Robin Herman | 00:00
How long does a New York cyclist have to file a claim before the deadline shuts the door?
Glenn Herman | 00:10
Okay. The time to file a claim before the deadline would shut the door, what’s called the statute of limitations, depends on the circumstances of each crash.
Robin Herman | 00:21
Okay. So let’s start with the basic, bicycle and a car crash.
Glenn Herman | 00:24
Bicycle and a car, 30 days to file a no-fault claim, which means the claim where you’re going to get your no-fault insurance benefit, 30 days.
Robin Herman | 00:35
Okay, and what about if a crash involves a city or a transit vehicle, government vehicle, something like that?
Glenn Herman | 00:43
Very important. Under what’s called general municipal law, Section 50E. You have 90 days from the date of the crash to file a notice of claim. And if you don’t file that notice of claim, you’re not going to have a case except with few exceptions. It’s a hard and fast government rule So 90 days notice of claim.
Robin Herman | 01:12
And what about if the accident involves a roadway defect? Is that different?
Glenn Herman | 01:18
It depends. Everything always depends. If it’s a roadway, city of New York, yes. Notice a claim in 90 days. If it’s street hardware, you might not know who owns the street hardware. It might be a grate owned by the MTA transit authority, might be a manhole owned by Con Ed, Brooklyn Union Gas, 90 day notice of claim. File it.
Robin Herman | 01:44
Against who?
Glenn Herman | 01:45
If it’s in the road, you’ve got to file it against the city.
Robin Herman | 01:48
Even if you don’t know who owns the manhole?
Glenn Herman | 01:49
Even if you don’t know who owns the manhole, and eventually you investigate and find out who does.
Robin Herman | 01:57
Okay. And cases against municipalities and public authorities, does the lawsuit have to be started in a particular amount of time?
Glenn Herman | 02:06
Right, so again, the city, municipalities, Transit Authority MTA. 90 days notice of claim, one year and 90 days. For the lawsuit, which is not a long period of time to start a claim, but again, you don’t do it within that year and 90 days. You won’t have a claim.
Robin Herman | 02:27
Okay, and if your crash involves a vehicle, a privately owned vehicle, how much time do you have to start a lawsuit?
Glenn Herman | 02:34
Privately owned vehicle in that case? Three years is the statute of limitations under the New York CPLR civil practice law and rules. You have three years for the commencement of an actual formal lawsuit.
Robin Herman | 02:50
Okay. So it sounds like those are all good reasons to contact an attorney.
Glenn Herman | 02:55
You people don’t know this, and if you let time go by, you lose the claim. Many people have come to us, as you know, after the 90 days have passed, and we’ve tried successfully in some cases to say, wait a second, there’s an exception to the 90-day rule and the courts have let the case in, but it’s not the situation you want to be in. So, yeah. Immediately, as soon as you can. Find out where your rights are.
Robin Herman | 03:25
Next episode, we walk into the courtroom and we break down settlements. Real case results and what happens when an insurance company says no. Thank you for joining us. This has been Pedals to the Courtroom, and we really hope that we’ll see you next time.