Personal injury laws like many other types are governed by statute of limitations restrictions. This means that there is a certain time frame within which a suit has to be filed to be considered valid. If you fail to meet this deadline, you could lose the opportunity to ever make a claim, no matter how serious your injuries and how negligent or faulty the defendants were. When the time set for statute of limitations has expired or passed, your case will be struck down.

The purpose of such restrictions is to ensure that no frivolous claims are made, the plaintiff has enough time to pursue it with reasonable diligence and that enough evidence is still available to enable a proper judgment.

Ontario laws prescribe a two-year statute of limitations starting from the date that the accident occurred to file personal injury claims. This law assumes that within this time, the plaintiff becomes fully aware of his/her injuries, losses and damage. It also assumes that plaintiff becomes aware that the accident was caused by the defendant’s fault or negligence.

If you miss this deadline, you cannot file a claim and you may have to pay all the legal costs for both sides. There are several other time limitations that you have to be aware of. For instance, if making a claim against the municipality or a government authority, you have to give a notification within 10 days in most cases. Though there are certain exceptions to all these rules, it’s not worth taking the risk. Contact an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately to avoid missing a deadline.