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If you think that a certain party should be held responsible for triggering an accident that harmed you, then you should send a notice that that same individual. That notice should make clear your allegations.
A notice is not a claim.
The act of sending a notice does not require performance of a follow-up action, such as the filing of a claim. Still, it aids achievement of 2 noteworthy goals. By sending a notice, the victim of the accident manages to preserve his or her rights. That includes the right to file a lawsuit in the future. At the same time, the victim keeps others from saying that his or her potential legal action was unfair.
Deadlines for the sending of a notice
There are no deadlines, if the responsible party is a private citizen. By the same token, there is no deadline for the start of negotiations with an insurance company. Still, there are times when the existence of a deadline comes into the picture. The deadline for sending a notice enters the picture if some governmental body could be held liable for the injury-causing accident.
For example, if a city government did not install an inclined surface at the corners of its major intersections, then it could be held liable for injuries to anyone in a wheelchair that tried to negotiate one of those same corners.
Alternatively, if a city government failed to fix the places where tree roots had lifted parts of the sidewalk, a pedestrian might trip over one of those raised sections. If that same pedestrian were to get injured, then he or she could blame the appropriate governmental agency for any sustained injuries, as per Injury Lawyer in North Bay.
Still, it is not easy to sue any level of the government. Anyone that plans to do so must follow certain set rules. Governmental bodies create the rules that establish the deadline for the submission of a notice. Typically, that notice needs to be submitted to the proper governmental office within a stated number of days.
A word of caution
The mere submission of a notice does not equate with the filing of personal injury claim. Moreover, the filing of that claim needs to be completed by a different deadline. A victim needs to remain aware of the deadline’s approach, and, thus, prepare all the documents required for the filing of an official complaint.
It helps to circle the date on a calendar, and to create some other reminder, so that the important deadline does not get forgotten. Victims might have up to 2 years in which to file a complaint. As memories of the accident fade, the chances could increase that a victim might somehow overlook the deadline’s approach.