Every term an adjuster, a court, or your own lawyer will use in a North Carolina injury claim, defined in plain English and paired with the North Carolina rule that applies to it.
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About This Glossary
This glossary defines the legal, insurance, and medical terms that come up in North Carolina personal injury claims. Each entry gives a short definition, a plain-English explanation, an example, and the North Carolina statute or case that governs it, so an injured person can understand what they are being told and what it means for their claim.
Injury law has a vocabulary of its own, and most of it arrives at the worst possible time: in a letter from an insurance company, in a doctor’s report, or in a court filing. Adjusters use terms like subrogation, policy limits, and release because the words carry legal consequences, and a person who does not know what they mean is at a disadvantage in every conversation. This glossary closes that gap. Each term is defined in one or two sentences, explained the way a lawyer would explain it across a desk, and illustrated with an example drawn from the kinds of claims we handle.
North Carolina is not like most states, so a generic legal dictionary is not enough. This state still follows contributory negligence, does not require personal injury protection coverage, sets its own minimum liability and uninsured-motorist limits, caps punitive damages, and gives injured people three years to file most claims. Wherever a term works differently here, the entry says so and cites the North Carolina statute or court decision behind it. Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law wrote and reviewed every entry; the glossary is general legal information about North Carolina law, not advice about your case.
A
Assumption of RiskThe defense that an injured person knowingly accepted a danger. North Carolina limits it to contractual settings such as signed waivers.Negligence & Liability
B
Bad Faith (Insurance)An insurer’s unreasonable refusal to pay or fairly handle a claim. In North Carolina the remedy belongs to its own policyholder, not the other driver.Insurance & Claims
Breach of DutyConduct that falls below the reasonable-care standard: the second element of a North Carolina negligence claim, and the one most often fought over.Negligence & Liability
Burden of ProofWho must prove what, and how convincingly: the injured person proves negligence; in North Carolina the defendant proves contributory negligence.Litigation & Procedure
C
Collateral Source RuleThe rule that keeps a defendant from paying less because your own insurance covered the bills, and how North Carolina’s Rule 414 limits it.Damages & Compensation
Comparative NegligenceThe fault-sharing rule most states use instead of contributory negligence — and why North Carolina does not.Negligence & Liability
Compensatory DamagesMoney that repays an injured person’s actual losses: medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering. Not capped in most North Carolina injury cases.Damages & Compensation
Contingency FeeThe fee arrangement where the lawyer is paid a percentage of the recovery and nothing if there is none. How it works in North Carolina.Litigation & Procedure
Contributory NegligenceNorth Carolina’s all-or-nothing fault rule: any negligence by the injured person that helped cause the injury bars recovery.Negligence & Liability
D
Demand LetterThe formal settlement package that opens negotiation with the at-fault insurer: liability, damages, and a dollar demand.Insurance & Claims
DiscoveryThe pre-trial phase where both sides must exchange evidence: interrogatories, documents, depositions, exams, and subpoenas.Litigation & Procedure
Duty of CareThe legal obligation to act with reasonable care toward others: the first element of every North Carolina negligence claim.Negligence & Liability
G
Gross NegligenceWanton conduct in conscious or reckless disregard of others’ safety: the fault level that defeats contributory negligence and opens punitive damages.Negligence & Liability
I
Independent Medical Examination (IME)A medical exam by a doctor the insurer or employer chooses. What North Carolina law lets them require, and what rights you keep.Damages & Compensation
InterrogatoriesWritten questions one party sends another that must be answered in writing under oath; North Carolina caps them at 50 under Rule 33.Litigation & Procedure
L
Last Clear Chance DoctrineThe exception that lets a partly-at-fault plaintiff recover when the defendant had the final opportunity to avoid the injury.Negligence & Liability
Letter of ProtectionAn attorney’s written promise that a medical provider will be paid from the injury settlement, so treatment continues without upfront payment.Insurance & Claims
LitigationThe process of resolving a dispute through the courts, from complaint to verdict; most North Carolina injury cases settle along the way.Litigation & Procedure
Loss of ConsortiumA spouse’s own claim for the companionship and support an injury took away. In North Carolina it is spouse-only and joined with the main claim.Damages & Compensation
M
Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)The point where a doctor says your condition has stabilized: when North Carolina injury claims are valued and permanent ratings are assigned.Damages & Compensation
Mediation vs. ArbitrationTwo ways to settle without a jury: a mediator helps the parties agree, an arbitrator decides. North Carolina requires mediation in superior court.Litigation & Procedure
Medical LienA legal claim by a hospital, doctor, Medicaid, Medicare, or insurer to be repaid out of your North Carolina injury settlement.Insurance & Claims
Medical Payments Coverage (MedPay)Optional no-fault coverage on a North Carolina auto policy that pays medical bills for you and your passengers after a crash.Insurance & Claims
N
NegligenceThe failure to use reasonable care that injures someone else: duty, breach, causation, and damages, under North Carolina’s all-or-nothing fault rule.Negligence & Liability
Negligence Per SeBreaking a public-safety law is negligence by itself: how North Carolina applies the rule, its exceptions, and why it cuts both ways.Negligence & Liability
Non-Economic DamagesPain, suffering, scarring, and lost enjoyment of life: the losses without a receipt. North Carolina caps them only in medical malpractice cases.Damages & Compensation
P
Personal Injury Protection (PIP)No-fault coverage that pays your own medical bills regardless of blame. North Carolina does not require it; here is what NC drivers use instead.Insurance & Claims
Policy LimitsThe most an insurance policy will pay per person and per accident; the ceiling on what the at-fault driver’s insurer owes.Insurance & Claims
Premises LiabilityA property owner’s responsibility for injuries from unsafe conditions on the land. North Carolina owes reasonable care to every lawful visitor.Negligence & Liability
Proximate CauseThe legal-cause element: the injury must be a natural, foreseeable result of the negligence, on both sides of a North Carolina claim.Negligence & Liability
Punitive DamagesDamages that punish fraud, malice, or willful conduct. North Carolina caps them at 3x compensatory damages or $250,000, except for drunk drivers.Damages & Compensation
R
Res Ipsa Loquitur“The thing speaks for itself”: when an injury could only have happened through negligence, North Carolina lets the jury infer it without direct proof.Negligence & Liability
S
Settlement ReleaseThe contract that ends an injury claim in exchange for payment; once signed, the claim cannot be reopened, even if injuries worsen.Litigation & Procedure
Statute of LimitationsThe deadline to file a lawsuit: three years for most North Carolina injury claims, two years for wrongful death.Litigation & Procedure
Statute of ReposeAn absolute deadline that runs from the defendant’s act, not your injury. North Carolina’s repose periods for products, construction, and malpractice.Litigation & Procedure
Strict LiabilityLiability without proof of fault. North Carolina applies it to dangerous dogs and a few hazardous activities, but not to defective products.Negligence & Liability
Structured SettlementAn injury settlement paid over time through an annuity instead of one check, and the North Carolina law that protects those payments.Litigation & Procedure
SubrogationThe right of an insurer or benefit program that paid your bills to recover that money from your North Carolina injury settlement.Insurance & Claims
T
TortA civil wrong that injures someone and gives them a right to sue for damages: the category every North Carolina injury claim belongs to.Negligence & Liability
U
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist CoverageCoverage on your own auto policy that pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance (UM) or not enough (UIM); required in North Carolina.Insurance & Claims
V
Vicarious LiabilityResponsibility for someone else’s negligence, most often an employer’s for an employee on the job. North Carolina also applies it to family cars.Negligence & Liability
How Should You Use This Glossary?
Jump to a letter above, or start with the term you were just handed. Each entry opens with a definition you can read in ten seconds, followed by a longer explanation, a North Carolina section, a worked example, and answers to the questions people ask most about that term. Related terms are linked at the bottom of every entry, and each entry links to the practice page or guide where the term does the most work, so you can move from the word to the rule to what it means for a claim like yours.
New terms are added regularly. If a word in a letter, a policy, or a court document is not here yet, call the firm and ask. There is no charge for the question, and the answer often changes what you do next.
Why Do North Carolina Terms Need Their Own Definitions?
Because four North Carolina rules change the meaning of almost everything else. The first is contributory negligence: under the rule codified in part by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-139, an injured person whose own negligence contributed to the injury in any degree recovers nothing, which is why terms like negligence, proximate cause, and last clear chance carry more weight here than in the 46 states that share fault by percentage. The second is the state’s auto-insurance structure. North Carolina requires liability coverage of at least 50/100/50 and, for policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, matching uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-279.21, and it does not require personal injury protection, so the insurance terms in this glossary describe a different system than the one a national explainer assumes.
The third is damages. North Carolina caps punitive damages under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1D-25 and has no general cap on compensatory damages, so terms like compensatory, non-economic, and punitive damages are defined here against the state’s actual limits. The fourth is time. Most injury claims must be filed within three years under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(16), and the procedural terms in this glossary (deposition, interrogatories, mediation) describe what happens once a claim is filed inside that window. Every entry that touches one of these rules explains it.
The North Carolina rule to remember: being even 1% at fault, the informal shorthand for any negligence that helped cause your injury, can bar your entire claim. Most of the terms in this glossary matter because of that rule.
About the Author
Joshua E. Palmer
Managing Partner · Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law
Attorney Palmer concentrates in personal injury law and trained in North Carolina law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham. This glossary explains the terms he uses with clients every day, in plain English and with the North Carolina rule that applies.
J.D., North Carolina Central University School of Law (Durham, NC)
Managing Partner, Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law
This glossary defines the legal, insurance, and medical terms used in North Carolina personal injury claims, each with a plain-English explanation and an example.
Every entry cites the North Carolina statute or court decision that governs the term, because North Carolina’s rules differ from most states’.
Contributory negligence, the 50/100/50 insurance minimums, the punitive damages cap, and the three-year filing deadline shape how most of these terms apply.
Terms are listed alphabetically with an A-to-Z jump bar; each card is tagged with its topic: negligence and liability, damages and compensation, insurance and claims, or litigation and procedure.
The glossary is general information about North Carolina law, not legal advice; a free consultation answers how a term applies to your claim.
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Found a term in a letter or a policy that this glossary does not explain? Call the firm and ask. The consultation is free, and the answer may change what you do next.
Responsible attorney: Joshua E. Palmer, Managing Partner · 106 Moran Dr #5106, Bonaire, GA 31005 · (478) 887-3734. Attorney advertising. This page is general legal information about North Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation; contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a personal injury glossary?
A reference that defines the legal, insurance, and medical terms used in injury claims. This one is written for North Carolina: each entry pairs a plain-English definition with the North Carolina statute or case that governs the term and an example of how it appears in a real claim.
Why does North Carolina need its own legal definitions?
Because North Carolina follows contributory negligence, does not require personal injury protection coverage, sets its own liability and uninsured-motorist minimums, caps punitive damages, and gives injured people three years to file most claims. A term defined for a comparative-fault or no-fault state can be misleading here.
Are these definitions legal advice?
No. The glossary is general information about North Carolina law, written and reviewed by Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law. How a term applies to your claim depends on your facts, and the firm offers a free consultation to answer that.
Which term should I read first after a North Carolina accident?
Contributory negligence. It is the rule that decides whether a North Carolina injury claim is worth anything, and most of the other terms in this glossary matter because of it. After that, read statute of limitations, policy limits, and demand letter.
How often is the glossary updated?
New terms are added on a regular schedule and existing entries are revised when North Carolina law changes, with the review date noted on each page. If a term you need is missing, call the firm and ask.
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Each case is different. Any results, settlement figures, or benefit amounts described on this page depend on the specific facts of that case and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in yours. Statutes and benefit rates cited are current as of September 2026; confirm current law with an attorney before relying on it.
