When you buy a new vehicle, it comes with a warranty. In order for the manufacturer to honor their warranty, you must take your vehicle in to the dealership to get all of its scheduled oil changes and maintenance. After the warranty expires, if something originally covered in the warranty were to wear out or breakdown, you’d be out of luck. In other words, you can’t ask the manufacturer to repair or replace your vehicle after the warranty is no longer good.
When you purchase an appliance, an expensive vacuum, a computer, or something else of value, it might come with a manufacturer’s warranty. You know the routine: once the warranty expires there’s nothing the manufacturer will do to help if their product fails.
If you, or someone you love was recently injured in a collision, in a slip and fall accident, because of a dog bite or medical malpractice, or in another type of accident, it’s important that you know that there is a time limit for filing personal injury claims in New Jersey, as is the case in all states.
When it comes to filing lawsuits, each state has established a “statute of limitations,” which refers to the time limit for filing a lawsuit. The statute of limitations varies depending on the type of case.
In New Jersey, the deadline (statute of limitations) for filing a personal injury claim is two years from the date of injury. If you, or someone you love was injured because of another’s negligence, it’s critical that you abide by these rules, otherwise, you lose your right to file a claim permanently.
If you are injured, for example, if your neighbor’s dog bit your face and you wound up needing not one, but three surgeries, and you suffered permanent disfigurement to your face and eye, you cannot let more than two years pass, and then file a claim and expect compensation.
If you tried to file a claim for the dog bite more than two years from the date of the attack, unfortunately, the court would reject your claim. Even if you could prove that you had already spent $30,000 on your surgeries, it would not make a difference to the court because the deadline for filing a claim had expired.
You can find more information about New Jersey’s statute of limitations in personal injury cases in New Jersey Code Section 2A:14-2.
New Jersey’s Strict Liability for Dog Bite Claims
Since we are on the topic of dog bite cases in New Jersey, we did want to mention that New Jersey imposes “strict liability” in dog bite cases. In some states, dog owners are protected to some degree if their dog bites someone for the first time, specifically if they did know that their dog was capable of biting someone. This is commonly known as the “one bite rule,” however, New Jersey does not follow this rule.
Under N.J.S.A. 4:19-16, dog owners are strictly liable for any injuries they cause, regardless of the dog’s previous good behavior. In effect, a dog owner is liable for any injuries their dog causes, even if the dog owner had no idea that their dog could be vicious or harm someone else.
Filing a Personal Injury Claim Against the Government
Let’s say your injury was the result of an employee or agency of the New Jersey government. In this case, there is a different set of rules for these types of claims – there are more rules.
It’s important that you know that if you plan on filing a claim against a government body (the state) in New Jersey, the rules are different. Instead of having two years to file a claim, you have just 90 days from the date of the injury to file a claim with the state government.
After the claim is filed, the plaintiff has to wait six months before they can file a lawsuit, unless the government reached out to settle the claim. The lawsuit however, must be filed within two years of the date of injury no matter what.
Looking for a New Jersey personal injury attorney to help you file a claim? Contact Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law for a free case evaluation!