Before filing a Pennsylvania personal injury claim, our Spear Greenfield legal team educates our clients on how Pennsylvania laws impact personal injury claims. Several state laws may affect your claim as a personal injury victim. These Pennsylvania personal injury laws can dictate deadlines for filing necessary paperwork, the ability to sue specific parties for an accident, and even the amount of money recovered from a personal injury accident. These state laws are complex, and failure to follow the rules can completely invalidate your personal injury case!
Below are some of the important Pennsylvania laws on personal injury and their impact on personal injury cases.
HOW MUCH TIME YOU HAVE TO FILE A PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM
Following an accident, every state has a statute of limitations. This is a window of time for filing a personal injury claim for their damages. While these deadlines differ based on case type among other factors, the statute of limitations in Pennsylvania is generally two years following an accident. This rule is very important, because once the deadline passes, the Pennsylvania court will likely refuse to hear your case. and you will not be able to win compensation for damages from your accident.
The time period for statute of limitations can vary for different types of personal injury cases. For a personal injury claim against another adult private citizen the statute of limitations is two years. If you are filing a personal injury claim against the government, there is a six month window following your injury to submit a notice of intention for filing this personal injury claim. Following initial notice, the deadline for filing the personal injury lawsuit in court is Pennsylvania’s two-year statute of limitation.
WHO YOU CAN NOT SUE
Pennsylvania personal injury laws limit who can be sued for a personal injury accident. Below are a few general examples of parties whom you cannot sue in most cases.
- Good Samaritans or first responders, while they are providing emergency care to you.
- Youth sports volunteers, including coaches or referees, during a sporting event or practice.
- Someone who injured you in the act of defending themselves or their property.
HOW MUCH YOU MIGHT RECOVER IN DAMAGES
Pennsylvania laws on personal injury do not usually have limits on damage payouts. In specific types of personal injury cases, there is a cap on the amount you can collect to compensate for damages. Below are two specific instances.
- There is a $250,000 limit per occurrence or total limit of $1,000,000 in personal injury claims against the Commonwealth.
- There is a $500,000 total limit in claims against local government agencies.
PENNSYLVANIA SHARED FAULT RULES
In some personal injury cases, there is shared fault, which means the party that you’re suing claims you have blame in the personal injury accident. If it is found that you do share fault for the accident in question, it can affect your compensation amount. According to Find Law, Pennsylvania courts allow plaintiffs in injury suits to collect damages even if they are partially at fault. This Pennsylvania law on personal injury follows the “modified comparative negligence rule”. This rule links your compensation percentage to a determined percentage of fault that you had in the accident, where your percentage of fault in the accident is 50% or less. If it is determined that your fault in the accident is more than 50%, damage payout cannot be collected.
The law is fluid and ever-changing, because there are always changes based on new priorities, revised expectations, and unexpected challenges. An effective personal injury attorney has to keep educated on updates in statutes and regulations.
Spear Greenfield is one the best personal injury law firms in Philadelphia for two main reasons. First, we continue to stay updated on Pennsylvania personal injury laws. Second, Rand Spear and our legal team have over 200 years of combined experience. Not only are we knowledgeable and experienced, but we are aggressive and will fight for your best interests!
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