Kansas Personal Injury Fact Sheet: What you Need to Know

Each state has different laws governing the requirements, deadlines, and payouts for personal injury.

So if you plan to file a claim for physical, mental, emotional, or reputational harm due to someone else’s negligence or intentional action, you need to familiarize yourself with Kansas personal injury law.

This guide provides all the information that accident victims and their family members might need to make a personal injury insurance claim or file an injury lawsuit.

But if you have any doubts about your claim or need legal representation to give yourself the best chance of a successful injury settlement, book a free no-obligation consultation with a Kansas personal injury lawyer at Phalen Law today.

What makes Kansas personal injury law unique?

No-fault auto insurance

Kansas requires all drivers to purchase Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance.

This is a type of no-fault insurance that allows you to make a claim on your insurance even if you were partly responsible for a collision.

Comparative fault

Both Kansas car accident compensation and other types of personal injury damages follow a modified comparative fault rule.

This means the money you can recover from your claim is affected by your percentage of fault.

Let’s say your total damages amount to $100,000. But you’re found to be 30% at fault for an automobile accident.

That means you can only recover up to $70,000.

Threshold of fault

While you can make a claim even if you’re partly responsible, there’s a limit.

Personal injury in Kansas establishes a threshold of fault for bodily injury.

That means you can only recover damages if you’re less than 50% at fault for what happened.

If you’re found to be 50% or more at fault, you can’t recover compensation in a Kansas accident claim no matter how severe your injuries or losses are.

So if you’re planning to file for personal injury in Kansas, you need to build a watertight case to prove you weren’t largely responsible.

And even if you were mostly innocent, you might need to convince the defendant’s insurance company or a jury of that fact.

Without trusted legal representation, this could be almost impossible.

To give yourself that best chance of a substantial payout, book a free personal injury attorney consultation with Phalen Law.

Does Kansas have a cap on personal injury damages?

Some people worry they won’t be able to claim enough damages to support their injury recovery and cover financial losses.

Let us put your mind at ease—there’s no statutory cap for economic or non-economic damages under Kansas personal injury law.

While there used to be a cap on non-economic damages, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the cap unconstitutional in Hilburn vs Enerpipe, Ltd. in 2019.

That means you can claim full compensation for all types of damages with legal representation from a talented personal injury lawyer.

Common types of personal injury claims in Kansas

Automobile collisions

Most personal injury claims are filed following a vehicle accident.

These could be caused by:

• Excessive speed
• Reckless overtaking
• Failure to indicate
• Lane-changing
• Rear-ending
• Collisions at junctions or roundabouts
• Collisions caused by uninsured drivers
• Hit-and-run incidents
• Drunk driving

If you’ve been in a collision, you can make a claim as:

• A driver or passenger
• A pedestrian struck by a vehicle
• A cyclist or motorcyclist injured by a vehicle

Be aware that some criminals engineer incidents such as car accidents to threaten an innocent victim with prosecution and win easy money.

So if you’re a driver, you need to take steps to avoid becoming a victim of personal injury insurance fraud.

This is one reason why every Kansas driver should have a dash cam to provide concrete evidence for a personal injury claim.

Workplace accidents

If you’re injured at work, you can claim compensation through your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance policy.

But depending on what happened, you might also be able to make a third-party personal injury claim.

Our attorneys specialize in both personal injury claims and workers’ comp. So we can advise you on the best course of action during your free consultation.

Other examples

• Intentional tort: You might be able to claim for wrongful acts carried out on purpose, such as assault, malicious prosecution, and false imprisonment
• Dog bites: While you can claim compensation for dog bites, Kansas follows a ‘one bite’ rule. Under this rule, owners aren’t liable for the first time their dog bites someone if they had no knowledge of previous bites or aggressive behaviors
• Product liability: Manufacturers, designers, and sellers have a legal responsibility to ensure their products don’t harm end users
• Defamation: You can claim for reputational harm caused by libel and slander. You don’t need to prove damages, only that a false and malicious statement was made
• Wrongful death: Survivors such as spouses, children, and dependents can recover damages for wrongful or neglectful acts that cause the death of a policy holder

What damages can I recover from a Kansas personal injury claim?

Kansas personal injury law allows you to recover uncapped economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages are quantifiable out-of-pocket expenses that you can prove with invoices and receipts. These include:

• Medical expenses: You can recover the costs of treatments and rehabilitations, such as emergency room visits, surgeries, medications, and physical therapies
• Lost wages: If you’re unable to work following your injuries, you can recover lost income, missed overtime, expected bonuses, and other potential benefits
• Property damage: You can claim for damage to your vehicle, personal belongings, or real estate

Non-economic damages, on the other hand, serve as compensation for suffering that doesn’t have a specific monetary value. These could be:

• Pain and suffering: As well as medical expenses, you could claim for chronic pain, discomfort from medical procedures and disabilities, and loss of life enjoyment
• Emotional distress: This includes psychological or mental trauma from your incident, such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, grief, post-traumatic stress disorder, and even humiliation
• Reputational damage: In some situations you can claim for libel or slander that affects your social standing or people’s belief about your character

How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Kansas?

Under the Kansas statute of limitations, you typically have two years from the date of your injury or incident to file a personal injury claim.

This might seem like a long time. But making a claim can be a slow process.

You must act quickly and follow the correct steps for filing a personal injury lawsuit in Kansas. Otherwise, you could lose your eligibility for compensation.

That said, there are some circumstances in which the statute of limitations is different.

People with a legal disability

For the purposes of Kansas personal injury law, legal disability includes people who are:

• Under the age of 18
• Incapacitated
• Imprisoned for less than a life term without the ability to file a suit

Under Kansas Statutes Section 60-515, a legally disabled person must file a lawsuit within the earlier of:

• One year from the date the disability is removed
• Eight years from the date of the act that caused the injury

Discovery Rule

In some cases, it’s not possible to know you’re injured right away.

For example, you might only discover medical malpractice during a future medical exam or surgery.

And in the case of wrongful death in Kansas, you might believe a loved one died of natural causes only to learn from an autopsy that their death was related to another person’s negligence.

In this case, the statute of limitations begins from when the injury became “reasonably ascertainable” (Kan. Stat. 60-513).

This Discovery Rule applies to all Kansas personal injury cases.

But state law puts a time limit on how long you have to discover your injury, called the statute of repose:

• In cases of medical malpractice you must make a claim within four years from the date of malpractice
• For all other personal injury claims you have up to 10 years from the date of the incident that caused injury or death

Intentional tort

Kan. Stat. 60-514 gives you just one year to file a claim for assault or battery, defamation, false imprisonment, or malicious prosecution.

Defendant leaves Kansas or goes into hiding

Under Kan. Stat. 60-517, the statute of limitations doesn’t run while the defendant is outside of Kansas or is in hiding.

That’s because their absence can make it impossible to serve them with a lawsuit.

The statute starts or resumes when the defendant returns to Kansas or comes out of hiding.

What to do after an injury in Kansas

Seek medical attention

Your first priority after bodily injury should be to ensure your own safety and the safety of others.

You should seek medical attention even if your symptoms seem mild.

Adrenaline following an injury can interfere with your ability to gauge pain or bodily harm. And a minor injury such as mild whiplash can grow significantly if not treated correctly.

A prompt medical examination also gives weight to your claims of the severity of your injuries. And it provides official injury documentation that’s absolutely vital for making a claim.

Report the incident

Call the police immediately following a collision. As well as helping to resume the flow of traffic, the accident report will serve as unbiased evidence of the incident.

If your injury took place at work or in the course of your workplace duties, inform your employer as soon as possible and follow their injury reporting procedures.

For injuries that occurred on someone else’s property or involved damage to property, inform the property owner, manager, or staff.

Reporting the incident creates an official record that you can later use to build a strong case for compensation.

Gather evidence

Collect as much evidence as you can while the scene is still fresh.

Take photographs of your injuries, the accident scene, property damage, and any hazardous conditions.

You should also take names and contact details from anyone who saw what happened.

Even after the incident, keep records of all treatments, diagnoses, medications, and medical bills related to your injuries. This proof will allow you to make an accurate claim to cover your out-of-pocket expenses. To learn more, read our article on how to pay bills while waiting on a settlement.

Evidence is crucial for establishing liability and the extent of your damages in a Kansas personal injury claim.

Why is documentation so important?

Settlement negotiations and jury trials rely on documented evidence to establish fault and justify claims for compensation.

With sufficient evidence, you can maximize your personal injury payout. This provides the treatment and support you need for recovery with as few financial hardships as possible.

The more evidence you gather and witness or expert testimonies you can use to support your case, the stronger your claim for compensation.

With a strong enough claim, you might even be able to avoid a legal battle that could occur if the defendant feels confident they can dispute your case.

How personal injury settlements work in Kansas

Insurance claims and demand letters

To make an insurance claim or file a lawsuit, you need to fill out specific paperwork within the statute of limitations.

Legal paperwork is always complex. And filing your claim while recovering from injury can be particularly difficult.

On top of that, getting something wrong or leaving out important details could jeopardize your entire case before it even begins.

You’ll also need to send a demand letter to the defendant explaining the reason for your claim, who was responsible, and how much compensation you need.

Without comprehensive legal knowledge, it can be almost impossible to know what to say—and what not to say—to establish a case for compensation.

That means you could be cheating yourself out of money that’s rightfully yours.

Similarly, if the defendant responds with a lower offer, you can’t know whether or not it’s right to accept.

And many claimants have no idea what to do if the defendant doesn’t respond at all—especially with a ticking clock over their claim.

But you can erase all of these troubles by hiring a local personal injury attorney at the very start of your case.

We complete all your legal paperwork thoroughly, accurately, and on time to get your case underway quickly and with confidence.

Our attorneys also know how much money is appropriate to demand.

With our support, you can receive the payout you deserve for your injuries and financial losses.

Settlement negotiations vs going to trial

Ideally, the defendant will accept your demand letter immediately. If that happens, you could receive a settlement in just a few weeks.

But this is rarely the case.

Typically, the defendant’s attorney will respond with a much lower settlement offer.

We’ll continue negotiating the settlement until we reach an agreeable amount.

If this isn’t possible, or the defendant refuses the claim, we’ll then file a lawsuit.

We always try to avoid going to court. It’s our priority to get you the compensation you deserve quickly and to reduce the stress from your claim.

As such, we’ll try to arrange alternative dispute resolution (ADR) like mediation.

Here, a neutral third party helps us reach a fair solution with the defendant’s attorney.

But if ADR doesn’t produce a favorable result, we might need to go to court.

On the day of your trial, both parties’ lawyers present all their information to a jury. We might also call upon expert witnesses to offer more insight.

Based on this information, the jury will decide who should win the case and how much compensation they deserve.

How can working with an attorney maximize a personal injury payout?

The amount of compensation you could receive for personal injury in Kansas depends mainly on:

• The costs of your injuries and losses
• The extent to which you’re at fault
• Precedent set by similar legal cases

But without knowledge of the Kansas legal system and the history of personal injury cases in the state, there’s no way for you to know how much compensation you’re entitled to.

This makes it easy for the defendant’s attorney or insurance company to convince you to accept a lower settlement.

That’s doubly true if the alternative is a long and difficult legal battle that you’re unlikely to win.

By seeking legal advice from a Kansas personal injury law firm with a proven track record as early as possible, you can establish how much money you deserve. This sets a starting point for favorable negotiations.

Your attorney might also recommend pursuing other benefits you didn’t know you were entitled to.

Most importantly, an experienced attorney knows how to gather the right types of evidence quickly and thoroughly to build a powerful case.

This makes it more likely that you can win a substantial payout from your claim.

When to contact a Kansas personal injury attorney

If your accident only results in minor injuries and the guilty party accepts full responsibility on record, you might be able to handle your personal injury claim yourself.

In that case, you can follow our complete checklist for filing a personal injury lawsuit in Kansas and Missouri to find out what to do next.

But if it’s difficult to prove liability, you’re dealing with high medical costs, or your claim is disputed, you need to hire a Kansas personal injury attorney right away.

Kansas personal injury law is exceedingly complex. And if you’re trying to make a claim against a defendant with even moderate legal representation, it’s almost certain you’ll lose on your own.

Your attorney will be able to give you clear information about whether or not you have a case worth pursuing.

If you do, we can help you gather the right types of evidence to prove your claim and negotiate compensation for a payout that properly covers your injuries, losses, and suffering.

We do our best to reach an out-of-court settlement to save you months of legal stress and financial hardship.

But if that’s not possible, we’re prepared to represent you in court and defend your case to the very end.

With our comprehensive knowledge of the Kansas legal system and ability to build an ironclad case for compensation, you have the best chance of proving liability and getting the payout you deserve.

File your personal injury claim with Phalen Law

Have you been in a car accident, suffered medical malpractice, lost a loved one, or endured any other pain and suffering from someone else’s negligence or intentional acts?

Then you could claim financial compensation to cover medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and emotional or psychological harm.

However, you need to make your claim within two years or your injuries or other losses coming to light.

That might sound like a long time. But in legal terms, it’s incredibly short.

So you must act now and present a strong legal case right from the start.

For more than 50 years’, people throughout Kansas have come to Phalen Law to seek justice and compensation for their injuries and suffering.

Call us now toll free or fill out our Free Case Evaluation form online for a free no-obligation consultation that puts you on the path to personal injury compensation.