When you’ve been hurt in an accident, life is going to feel chaotic while you deal with doctor visits, missed work, and pain. When you’re going through a traumatic situation like this, it’s easy to put off filing a personal injury lawsuit, but time is not on your side. Evidence disappears fast, witnesses forget details, and insurance companies use delays to deny claims.
What may start as hesitation now can turn into a financial setback later.
Evidence weakens and disappears over time
Every personal injury case depends on hard proof like photos, medical documentation, witness statements, and video footage. If you wait too long to start a lawsuit, a lot of your proof can fade away. Early evidence collection is one of the most valuable steps you can take to support your claim.
- Witness memory fades fast. Human memory is notoriously unreliable, especially after stressful events. According to the Innocence Project, 70% of wrongful convictions involve eyewitness errors. If witnesses struggle to recall major details in criminal cases, imagine how fast accident details fade.
- Critical footage can disappear. If you’re relying on video surveillance from a business to prove your case, you need to secure it fast before it gets deleted or overwritten. Most companies overwrite footage every 3 days to save storage space. Even waiting a week might mean losing key evidence.
- Physical evidence can be destroyed. Damaged vehicles can be repaired or junked fast. If you don’t take photos immediately, you could lose the ability to prove your case.
The longer you wait to gather evidence, the less proof you may have. You might not want to file a lawsuit right now, but start collecting evidence anyway. Don’t let anything slip through the cracks or get lost to time.
Insurance companies will use your delay against you
Insurance adjusters are trained to use hesitation against you. Delaying your claim tells them you’re uncertain and probably don’t have a lawyer. They’ll use this to try to pay you less than your claim is worth.
Insurers assume that people who wait to file a claim are unsure about the cause, their injuries, or their legal rights. If you don’t have a lawyer, you’re not going to get a fair payout from the insurance company. Worse, if you delayed your claim and didn’t seek medical treatment right away (or at all), the insurance adjuster will argue that your injuries aren’t that serious or may not have been caused by the accident.
When insurance companies deal with hesitant claimants, they will do everything they can to pay as little as possible or deny your claim outright. Every delay gives the insurance company more ammunition to use against you.
The statute of limitations can end faster than you think
The average statute of limitations for personal injury cases is between 1 and 3 years. If you miss your state’s filing deadline, your case won’t be heard. And if your claim is against a government agency (including a city or county), you’ll likely need to file a claim within 30-180 days.
Some states have exceptions to the statute of limitations, but they’re very specific and don’t apply to most people. Check with an attorney right away to make sure you don’t miss your state’s filing deadline.
Waiting makes it easier for the defense to undermine your case
Every delay gives the opposing side more ammo to deny or diminish the value of your claim. Your hesitation can be used to reframe the narrative and cast doubt on your credibility. If your bills piled up or you lost a significant amount of wages, the defense might frame your case as opportunistic.
Every delay makes it easier for the defense to speculate and frame your case as fraudulent. Not seeking immediate medical care is the worst mistake you could make. In this case, they might even claim your injuries were caused by something else entirely, like your work, age, hobbies, or pre-existing conditions.
Act early to protect your health and secure your compensation
Waiting to file a personal injury claim carries serious consequences that can hinder your ability to receive compensation. Taking action right away doesn’t mean you need to rush into a lawsuit. You just need to start protecting your ability to file a claim by gathering evidence, getting medical treatment, and contacting a personal injury lawyer. The sooner you start, the better chance you have of receiving the compensation you deserve.
