Car accidents contribute to a lot of stress. You may have spent time in the hospital, the car shop, and worst of all, time off of work. These hospital and car bills alone can add up in cost and stress without taking into account the cost of taking this unplanned time off. It’s no wonder a lot of people that are involved in car accidents push off hiring a car accident attorney. After these people get all the final bills, the question of compensation may start to be a bigger priority. At this point, they may even begin to wonder if it is too late to hire a car accident attorney.
The time limit you have to file a claim and or a police report varies from state to state. In Utah specifically, you have four years to file your claim with your insurance company. This is actually very lenient compared to other states. A lot of other states only allow two maybe three years, so we are pretty lucky here. And although four years seems like a really long time, if your case is messy this may be cutting it close on time. Click here to learn more about specific limits to your claim. Good and easy cases will get settled relatively fast, however, harder cases will have to go to court. Your car accident attorney will have a huge disadvantage if you wait to hire them until right before your four years is up.
If you make it one of your priorities to hire a car accident attorney ahead of time, as one of the first things you do after the accident, they will be able to work better and get you the best results they can. Though your first priority after a car accident should be to heal, hiring a car accident attorney soon after is a good idea. If your worry is that it is simply too much to deal with right after the accident, keep in mind that hiring an attorney can actually help reduce stress for you. They can take a lot of the stress off your shoulders and deal with the insurance company.
So technically, it isn’t too late to hire a car accident attorney until four years after your accident, however, we would like to pose the question “when is it too early to get a car accident attorney?” The answer is simple- never. Contact us here at Robert J. DeBry and Associates today to speak to our legal team and see how we can help you.