Illinois personal injury statute of limitations
2:24 Illinois statute of limitations for a minor
3:40 Governmental claims in IL have shorter time lines to file a lawsuit
Most personal injury lawsuits in Illinois, including those arising from injuries suffered in car accidents, must be filed within two years after the date of the crash or incident that caused the injury. And the clock starts running on the date you are injured.
This two-year statute of limitations also applies to slip and fall, dog bite, uber car accident cases, wrongful death cases (in most situations) and other injury cases.
Now if you only suffered property damage, you have five years rather than two to file a lawsuit for compensation for such losses.
Hey stay tuned to the end of this video because I’m going to tell you when in Illinois you have an even shorter timeline to file suit in a personal injury claim than the standard 2 year rule.
Now other types of cases have their own statute of limitations so if you have a criminal case that’s different, a breach of contract again very different. This video is only talking about injury cases.
Now there are some exceptions to the two year time limit. There may be situations where the SOL is “tolled” meaning the clock doesn’t start ticking on the timeline until a later date.
There are several situations where a statute may be tolled. But we’re only going to talk about a couple of them because they’re the only ones that really come up.
The main reason an Illinois limitations period can be delayed – or “tolled” – in a car accident or other personal injury lawsuit if an injury victim is under the age of 18 or is legally incompetent.
Such individuals cannot legally file a lawsuit on their own behalf, so the statute of limitations period is tolled until the victim turns 18 or when the victim regains their mental competence. However, parents or guardians may bring an injury lawsuit on behalf of a minor child before they turn 18.
Another situation that I’m just going to mention very briefly is called the discovery rule. And that involves cases where the victim does not discover that they’ve been injured right away. If that’s the situation in your case, definitely talk to an attorney and that’s all I’m going to say on that.
Finally, there may be circumstances that are just so extreme that justice requires that the timeline be extended. Perhaps the defendant intentionally midled or concealed what happened. I’m not going to talk any further about that type of tolling other than to again reco that you talk to an attorney.
Ok, I mentioned earlier there may be a situation where you actually have less than 2 years to file a lawsuit and you may even have to file a “Claim” before you file the lawsuit.
And that is when you’ve been injured by a governmental entity. I cannot emphasize this enough, if you get hit by a dumptruck or a school bus or you slip on a city sidewalk or a thousand diff types of situations, look immediately at your city rules regarding filing a claim.
Generally speaking though, after filing a claim you’ll have 1 year to file a lawsuit against the governmental entity.
Listen, if you were involved in an accident and you need some help, please reach out to me either in the comments section below or call or email me. And if you haven’t already would you subscribe to our channel? Thanks and have a great day.
Disclaimer: This video is for entertainment and informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice and the accuracy thereof is not warranted or guaranteed. This information is prone to errors and omissions. Use this information at your own risk. Watching this video does not create an attorney-client relationship.
#chicagocaraccidentlawyer #chicago #personalinjurylawyer
Were you involved in a car accident and you failed to file a lawsuit with in the set forth time limit? Tell us about it below.