What is the Statute of Limitations on Cruise Ship Accident Lawsuits?
One of the most common questions our cruise ship accident lawyers receive is in regard to the statute of limitations for injury lawsuits. In addition to pinpointing the filing deadline for your compensation claim, we will help you bring a case within the statute of limitations so you aren’t barred from damages.
Most likely, you will have one year to sue for a cruise ship injury. Before you file a lawsuit, you must first send a notice of a claim, and this must come within six months of the incident. Filing lawsuits within the statute of limitations can be hard for badly injured victims, and our attorneys can simplify the process as much as possible. To give us enough time to get evidence and build a strong case, reach out as soon as possible after a cruise ship accident.
For a free case review from our cruise ship injury lawyers, call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind at (305) 204-5369.
What is the Statute of Limitations for Cruise Ship Accident Lawsuits?
The statute of limitations for filing a cruise ship injury lawsuit is generally one year from the date the incident occurred. This statute applies to ships operated by Carnival Corporation (Carnival Cruise Lines), Celebrity Cruise Lines, Costa Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), Regent-Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCL), Silver Sea Cruises, and more.
This one-year time limitation to file a lawsuit for a cruise ship passenger who has been injured onboard a cruise ship is authorized by maritime law. The passenger tickets that contain this one-year limitation to file a lawsuit have been held enforceable by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Too frequently, maritime law attorneys want to refer a cruise ship passenger case but have failed to recognize the one-year time limitation, and it has been too late to help the cruise ship passenger. Other times, attorneys have learned the hard way about the one-year time limit when a lawsuit that has been filed is met with a motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds.
Do Other Time Limits Apply to Cruise Ship Injury Lawsuits?
Not only is there a one-year time limitation to file a lawsuit by a cruise ship passenger, but there are also conditions in the passenger ticket requiring notice to be given to the cruise ship company of the claim, prior to commencement of the lawsuit.
Typically, this is a six-month notice requirement. In addition, the passenger ticket may contain a forum selection clause, requiring the passenger to file their lawsuit in a venue chosen by the cruise ship company.
For example, the Miami-based cruise ship companies, Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean require the lawsuits to be filed in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Most of the time, the passenger ticket requires the lawsuit to be filed in Federal court.
In the case of Costa, they have two types of passenger tickets for their cruises. One involves cruises that depart from the United States. They require the lawsuits to be filed in Broward County, Florida. For those cruises that do not touch a United States port and sail in the European countries, the lawsuit must be filed in Genoa, Italy. Passengers who were aboard the Costa Concordia are faced with a passenger ticket that requires a lawsuit to be filed within one year, as well as for the lawsuit to be filed in Genoa, Italy.
In addition to the many other terms and conditions contained in the passenger contract that will affect the rights of the cruise ship passenger in pursuing an action for personal injury or wrongful death on a cruise ship, there are also terms and conditions with respect to any claims for baggage loss, or contractual disputes that may exist.
What if You Miss the Statute of Limitations for a Cruise Ship Accident Lawsuit?
Missing the one-year statute of limitations for cruise ship injury lawsuits may bar victims from recovering any damages. Don’t let this happen to you, and contact us about your case as soon as possible after an onboard accident.
Even if it has been over a year since you were injured on a cruise ship, you can still reach out to us. There are exceptions to the statute of limitations that extend the timeframe, and our cruise ship injury lawyers can determine if any apply to your case. For example, the statute of limitations may be tolled for cruise ship passengers who were injured as minors or if the cruise line concealed information about its liability to avoid a lawsuit.
Not immediately discovering an injury or its cause also pauses the statute of limitations for cruise ship accident lawsuits.
Assume you only have one year to file so you don’t risk missing the statute of limitations, and reach out about your compensation claim immediately.
Is it Hard to File within the Statute of Limitations for Cruise Ship Accident Lawsuits?
Due to the short timeframe for filing a lawsuit against a negligent cruise line and the even shorter timeframe for sending a notice of a claim, suing within the statute of limitations is challenging for many injured passengers.
Injuries from falls overboard or onto lower decks, intentional assaults, tripping accidents, and other incidents may land passengers in foreign hospitals for days, weeks, or longer. Getting injured on a cruise can be traumatizing, and victims may be understandably focused on physically and mentally recovering.
Let us deal with the time restraints on seeking compensation for cruise ship injuries, and contact us about your case right away.
How to Sue within the Statute of Limitations for Cruise Ship Injury Lawsuits
Help yourself sue within the statute of limitations for cruise ship injury lawsuits by preserving evidence, documenting any injuries you sustain, contacting our lawyers, and tracking your damages.
Preserve Evidence
When passengers intentionally preserve evidence from cruise ship accidents, our lawyers can build cases more efficiently, ultimately filing lawsuits sooner. Regardless of whether you are hurt in a slip and fall, intentional assault, or other incident, document the scene to the best of your ability. That includes taking pictures and reporting to the appropriate parties on the cruise ship. Do not accept any liability when reporting the accident, and ask for a copy of the incident report from the cruise.
Document the Injury
We also need proof of your injury to sue within one year of an accident on a cruise. While cruise ship medical staff might treat your initial injuries, you should also seek a second opinion from physicians not employed by the cruise line.
Contact Our Lawyers
Since you only have one year to sue and six months to send a notice of a claim, waste no time after an accident and contact us right away. The sooner we understand the accident’s chain of events, the sooner we can build a strong lawsuit that proves liability or yields a good settlement.
We can use a lawsuit to demand and preserve evidence, like footage from onboard security cameras. This footage might show dangerous deck conditions, an intentional assault, or another cause of injury, and help prove our case.
Track Your Damages
To file within the statute of limitations, you must track your damages so you know how much compensation to seek in your claim. If you don’t know your total damages, you cannot request relief in a lawsuit, meaning you can’t file your claim yet.
Let us begin tracking damages from cruise ship injuries swiftly. We will not only seek compensation for every medical expense you have incurred, but also for any travel and transportation costs, lost wages, and non-economic damages.
Call Our Cruise Ship Accident + Injury Lawyers Today
For a free and confidential case analysis from our cruise ship injury lawyers, call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind at (305) 204-5369.
