In Oregon, you usually have 2 years from the crash date to file a personal injury lawsuit. Miss that, and the insurer knows you may lose your leverage completely.

What the insurance company will tell you is simple: you waited too long, your problems are from age or old wear-and-tear, and the treatment gap means your current limits on living alone are not from the crash.

What is actually true is more nuanced.

If the crash was less than 2 years ago, you may still have a claim even if you did not finish treatment, even if your symptoms got worse slowly, and even if you had prior arthritis or back trouble. Oregon law generally allows recovery when a crash made an old condition worse. That matters in the kind of spring and summer visibility wrecks common around Hillsboro, especially on TV Highway, Cornelius Pass Road, and OR 8, where rain, glare, and drivers "not seeing" riders are a year-round problem.

If the other driver carried only Oregon's minimum liability limits of $25,000 per person / $50,000 per crash / $20,000 property damage, that may not come close to covering a serious injury. Your own underinsured motorist coverage may be critical, but those claims have policy deadlines and notice requirements separate from the lawsuit deadline.

If your care ended up at OHSU or another specialist months later because nerve damage, balance issues, or loss of hand strength became clearer over time, that delay does not automatically kill the case. The key issue is whether the medical records connect today's limitations to the crash.

One major exception: if the at-fault vehicle was owned by a city, county, or another public body, Oregon tort claim notice can be as short as 180 days.

Police reports help, but the clock is about the filing date, not when the insurer feels ready.