When you get into a car accident in Hawaii, you’ll have the right to get compensation for your injuries. Whether you’re seeking Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits from your insurance company or damages from a liable third party, you won’t have an unlimited amount of time to take action.
Hawaii has strict time limits in place for car accident claims.
As a general rule, you’ll have until the second anniversary of your Hawaii car accident to pursue compensation for your medical expenses, loss of income, disability, property damage, and pain and suffering.
It’s important to contact an experienced Maui car accident attorney at Singleton Schreiber early on in the legal process. If you miss the filing deadline for your specific case, you waive the right to recover benefits and/or hold others accountable for their negligence. Working with our award-winning legal team can help to preserve your rights and put you in a position to maximize your financial recovery.
What’s the Statute of Limitations for Car Accident Claims in Hawaii?
Hawaii’s primary statute of limitations for personal injury cases can be found in Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 657-7.
The law provides “actions for the recovery of compensation for damage or injury to persons or property shall be instituted within two years after the cause of action accrued, and not after.”
The statute of limitations applies to:
- Claims for no-fault PIP benefits from your car insurance provider, and
- Personal injury lawsuits against third parties who caused your car accident.
Missing the filing deadline that applies to your case can mean forfeiting the right to receive benefits you need to cover your crash-related costs and trauma.
Why does Hawaii have time limits on car accident cases?
There are a couple of reasons why states like Hawaii have strict time limits in place for car accident cases.
They help to ensure that claims are pursued in a timely manner when the evidence is strongest. The more time that goes by after a car accident, the more likely it is that evidence gets damaged, lost, or destroyed. Witness memories begin to fade and change right away. If you waited a decade to pursue compensation for car accident injuries, you’d probably have a hard time finding evidence to establish liability, demonstrate a causal relationship between your injuries and the wreck, and support the value of the damages you’ve requested. If you don’t have evidence to prove your case, or if your evidence isn’t very strong, you won’t be able to carry the burden of proof and win your car accident case.
The statute of limitations ensures that claims are filed on the basis of merit, not vengeance. If someone causes a car accident, they should be held accountable right away. They shouldn’t have to live with the threat of litigation looming over them for years or decades after a crash.
Are There Any Exceptions to Hawaii’s Time Limits on Car Accident Litigation?
Yes. There are circumstances in which a different set of rules applies to car accident cases.
Child Injury Cases
Children don’t have the legal capacity to file a car insurance claim or lawsuit. While a parent or guardian can file a car accident lawsuit on their child’s behalf, that doesn’t always happen. If no claim is filed on the child’s behalf, the statute of limitations can be tolled until the child’s 18th birthday.
Tolling means that the clock is paused until the child has the legal right to bring a claim for damages. Once the child turns 18, the clock begins to run and expires on their 20th birthday. The child must pursue compensation within this two-year window, or they will forever lose the right to seek compensation from a liable party.
Work-Related Car Accident Cases
If you get hurt in a work-related car or truck accident, you might qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. Claims for workers’ compensation are subject to different rules and regulations than other personal injury cases.
If you qualify – because you’re an employee who’s suffered work-related injuries – you must notify your employer about your car accident injuries within 7 days of the crash.
Then, you’ll have to file your claim for workers’ compensation benefits within:
- Five years of the date of your car accident, or
- Two years of the date your car accident injuries become apparent, whichever is sooner.
You typically waive the right to sue your employer after your work-related car accident, but you can seek damages from an at-fault driver or another liable party if your injuries are severe. In these cases, the standard two-year statute of limitations for car accident lawsuits would apply.
Fatal Car Accident Cases
When a loved one dies in a fatal car accident in Hawaii, a two-year statute of limitations applies to wrongful death cases. However, the statute of limitations doesn’t necessarily begin to run on the date of the fatal accident. Instead, it begins to run on the date the car accident victim passes away from their injuries.
This might be the same day, or it could be days, weeks, or months later.
When Should I Hire a Car Accident Attorney After a Crash in Hawaii?
As soon as you can. There are a lot of complex legal rules and civil procedures that will affect your fight for compensation. If you miss the filing deadline or violate another procedural rule, your insurance claim might be denied, or your car accident lawsuit might be thrown out.
Hiring an experienced Hawaii car accident attorney is an important step in protecting your rights and ability to recover compensation. Choosing Singleton Schreiber means knowing that your legal team will be on top of procedural issues and invest all necessary resources to help you achieve the best possible case results.
Our Maui personal injury lawyers have spent decades fighting on behalf of crash victims and appreciate the importance of swift, aggressive litigation. We’ll invest the experience, knowledge, and resources that’ll be needed to help you get back on your feet and give you time to focus on your recovery.
We offer a free consultation, so contact our Hawaii law office for assistance today.
