In the United States, every day, thousands of people get involved in incidents where they get injured or die. When someone gets into a car accident, slip-and-fall incident, or gets injured due to another person’s fault, they seek the help of personal injury lawyer Virginia Beach VA. If you, too, are involved in a personal injury case, it’s essential to know what the statute of limitations for such cases is.

Statute of limitations is a law that enforces the time-limit one has to file a lawsuit. Knowing what the Statute of Limitations in Virginia is and why it’s so important can help you take informed action in personal injury lawsuits.

Understanding the Statute of Limitation in Virginia

In the state of Virginia, the Virginia personal injury statute of limitations is called Virginia Code section 8.01-243(A). The law says, “Every action for personal injuries, whatever the theory of recovery…shall be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues.”

What this means is that in Virginia, the standard time limit for Virginia personal injury lawsuits is two years. One should fill a lawsuit for all kinds of personal injury cases within two years from the time of the accident. All conceivable types of cases ranging from intentional tort to cases of negligence should be filled in the court within the set time frame of two years.

In case you get injured in an accident caused due to the carelessness of another person and seek legal help for civil remedy, you will have two years to submit all the essential documents since the time of the underlying accident.

Now, you might wonder what if you miss the case filling deadline.

If you want to file the personal injury lawsuit after more than two years from the time of the accident, the defendant will point out this fact in the court and file a “motion to dismiss.” The court, after reviewing the care will dismiss the lawsuit. However, there are rare exceptions to the statute of limitations that gives one extra time to fill the case in the court. If the court dismisses your lawsuit, you are not entitled to any civil remedy for your personal injuries and damages. Even if the injuries are significant and the defendant’s liability is clear, you don’t stand a chance to claim for the responsibility here.

Personal injury lawyers Virginia Beach know how crucial statute of limitations is for taking an injury case to court. The deadline for filing the lawsuit also plays a pivotal role in getting the settlement straight. If this deadline has passed and your defendant knows about it, they can quickly get away with it.

As mentioned above, there are certain exceptions wherein the statute of limitations does not apply. The court of Virginia has clearly defined scenarios that may pause the statute of limitations clock. Thus, extending the deadline to file the lawsuit.

For example, if the person who has sustained the injury is under 18 years or severely injured. In such a scenario, once the person turns 18 or is mentally capable of filing the lawsuit, he/she gets full-time limit to go to court.