Filing an Injury Lawsuit
Even an otherwise minor accident can leave you suffering serious injuries, which require ongoing medical care while limiting your ability to work or engage in activities you previously enjoyed.
At Naqvi Injury Law, we help car accident victims seek compensation for their losses and expenses, along with any future costs they are likely to incur.
Insurance companies typically do not cover costs such as the pain, suffering, and loss of quality of life caused by your injuries. To get this type of compensation, it may be necessary to take the at-fault party to court. In cases involving out-of-state car accidents, your rights to file a personal injury claim and the amount of damages you may be entitled to will be dictated by the individual laws governing that state.
Personal Injury Lawsuits In Car Accident Cases
Car accidents can occur due to outside factors such as road, traffic, and weather conditions. However, in most cases the reckless and negligent actions of other drivers are to blame. The Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS 11.190) allow car accident victims up to two years to file a personal injury lawsuit against an at-fault driver. This allows the victim to obtain additional damages they would not be entitled to in a car accident insurance claim, such as:
- Future medical costs, including diagnostic tests, treatments, medications, and physical therapy;
- Future losses in income and benefits due to ongoing disabilities;
- Compensation for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and loss of quality of life caused by your accident or your injuries;
- Punitive damages, which is an additional amount meant to punish at-fault drivers for conduct that was particularly willful and reckless.
These laws apply only to Nevada. Out-of-state car accidents would be governed by the laws in that particular state. In addition to being influenced by personal injury laws and legal requirements, your ability to get compensation through this type of claim would also be dependent on whether the accident occurred in a fault or no-fault insurance state.
Fault and No-Fault Accident States
Nevada is known as a fault-based insurance state, meaning that in addition to filing a car accident insurance claim, at-fault drivers can also be held liable through a personal injury lawsuit. The Insurance Information Institute (III) advises that in no-fault insurance states, drivers or their passengers can only file a personal injury lawsuit seeking compensation for pain, suffering, and other costs not typically available through an insurance claim if the case meets certain conditions. These include cases where the victim’s injuries are severe, or when the dollar amount of medical expenses are above and beyond what the insurer would pay. An additional factor to consider includes comparative negligence laws, which can allow you to claim damages in a lawsuit even if you are partially to blame for the crash. Again, these vary depending on the state you are in.
Regardless of where a crash or collision occurs, our Las Vegas car accident attorneys can advise you on your rights in filing a personal injury claim. In addition, we can advocate on your behalf throughout your care to help ensure you recover the compensation that you deserve.