Injured in a car accident? Find out if you have a case.
Five questions, about a minute. You get a straight answer and the filing deadline in your state before anyone asks for your contact details.
- Free and confidential
- No email needed to see your answer
- You are never charged anything
Where did the accident happen?
The state sets the deadline for filing, so this changes the answer.
The process
How it works
Answer five short questions. No name, no email, no phone number. It takes about a minute.
See straight away whether you appear to have a case, and the filing deadline in your state with the law it comes from.
If you want to go further, we verify your number and a licensed attorney can review your case for free. You are never charged anything.
States and DC, each with its own filing deadline
Of the deadlines we show are cited to the statute
Questions, and about a minute of your time
What this costs you, now or later
Know your deadline
How long do you have to file a car accident claim?
Every state sets its own deadline, called the statute of limitations. Most give 2 years from the date of the accident, several allow 3, and a few are as short as 1. Miss it and the claim is usually over, however strong it was.
The trap is a claim against a government body, a city bus, a police car, a road crew. Those often require written notice within months rather than years. Arizona gives 180 days and cuts the deadline to sue from two years to one. New Hampshire gives 60 days. Illinois quietly halves its two years to one. The form above tells you which rule applies where you were hurt, and cites the statute so you can check it yourself.
Straight answers
What decides what a claim is worth
Nobody can value your case from a web form, and you should be wary of any site that puts a number on it before reading your file. What we can do is explain honestly what sets the figure.
The insurance on the other car sets the ceiling
Most claims are paid by the at fault driver liability policy, and that policy has a limit. In many states the legal minimum is startlingly low. If the person who hit you carries the minimum, that caps what their insurer will pay however badly you were hurt. Your own underinsured motorist cover is often what closes the gap, and most people do not know whether they have it.
Fees, costs and medical liens come off the top
Personal injury attorneys usually work on contingency, taking roughly a third of the recovery, and more if a lawsuit is filed. Case costs and any medical liens come out as well. So the amount a client actually receives is meaningfully less than the headline settlement, and any honest conversation about value starts there.
Questions
Common questions
Does this cost anything?
No. The check is free, and the attorneys we work with are paid only if they win your case. You are never billed by us.
Do I have to give my phone number?
Not to see your answer. The five questions are anonymous and you get the result before anyone asks for contact details. A number is only needed if you want a licensed attorney to review your case.
Are you a law firm?
No. We are a marketing service. We are not a law firm and not a lawyer referral service, and nothing here is legal advice. If you want to go further we connect you with an independent attorney who decides whether to take your case.
What if the accident was partly my fault?
You may still have a claim. Most states use comparative negligence, which reduces what you recover by your share of the blame rather than barring you outright. A few states are far stricter, which is one of the things the check looks at.
What if I was not injured?
Then this is normally a property damage matter you can handle with the insurer directly. Bear in mind that neck and back pain often show up a few days later, so if that happens, get seen and check again.
How accurate are the deadlines you show?
Each one is taken from that state statute and we show you the citation. Deadlines still depend on the facts, including claims against government bodies, injured children, and injuries discovered later, so confirm yours with an attorney rather than relying on any website.
All 51 jurisdictions
Car accident filing deadlines by state
Every state below links to what its own law says, with the statute cited, plus the far shorter deadline that applies when a government vehicle was involved.
- 1 year to file
- 2 years
- 3 years
- 4 years or more
Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming
We are a marketing service, not a law firm and not a lawyer referral service. Nothing here is legal advice.
