6 Mistakes to Avoid When Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit

You were hurt in an accident someone else caused, and now there are doctors to see, bills arriving and an adjuster asking questions. If you’re worried that one wrong move could cost you your claim, that’s normal, and most of these mistakes are easy to avoid once you know them.

Here are six that can shrink or sink an injury claim, in the order they tend to come up: waiting to get medical care, giving the other side’s insurer a recorded statement, posting about the accident, missing a notice deadline, settling before you know what the claim is worth, and letting the deadline to sue run out.

Any of them can undercut a claim for a real injury. The obstacle is the claims process: deadlines that differ from claim to claim, papers drafted by the other side, and an insurer that handles claims like yours every day. Michigan’s rules are in the boxes marked “In Michigan.”

Hurt and not sure where you stand? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

What mistakes can hurt your claim in the first days?

1. Waiting to get medical care, or stopping too soon

See a doctor promptly, even if you feel mostly fine. Some injuries take time to show: concussion symptoms, for example, may not start for days or weeks (MedlinePlus). See which injury symptoms can show up later.

Then keep going. A gap in treatment, or skipped therapy, gives the other side room to argue that you weren’t badly hurt, or that something else caused the problem. The law also generally bars recovering for harm you could have avoided with reasonable effort (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School). Michigan’s model jury instructions, for example, tell jurors not to compensate the part of the harm that came from failing to use ordinary care to limit it, and the instruction’s comment says this duty may include seeking and following medical treatment (M Civ JI 53.05).

A gap doesn’t automatically end a claim, but some benefits have hard deadlines. In Florida, as of September 2026, no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) pays medical benefits only if you get initial care within 14 days of the crash (Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)(a)).

Tell every provider how you were hurt, and report new symptoms as they appear. After a crash, work through our checklist of 10 things to do after a car accident.

What mistakes happen in the first weeks?

2. Giving the other side’s insurer a recorded statement

Two insurers may call, and they aren’t the same. Your own insurer is bound by your policy, and so are you: tell it about the accident right away, give it the reasonable information it asks for as proof of your claim and cooperate as the policy requires (Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services). It may take a written or recorded statement (California Department of Insurance).

The other side’s insurer is different. You have no contract with it (Texas Department of Insurance), and its primary obligation is to its own policyholder (Illinois Department of Insurance). Illinois’s regulator also says no law there sets out the information you must give it. So you generally don’t have to give it a recorded statement, and it’s safer not to before you’ve had advice. In court, your own statements can generally be offered as evidence against you (in Michigan, MRE 801(d)(2)), and an answer given in pain, or a guess about speed or fault, is hard to take back.

Declining a statement isn’t refusing to prove your claim. You’ll still need to send documents that support it, such as the crash report, bills and records. See what to say when an insurance adjuster calls and how insurance companies evaluate injury claims.

3. Posting about the accident or your recovery

Photos, check-ins and comments can end up in the claim file. Like anything else you say, your posts can be used as evidence against you, and in a lawsuit each side can ask for relevant information that isn’t legally protected, or privileged (MCR 2.302(B)(1); Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1)).

A private account doesn’t put posts off-limits. In a slip-and-fall case at Detroit’s airport, a federal court said private Facebook posts generally aren’t privileged. It refused the defense’s request for the injured woman’s whole account, in part because her public photos, holding a small dog, didn’t contradict her claimed injuries, but said photos of her golfing or riding a horse might have made a stronger case for looking at her private posts (Tompkins v Detroit Metropolitan Airport, U.S. District Court, E.D. Mich., 2012).

Don’t delete anything, either. If electronic information that should have been kept for a lawsuit is destroyed to keep it from the other side, a court can presume it was unfavorable, tell the jury so or dismiss the case (MCR 2.313(D); Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(e)). Stop posting about the accident, your injuries and your activities, and talk to a lawyer before you change or remove anything.

Already talked to an adjuster, or not sure what you've posted? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

What mistakes can sink the claim itself?

4. Missing a notice deadline

Some claims need written notice long before the deadline to sue, and late notice can end a strong claim. No-fault insurance and claims against a government are two places this comes up. An injury claim against the federal government, for example, must first be presented in writing to the federal agency responsible within two years (28 U.S.C. §§ 2401(b), 2675(a)).

5. Settling before you know what your claim is worth

In most cases, the other driver’s insurer won’t settle your claim until you sign a release, and a release means the amount offered is the only amount you will ever receive from the other driver and the insurer. Be sure you’re ready to accept a final amount before you sign it or cash the check (Illinois Department of Insurance). If you settle your car damage first, make sure that release covers only the car.

Two things are easy to miss:

• Future costs. The bills you have so far aren’t the whole claim. Ask your doctor what care you’ll still need, and count the work you’ll miss later. Once you sign, you generally can’t come back for more if the injury turns out worse.
• Who must be repaid. When Medicare pays for care another insurer may be responsible for, the payment is conditional and must be repaid from a settlement, judgment or award (CMS), within 60 days of receiving it (42 CFR 411.24(h)). Medicare generally reduces its claim by its share of the costs of getting a disputed claim paid, such as legal fees (42 CFR 411.37; CMS). An employer health plan governed by the federal ERISA law can enforce the repayment terms in the plan, though if the plan says nothing about legal fees, it generally shares them (US Airways v McCutchen, U.S. Supreme Court, 2013).

Get every repayment amount in writing before you sign, so you know what you’ll actually keep. See who gets paid from your settlement.

What mistakes can end a lawsuit before it starts?

6. Letting the deadline to sue run out

Every state sets a deadline for filing an injury lawsuit, called the statute of limitations, and a lawsuit filed too late can be dismissed however strong it is. Deadlines vary by state and claim, and they change: Florida cut its deadline for negligence lawsuits from four years to two for claims that arose after March 24, 2023 (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a); ch. 2023-15, Laws of Fla.). Look up yours in personal injury deadlines in every state.

Talking with an insurer generally doesn’t stop the clock. Michigan’s tolling statute, for example, lists what pauses a deadline, such as filing and serving the lawsuit, and settlement talks aren’t on the list (MCL 600.5856). If the deadline is close and the claim hasn’t settled, filing the lawsuit is what protects it.

Do you need a lawyer to avoid these mistakes?

Not always. A small, clear claim for a minor injury that has healed may be one you can settle yourself; see whether you need a personal injury lawyer. Many lawyers offer a free or reduced-fee consultation, according to the State Bar of Michigan, so cost alone shouldn’t stop you from asking.

If you hire a lawyer, read the fee agreement first. The Florida Bar’s consumer guide explains that in injury cases, a lawyer may agree to be paid a contingency fee, a part of what the client recovers, and warns that you may still owe case costs, such as filing fees and witness expenses, even if you lose, unless your contract says otherwise. Check whether the percentage is figured before or after costs.

For the full picture, see what a personal injury lawyer does, step by step, and bring these questions to ask an injury attorney to any consultation.

What to do next

1. Get checked, and keep going. See a doctor promptly, follow the treatment plan, and keep every bill and record.
2. Write down your deadlines on day one, starting with any notice deadline, such as Michigan’s one-year notice for PIP benefits.
3. Keep calls with the other side’s insurer short, hold off on a recorded statement, and keep the accident off social media without deleting anything.
4. Don’t sign a release or cash a check marked as full payment until you know your future costs and every repayment claim.
5. Find out where you stand. Get a free case review, or, if you were hurt in Michigan, compare injury lawyers near you.

What waiting can cost

• Your right to sue. A lawsuit filed after the deadline can be dismissed, however strong the case (in Michigan, MCL 600.5805(1)).
• A claim against a government. In Michigan, notice of a road or sidewalk defect is a condition of any recovery, and it’s due within 120 days (MCL 691.1404(1)).
• Benefits you’re owed. Michigan no-fault benefits need written notice to your insurer, or a lawsuit, within one year of the crash, unless the insurer has already paid benefits for the injury (MCL 500.3145(1)).
• Evidence. Video gets recorded over, cars get repaired and witnesses move on.

What a good outcome looks like

Your injuries are documented from the first days, with no gaps in treatment for the other side to point to. Your own insurer has what it needs, the other side’s has documents instead of an unprepared statement, and every notice went out on time. When you settle, you know what future care will cost, who must be repaid and what you’ll keep. From worrying that one wrong move will cost you to knowing which mistakes to avoid, which deadlines apply and what your claim is really worth.

For how injury claims work from start to finish, see our guide to personal injury claims.

Updated September 27, 2026

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and laws change. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state. Reading this page or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.