You just had a car accident in which you sustained no bodily injuries at all. But on close observation, your car is severely damaged and maybe a few of your passengers are injured too. The question in your mind is, How long after a car accident can injuries appear? Should you inform your car insurance company or lawyers if you have no injuries?
Well, this article will help you answer the above questions and others like, how long do you need to file your claim through your insurance company? How long until you can sue the at-fault driver? Signs you need to see a doctor soon after the accident and others.
Some injuries after an accident like bleeding, soft tissue wounds, fractures, and others appear immediately. But lots of other bodily injuries like whiplash, head injury, and back injuries appear days, weeks, or months later.
This article is damn long as it covers many useful questions our subscribers usually ask on this site. You are free to jump to sections of your interest by going through the contents of the article below. Here we go.
Page Contents
How long after a car accident can symptoms appear?
Very few people survive car accidents with few or no injuries. What you should understand is that car injuries can be either sudden or symptoms could appear after some time.
Types, or examples of car accident injuries include:
- Whiplash injuries
- Burns from car chemicals
- Internal and obvious bleeding
- Neck injuries
- Back and spine injuries
- Bone fractures and many others.
What are the most common injuries in a car accident?
If you just had a car accident, the following could be the long-term effects of injuries you suffered:
- Chronic muscle and bone pain. Especially if you are an aged person.
- Limb weakness and pain due to damaged nerves and ligaments.
- Long-term numbness and paralysis.
- Bone fractures could lead to disfigurement and reduced function.
- Lost cosmetic body appearance like scarred skin, facial disfigurement, and others.
Because some car accident injuries appear at different times, symptoms could show up immediately or after a certain period. This is a reason you should not take lightly any car crash.
How long does it take for pain to set in after car accident?
Pain is one of the symptoms of car accident injuries. To a common person, you won’t tell if you are injured or not unless you see open wounds and or felt pain. But some car accident injuries actually have no immediate pain for instance if there is extensive nerve damage.
According to Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP most life-threatening car injuries are painless. and according to medical books, you will lose a sense of feeling pain if your body is overwhelmed by injuries.
For instance, if you arrived at an accident scene and found many people injured, it is advisable to pick up (help) people who are mute. Victims that are yelling for help are usually not so much injured and should not be given priority unless the injuries are severely open to your eyes.
You will feel less or no pain once your body is overwhelmed by car accident injuries. Therefore, do not underestimate the gravity of the car accident you just had not until a qualified medical doctor looked at you.
Can an injury show up a week later?
There is a lot of anxiety, fear, and panic surrounding any car accident or injury. For instance, a soldier will tell you, ‘ I did not feel pain from the gunshot not until after hours, or after I found safety’ implying that, many bodily injuries do not show up immediately.
That adrenaline rash or delayed swelling could be a reason your injuries did not show up for a week or more. Other car accident injuries with the potential to show up after a week include whiplash, head injuries, and slow internal bleeding.
So it is not surprisingly uncommon to feel fine at the accident scene only to die a week after due to internal injuries. You are advised to call your car insurance and or police and report any car accident. You won’t claim through your insurance company unless you reported the accident to the concerned authorities.
Signs you should go to the hospital after a car accident?
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 7,500 are injured daily in car accidents. These people suffer from minor and severe injuries usually requiring spending money on medical bills and other rehabilitation services.
If you were involved in a car crash but feel better, you are not fine not until your doctor says so. Signs you should go to the hospital after a car accident include:
- Headache. You may develop a headache right away soon after the accident or days later. Though your headache could be just a sign of simple injuries like whiplash, your doctor should help rule out serious injuries like concussions or brain injuries.
- Bruising. This is caused by injuries to the capillaries underneath your skin. This may not be so serious if the injuries are actually on your skin, your doctor should help and determine if internal organs are fine.
- Mood changes. Having anxiety, depression and other mental changes after a car accident is understandable. At worst, your mood changes could be due to a concussion or an injury that needs specialized handling.
- Upset stomach. This could be caused by your seatbelt or any internal injuries like kidney or liver damage.
- Ringing in ears. Injuries to worry about here are concussions and other head injuries.
- Blurry visions and dizziness. If the cause is not simple injuries like whiplash and other soft tissue injuries, make sure there is no brain damage.
Back pain 2 years after car accident
The spine forms the human back. Your spine is made up of body parts like:
- Vertebrae bones
- spinal cord
- Spinal nerves and
- The disc bones.
Major functions of your spine include:
- Walking
- Twisting and
- Moving from one place to another.
Causes of back injuries in a car accident include:
- Soft tissue damage
- Herniated /tilted discs and
- Injuries to your spinal cord.
Suffering from back injuries is no good news because they are not easy to treat. You will need treatment for days, weeks, or years to overcome such injuries. Some people have experienced chronic back problems after several years due to the car accident so be on the lookout not to fall victim.
Delayed symptoms after car accident
Do not celebrate as yet if you emerged from that car accident feeling better, because you do not know what follows in a few hours. days or months after.
Your car accident symptoms could delay due to:
- Slow Swelling from internal injuries.
- Bleeding from concealed parts of your body is happening slowly.
- The adrenalin rush is still high and you are maybe worried about the outcomes of the accident.
- Some injured parts are still numb since major nervous supplies are cut off.
In case you are wondering, here are the common injuries whose symptoms will most likely delay and these include:
- Back or spine injuries
- Head injuries
- Trouble sleeping and waking up
- Neck injuries
- Body swellings
- Brain damages etc.
How long after a car accident can I sue?
If you were involved in a car accident, you can choose to either:
- file a claim through your insurance company for compensation
- File a lawsuit against the at-fault party.
But the question remains, how long after a car accident can you sue the at-fault driver? Well, the answer is that it depends on where you live. You should consult your attorney to know exactly your deadlines.
For example, if you are living in California, you have at least 2 years to file a personal injury lawsuit and not more than 3 years for any property damage.
Failure to file lawsuits within that stated period of time means you have forfeited your chance to sue, so you have no way of recovering your expenses.
Can someone sue you for a car accident after 2 years?
You can be sued for an accident you caused after years as long as your state or country you come from permits so. Here is another example of people living in Florida.
If you are a person from Florida, you must file a car accident lawsuit within less than 4 years or else forget about suing the at-fault driver. You must also file a lawsuit within less than 2 years for any deaths as a result of the car accident.
So as you can see guys, make sure you do your prep very well otherwise you may not be able to file personal injury lawsuits once you are caught up with deadlines.
Can I sue after a car accident if you are not hurt?
Reasons car accident victims choose to file lawsuits include:
- Personal injuries
- Car damages
- Emotional trauma and
- Lost personal belongings.
Even though you were not hurt in a car accident, you can still sue the at-fault driver for compensation for the other mentioned losses like emotional trauma and other car-wreck-related expenses.
Go on and hire an attorney to guide you through the processes. The same attorney could also help you go after your claim should the insurance company stone-wall all your efforts. Believe it or not, getting an insurance claim settlement after a car accident is not an easy thing.
How long after a car accident can I claim?
To file your claim through the at-fault car insurance, do the following immediately after a car accident:
- Safety is the priority and other things come later. Make sure you or any of your passengers are safe. If there are people injured in your car, do not move the car from the accident scene. Call 911 immediately.
- If no one is hurt, move your vehicle to a safer point. Make sure it is not impeding traffic.
- Do not move out of your car if the accident occurred in a high-traffic location. Your judgment could be impaired leading to other accidents.
- Call the police right away for an accident report. You will need this for any later lawsuits or insurance claims.
- Exchange information with the other driver. Get his insurance ID, policy number, Telephone number, address, car model, car make, vehicle registration number, and car license plate number.
- Call and inform your insurance company if you can do so.
- Inform your attorney even if you do not intend to sue. You never know the outcomes of any accident. People have reported bad experiences dealing with their insurance companies or other drivers. You are no exception.
- Hiring an attorney helps you to concentrate on your recovery process while your lawyer deals with your insurance company or prepares lawsuits on your behalf.
Car accident claims vary from state to state and also differ depending on the type of claim you file through your insurance company. Claims against Liability, collision coverage, and comprehensive insurance coverages differ from each other.
You typically have 1-10 years to file your claim through your insurance company. Better consult your attorney or your insurance broker for proper guidance.
If you are living in the UK, you must claim within 3 years after the car accident or else forget it and pay expenses from your pockets. The law permits you to file your claim 3 years from the time you learned of your injuries- some injuries appear months after a car accident.
If you are living in Australia, make sure the accident is reported within less than 30 days. My friend in Australia says any claim should be filed within 28 days.
If you are living in countries not mentioned above, better make good research. You do not want to hit deadlines and miss out on your compensation.
How long can an insurance claim stay open?
There is no time beyond which an insurance claim is thrown in the dustbin. An insurance company is supposed to accept or deny your claim within a reasonable amount of time. This time varies from one location to another. Your insurance broker should provide you with a concrete answer.
If you are living in California, your company should settle your claim within 85 days. The company has an additional time of scrutinising your claim.
In Seattle, your totaled car claim should be settled within 30 days unless there are other housekeeping issues to be handled first. Expect to receive your payout as soon as the adjuster finished assessing your losses.
Though this may not apply to other parts of the country, your insurance claim in the UK stays open till 3 years of submission. This time limit can be extended if the victim is unable to file due to prolonged injuries or if the claimant is under 18.
In Texas, claims due to both personal injuries and property damage should be settled within 2 years.
The deadline is not very clear in Alabama. If you are living in Alabama, the time limit to file lawsuits or claims against the at-fault driver is 2 years. So this state gives you a 2-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims.
How to file insurance claim against other driver?
If you read the article this far, you already know the steps you should follow after a car accident. If not, look it up from the table of contents and read it again. This piece of article builds from ‘steps you should follow after a car accident.
Alright. there are many ways you could file an insurance claim against another driver for instance:
- You can write to the other driver of his insurance company or
- You can claim through your insurance company.
In whatever way you chose, tell the other drivers’ insurance how their clients caused a car accident. You can do that by quoting the driver identifications including policy number and driver’s license. Send them evidence and proofs like the pictures you took at the scene, footage, a copy of the police report, and any statements from witnesses.
Once you have filed your claim, allow the company time to make their investigations. They will send an adjuster to assess the extent of the injuries, damages, and other losses you experienced.
Depending on their investigations, the insurance company could decide to honor or decline any settlement forcing you to try other means, not excluding filing lawsuits or claiming through your own insurance coverages.
Someone hit my car whose insurance do I call?
You left your car parked on the street or lot, or you have just been rear-ended now. whose car insurance should you call? Do you call your insurance company or the at-fault driver’s car insurance company? well, it depends:
- You are supposed to call and inform the police or any traffic authorities, and then inform your car insurance company too.
- If the at-fault driver left a note, call his insurance company.
- If the damages were done by a hit-and-run driver, you will probably claim through your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.
- In normal circumstances, the other driver’s liability coverage should cover your losses OR else, claim through your collision or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages.
Drivers who carry full car insurance usually worry less because they usually have enough coverage to cover any potential losses as a result of any car accidents.
According to this post, full insurance coverage is a collection of individual coverage and includes the following:
- Liability coverage
- Collision car insurance coverage
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
- Personal injury protection coverages.
What to do when someone hits your parked car?
According to Allstate car insurance company, any person whose parked car has been hit should follow the following steps:
- Call traffic officers to compile car accident reports. You need this report for smooth processing of your claim settlement or if you need to file a lawsuit.
- Notify your insurance company to kick start the claim process. You may need to claim from your collision or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage only if you are unable to go after the at-fault driver’s insurance company.
- Make sure you document everything about the car accident as I explained earlier in this article. Your insurance will ask you several questions before your claim is registered.
Whose insurance pays in a car accident?
In any car accident, conclusions about the at-fault driver are made as follows:
- One driver could be solely at-fault for instance in many rear-ended collisions.
- Both drivers could share the fault. For instance, in rear-ended collisions, the rear driver could be assigned 90% fault, in which case the front driver is only 10% at fault. There are accidents where both drivers are 50-50% fault for the accident.
- No-contact accidents: This is a situation where the actions of one driver (phantom driver) cause another one to crash. There are actually no contacts between the cars. This article explains everything.
In many states, whose insurance company pays for damages in a car accident depends on many factors. For instance:
- In fault states, the at-fault driver’s insurance company pays.
- In no-fault states, each driver claims through his/her personal injury protection (PIP) coverages. You will go after each other’s coverage if your PIP coverage is inadequate.
- In some states, each driver pays an amount that is proportional to the percentage of fault in the car accident. For instance, the driver whose fault is 90% pays more.
Should I contact the person who hit my car?
Any car accident should be handled exactly as I explained earlier in this article. If your parked car was hit and the driver left a note or not, call authorities and or inform your insurance company.
If the driver left a note, inform his insurance company after calling the driver for more additional personal information. You need to give the at-fault driver your details so that he informs his insurance company too.
While speaking to the other insurance company, please use calculated words as the company may use what you said against you. Insurance adjusters are very knowledgeable in their field so they will usually trick you into saying things that could lead to denying you a settlement. If you are naive, consider hiring an attorney.
My car was hit and their insurance won't pay?
Believe it or not, negotiating with any car insurance company is hard. Insurance companies only put profits first and will do all they can to deny you a claim settlement. You will get a settlement quickly if you threaten your company with something that takes away their profits.
Actually, many insurance companies handle claims using three tricks ie:
- They will at first deny your claim. They want to see if there is a possibility of giving up. so, stick to your guns and tell them you are prepared to go the extra mile.
- Delay your settlement. They will ask you to submit document after document or evidence after another. Once you do exactly as they asked, they will ask you to give them time. This is all done to make interest in your money.
- Defend the claim. Insurance companies today own law firms, employ doctors and engineers, and other investigation officers. They will pay those officers to defend against your claims.
If an insurance company stone-walls you or plays the above tactics, do not waste your time negotiating. Just hire experienced car accident lawyers immediately.
In summary, the answer to the question, ‘How long after a car accident can injuries appear?’ is that it depends on many factors like your health status, location of injuries, the severity of the injuries suffered, and other factors. Some symptoms develop right away after the accident while others take time to appear.
