Car Accidents

In order of importance:

1. Get medical attention. Even if you feel functional. Adrenaline masks injuries for a day or so, and a delay between the accident and your first visit is the first thing an insurer uses against you.
2. Report it. Call the police after a crash; tell a manager and get an incident report after a fall; tell a supervisor within days if you were hurt at work — Illinois requires employer notice within 45 days (820 ILCS 305/6(c)).
3. Photograph everything, before it changes. Vehicles, the hazard, the scene, the lighting, your injuries, your shoes.
4. Collect names and numbers — witnesses, the other driver, the manager, the officer, and the report number.
5. Write down what you remember while it is fresh. What was said. What the weather was doing. What you were doing a second before.
6. Keep every document. Bills, discharge papers, letters, texts, and anything an insurer sends.
7. Be careful with the other side's insurer. You are generally not required to give a recorded statement or sign a broad medical release before you have spoken with an attorney, and early offers usually arrive before anyone knows what your treatment will cost.
8. Stay off social media about it. Those posts get found.

And do not wait to ask for help because your paperwork is incomplete. Nobody has ever been turned away from our line for showing up without a police report.

First, understand the role. The adjuster is not being dishonest with you, and they are frequently very pleasant. They are also not neutral, and they are not on your side. Their performance is measured partly by what claims cost their employer.

A few things that are generally true, though you should confirm them for your own situation with an attorney:

• You usually do not have to give the other side's insurer a recorded statement. Your own policy may require cooperation with your own insurer — those are different things.
• Be very careful with broad medical authorisations. A signature can open your entire medical history rather than just the records related to this injury.
• "How are you feeling?" is a claims question, not small talk. "Fine, just sore" gets quoted back months later.
• An early offer is an early offer. It usually arrives before anyone knows what your treatment will cost, and accepting it generally ends the claim permanently.
• You do not have to decide on the phone. "I am not prepared to discuss that today" is a complete sentence.

The safest thing you can say is that you are seeking counsel and will be in touch. Then call us at (000) 000-0000 and we will get you to an attorney in our network who can take that call for you.

The general answer is two years, and the general answer is exactly what gets people in trouble.

In Illinois, a personal injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years of the date of the injury (735 ILCS 5/13-202). Wrongful death is generally two years from the date of death (740 ILCS 180/2).

The exceptions are shorter, and they are common:

• A city, county, park district, school district, or other local public entity — generally one year (745 ILCS 10/8-101). A pothole, a city vehicle, a public sidewalk, a public building.
• The CTA — generally one year (70 ILCS 3605/41).
• A bar or liquor licensee under the Dram Shop Act — one year (235 ILCS 5/6-21).
• Workers' compensation — notice to your employer within 45 days, and filing with the Commission within 3 years of the accident or 2 years of the last compensation payment, whichever is later (820 ILCS 305/6).
• Injured children — the clock generally does not start until their 18th birthday, giving them until roughly age 20 (735 ILCS 5/13-211).

There are also situations where the deadline runs from when an injury was or should have been discovered rather than when it occurred, and situations involving statutes of repose that cut off claims regardless. Those are genuinely complicated and belong with an attorney.

This is general information, not legal advice, and the deadline that applies to you depends on facts we do not know. If there is any chance you are close to one, call today. A missed deadline is the one mistake in this whole process that cannot be undone.

Nothing. Not the case review, not the callback, not the connection to an attorney, not the help getting to a medical appointment. Injury Support Illinois does not bill injured people, does not charge a consultation fee, and does not take a percentage of anyone's recovery.

The attorneys we connect people with work on contingency, which means their fee comes out of a recovery at the end of the case rather than from your pocket at the start. If there is no recovery, there is no attorney fee. Those terms are set out in the written agreement you would sign with that attorney — read it, ask questions about it, and do not sign anything you do not understand.

So who pays for all this? Attorneys in our network pay us a fee to receive connections. That is our entire business model and we would rather you hear it from us on the first page than wonder about it later.

Honest answer: we cannot tell you, and neither can any website. Injury Support Illinois is not a law firm, we do not evaluate the merits of claims, and nothing here is legal advice. Whether you have a claim is a legal question, and only a licensed attorney who has looked at your specific facts can answer it.

What we can tell you is that the reasons people talk themselves out of calling are usually wrong:

• "It was partly my fault." Illinois uses modified comparative negligence. If your share of the fault is not more than 50%, you can still recover, with damages reduced by your percentage (735 ILCS 5/2-1116).
• "I did not go to the hospital right away." Common, and not automatically fatal to a claim.
• "I already talked to their insurance." Also common. Talk to someone on your side before you do it again.
• "My injuries are not that bad." Some injuries take weeks to declare themselves. Get checked.
• "There is no police report." Not required for a claim to exist.
• "I am worried about my immigration status." Ask us. Illinois personal injury law does not condition your right to bring a claim on immigration status, and this question comes up more often than you would think. Any specifics belong with an attorney.

Fifteen minutes on the phone costs you nothing and answers this properly.