CHANGES IN KENTUCKY'S AUTO ACCIDENT STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Auto accident statute of limitations alert in Kentucky- Beware of the one-year statute of limitations due to an auto accident on “business premises.”

If you have an auto accident claim that occurred on a “business premise,” then the statute of limitations for the filing of this claim may be one-year instead of the two years from the last pip payment under the Kentucky no fault laws. A recently reported case in the Kentucky Court of Appeals by the name of Bell v. LB Properties, found that an accident in a car wash was subject to the one-year statute of limitations due to the business premises exclusion under the Kentucky no-fault laws. The plaintiff, who alleged malfunctioning of the car wash equipment was required to file the lawsuit within one year from the date of the accident because this factual scenario satisfied KRS 304.39-020 (6) (a). The plaintiff alleged malfunctioning of the car wash equipment as opposed to the negligent operation of a motor vehicle and, therefore, the business exclusion under the Kentucky no fault law applied. This exclusion removed this accident from the normal statute of limitations for an auto accident in Kentucky, which is 2 years from the date of the last pip payment.

The Kentucky statute of limitations can be complicated based upon the particular circumstances of an auto accident and, therefore, it is important to contact an auto accident attorney such as the Troutman Law Office to evaluate your auto accident claim so that your claim does not expire due to statute of limitations issues such as occurred in the Bell case described above.