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Idaho And Personal Injury Lawsuit Laws

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When it comes to securing compensation after an accident, then your two main options are to pursue an insureance claim or a personal injury lawsuit. Insurance claims can be easier to file, but they also tend to award less money than successful lawsuits. If you are considering a lawsuit, then you do need to be aware of some rather important laws, including the statute of limitations, damage caps, and comparative negligence. Here are the versions of those laws that are present in Idaho: 

The Statute of Limitations

First of all, you need to know that you have 2 years to file your lawsuit from the date of the accident. This tends to fall on the shorter end of the spectrum when compared to other states, so you do need to be quick about filing your lawsuit. If your deadline is approaching, then you should expedite your case and gather your evidence as quickly as possible.

There are only a few exceptions to this time frame, the most common of which are injuries involved minors and injuries that went undiscovered.

As far as minors are concerned, you can't legally file a lawsuit on your own behalf until you become an adult. In other words, the window of opportunity for a minor is from the date of their 18th birthday to that date of their 20th birthday.

For undiscovered injuries, you can file within 2 years of discovering the damage. However, you may have a difficult time actually proving that your injuries were connected to the original incident, so make sure that you have more than enough proof on your side. 

Damage Caps

Idaho also has a fairly strict cap on non-economic damages, which changes year to year. The number essentially boils down to $250,000 in 2003, as adjusted by the average weekly wage. Since the average weekly wage has gone up, the cap has since risen. It is projected to continue to rise, but it will still advance roughly proportionally to the average family income.

You should note that this only applies to non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, which means that your auto bills, medical bills, and lost wages are all completely uncapped. If you can prove a financial burden related to your injury, then you can freely pursue it as a damage.

Comparative Negligence

Finally, you need to be familiar with comparative negligence, which essentially states that the responsibility of the plaintiff should be accounted for when it comes to distributing compensation. Like most states, Idaho follows a simple rule, which is that your damages will be reduced proportionally to your responsibility. If you were 30% responsible, you will get 30% less compensation.

If you are found to be more than half responsible, then you will lose access to any compensation. After all, if your injuries were mostly your fault, should you really be able to sue another party?

For further assistance, contact a local personal injury lawyer, such as one from Prediletto, Halpin, Scharnikow & Nelson, P.S.


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