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Statue of limitation of road accidents

If somebody is involved in a car accident, it should be noted that there is reasonable time frame to start a lawsuit, and after this time frame the right to prosecute that crime will be lost. According to that there are some circumstances under which a claim for damages has a time limit, and this revokes the right to claim damages immediatelly.

The statue of limitation is a law that sets the maximum amount of time that parties involved in a dispute have to initiate legal proceedings from the date of an alleged offense.

Our legal system allows a lenght of time of 10 years, however according to some rights, statutes of limitations range can be shorter and this is the case of a road accident claim of damages. In particular, the article 2947 of the Civil Code, that rules the timing of a statue of limitation of a claim damages according to what caused the road accident affirms that:

-In case of damages for the circulation any vehicle, the right to claim damages has a time line of 2 years;

-In case of claim of damages after a car accident caused by an unlawful act, the time deadline is of 5 years.

Indicated below the different time limits to bring and file a claim of damages for a road accident.

The two-year limitation statue to claim damages for a road accident.

According to the second paragraph of the article 2947, -In case of damages for the circulation any vehicle, the right to claim damages has a time line of 2 years.

Generally, the two-year limitation statue is applicable to a request of claim for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages regardless of the application of the direct compensation procedure or despite the nature of the accident. The High Court spoke about the rationale underlying the short limitation period in the III Civil section, with the decree of the 30rd of November 2018 n.31003, clarifying that:“it is to guarantee that the verification of the dynamic of any road accident, even if it does not requires specific factual reconstruction, must occur with a quickly proposal action”

The long term limitation statue to claim damages for a road accident.

If it is the case of a damage caused by an unlawful act, such as a wilful misconduct or wrongful behaviour, which means an intentional action put in place in a reckless way with inattention.

Our Law provides that the right to claim damages for an unlawful act will expire after 5 years from the date the accident happened.

The long term limitation statue is applied, for example, when the dameges are not caused by road traffic but by a road pitfall, such as a hole on the road surface.

According to the third paragraph of the article 2947, the limitation statue longer than 5 years is applied even if the fact is not connected to the road circulation but it is considered a crime for the Law.

The High Court expresses itself about the statue of limitation for road accident with the verdict 16037 of the second of August 2016, which affirms that: “on the subject of the claim of damages for injuries sustained after a road accident, if the tort is considered a crime for the civil action of limitation by Law, a long term limitation statue (5 years) is applied according to the article 2947, paragraph third c.c.

The long term limitation statue is also valid if:

It is requested for the indirectly responsible, even if this person did not commit the crime;
It is requested from the person that was damaged, even if he is not the victim of the crime.

About this aspects the verdict 16481 of the Supreme Court affirms that the right to claim damages from a crime act can require a long term litimation statue when the victim requires that, but also when the request comes from people that were dameged too even if they are not the direct victim.

Interruption and recess of the limitation per road accident

The time line of the limitation statue of road accident can be interrupt with an action from the injured person by doing a damage request through a registered letter.

This interruption will make the limitation start again from the date of the last registered letter.

This injunction can be prepared by a lawyer, and he will write down all the essential elements for the formal notice. The formal notice will be delivered to the insurence through the registered letter or through PEC.

It is possible to minimize the riscks to submit a wrong claim of damages by talking to a professionist.

G&P Insurance

The two-year limitation statue to claim damages for a road accident.

The long term limitation statue to claim damages for a road accident.

Interruption and recess of the limitation per road accident

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