In personal injury law, a claim is a demand for monetary damages from a party that is responsible for paying those damages. To give a couple of examples, a personal injury lawsuit might arise from a truck accident or a dog bite. A lawsuit is a formal legal proceeding that can force the defendant to pay damages.
However, this is just the beginning of what you need to understand about the distinction. A Lawrenceville personal injury lawyer can help you discern whether you should file a claim or a lawsuit, depending on the facts of your case.
How Insurance Claims Work
Your insurance company will pay your claim according to the terms of the insurance contract you signed with them. If a given risk isn’t covered, you will receive nothing. If the amount of your damages exceeds policy limits, you will only receive the amount of your policy limits. You might also qualify for compensation from someone else’s insurance policy (see below)
First-Party Claims vs. Third-Party Claims
If you seek compensation from an insurance company, you will file either a first-party claim or a third-party claim. In a first-party claim, you seek compensation from your own insurance company. A first-party claim is most likely if:
- The accident was your fault.
- The at-fault party has no insurance or personal assets.
- You were the victim of a hit-and-run vehicle accident, and you cannot locate the at-fault driver.
Suppose the accident was someone else’s fault, you can locate them, and they carry liability insurance that covers your claim. In that case, you can file a claim against their liability insurance as a third-party beneficiary of their insurance policy.
Why File a Lawsuit?
Just because you file a lawsuit doesn’t mean you have to go to trial. You can withdraw your lawsuit whenever you reach a settlement. In fact, the judge will encourage you to do so because settlements reduce the court’s workload. Filing a lawsuit also beats the statute of limitations deadline, and it demonstrates to the other side that you’re not playing around with your claim–you mean business.
Most personal injury claims end at the settlement table even if the victim files a lawsuit.
How Lawsuits Work
You file a lawsuit by submitting a formal complaint, paying the filing fee, and serving process on the defendant.
The Complaint
You must draft a formal written lawsuit complaint and submit it to the clerk of the appropriate court. The ‘appropriate court’ means the State Court, the Superior Court, or the Magistrate’s Court (for small claims up to $15,000).
Your complaint must clearly describe your claim, the damages you are seeking, and why you should win. It’s best to ask a lawyer to draft your complaint for you, except perhaps for small claims court.
Filing Fees
You must pay the appropriate filing fee to the court clerk. The filing fee varies according to the court and according to the amount of damages you are demanding. Typically, you will end up paying between $50 and $300.
Service of Process
‘Service of process’ is how you notify the defendant of the lawsuit against them and obligate them to show up in court and defend against your claim. Serving process means sending the defendant (i) a copy of your complaint and (ii) a copy of a court summons that tells the defendant what to do next. The summons typically notifies the defendant of the date and time of the initial hearing.
You cannot serve process on the defendant yourself. You can imagine the violence that would result from a system that encouraged such contact between hostile parties. You need a neutral third party. Typically, that means the sheriff or a professional process server.
Alternatively, however, any adult citizen who is 18 years old, not a party to the case, and was appointed by the court, can serve process.
The Statute of Limitations
You must file your lawsuit by the Georgia statute of limitations deadline. In most (but not all) cases, the deadline is two years after the date of your injury. By that date you must have either:
- Finalized your settlement (a settlement agreement signed by both sides) OR
- Filed your complaint, paid the filing fee, and made a good-faith effort to serve process
Generally, your lawsuit is filed only after you serve process on the defendant. Nevertheless, the defendant cannot force you to miss that statute of limitations deadline by deliberately evading service of process. If you do miss the statute of limitations deadline, however, no court will hear your claim, and the defendant will refuse to negotiate a settlement with you.
The Defendant’s Answer
Once you serve the process, the defendant typically has 30 more days to file their answer. If they don’t, the court might grant you a default judgment, which means you win automatically. If the defendant does file their answer, you can proceed with the other phases of the lawsuit, beginning with pretrial discovery.
A Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You Fight for Your Rights
The more serious your injuries and the larger the amount of your claim, the more likely you are to need a skilled Lawrenceville personal injury lawyer. Don’t worry about legal fees because very few personal injury lawyers will charge you by the ‘billable hour.’
Instead, personal injury lawyers apply the contingency fee system where you only pay legal fees if you win. Contact us today at (678) 446-3655 to schedule a free consultation to learn more about personal injury claims.