Injury · North Dakota
the short answer
You have six years from the day of the crash to file, and no amount of talking to an insurer extends it. Being partly to blame reduces what you collect, and being half to blame or more ends the claim. Your own insurer pays the medical bills first, and there is a threshold to clear before you can sue the other driver for pain and suffering at all.
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
governing statute
N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(5)
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
who pays first
North Dakota is a no-fault state. Your own policy pays the medical bills whoever caused the crash, and you may sue the other driver for pain and suffering only if the injury is a serious injury as the no-fault chapter defines it — more than $2,500 in medical expenses, or 60 days of disability, dismemberment, serious permanent disfigurement, permanent loss of a bodily function, or death. Under that line the claim against them is barred however plainly they were at fault. (N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-08)
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
Across the country. 9 of the 51 states written up answer this the same way as North Dakota. Compare every state →
your share of the fault
You recover only while your share of the fault stays under half. At fifty percent you are barred outright; below it, the award is cut by your percentage. (N.D.C.C. § 32-03.2-02)
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
Across the country. 10 of the 51 states written up answer this the same way as North Dakota. Compare every state →
limit
6 years
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
Across the country. 3 of the 51 states written up answer this the same way as North Dakota. The shortest is 1 year, as in Tennessee; the longest is 6 years, as in Maine. Compare every state →
which court
Small claims court
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
small claims limit
$15,000
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
also
Six years to file, one of the longest in the country, and a no-fault threshold in front of it.
source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.
your situation
Everything above is the law as it reaches everyone in North Dakota. What it means for you turns on facts only you have. Tell us what happened and we'll ask the same questions a lawyer would — about 90 seconds, free, and anonymous.
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