AL
Whiplash settlements
in Alabama.
Alabama is one of a handful of states where any fault of yours can bar recovery, and you have only two years to sue. But the defense must have real evidence before the jury hears about your fault: a woman stopped at a yield sign and hit by an 18 wheeler won a new trial on that point. Alabama also lets defendants tell the jury who paid your medical bills.
Facts that decide a whiplash claim in Alabama
| Fault rule | Alabama keeps contributory negligence, which bars recovery, but a jury may be told about it only when substantial evidence shows the plaintiff’s own negligence helped cause the accident.Phillips v. Seward (Ala. 2010) |
|---|---|
| Medical bills paid by insurance | In an injury case the defense may introduce evidence that medical and hospital expenses were or will be paid by insurance or other collateral sources.Ala. Code § 12-21-45, applied in McCormick v. Bunting (Ala. Civ. App. 2012) and Crocker v. Grammer (Ala. Civ. App. 2011) |
| Deadline to sue | Two years for “all actions for injury to the person or rights of another not arising from contract and not specifically enumerated.”Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l), as quoted in Nelson v. Megginson (Ala. 2014) |
| Seat belt use | Not wearing a seat belt is not evidence of contributory negligence, and the Supreme Court has refused it as a damages reduction.Ala. Code § 32-5B-7; Britton v. Doehring (Ala. 1970); see our seat belt table |