Eye Injury Car Accident Settlement Amounts in New York

Eye injuries are among the most personal and devastating consequences of a car accident. Vision connects us to nearly every aspect of daily life — reading, driving, working, recognizing the faces of people we love. When a crash damages your eyes, the impact extends far beyond the immediate medical crisis. It can redefine what your future looks like and, in the worst cases, eliminate sight entirely. New York courts and juries understand this reality, and settlement values in eye injury car accident cases reflect it.

This guide walks through every major category of ocular injury that appears in New York car accident litigation, explains the settlement ranges that experienced attorneys actually see in Nassau County, Suffolk County, and the five boroughs, and covers the legal frameworks that govern whether and how much you can recover.

Why Eye Injury Cases Have Some of the Highest Car Accident Settlements

Most people would rank spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury as the top categories of catastrophic car accident harm — and from a sheer dollar standpoint, they sometimes are. But eye injury cases routinely produce outsized settlements for a set of reasons that is worth understanding before you evaluate your own situation.

Permanence. The human eye does not regenerate like skin or muscle. A retina torn from its underlying blood supply does not repair itself. A cornea abraded deeply enough to cause scarring will carry that scar for life. An optic nerve severed or compressed by a bone fragment from an orbital fracture cannot be sutured back together. When vision is permanently damaged or destroyed, the injury stays with the victim every day for the rest of their life — and that permanent, daily impact is reflected in non-economic damage awards for pain and suffering.

Functional consequences. Driving is the baseline independence for most Long Island residents. The New York Department of Motor Vehicles requires a minimum uncorrected or corrected visual acuity of 20/40 in at least one eye to maintain a driver’s license. Loss of vision in one eye eliminates depth perception. Significant peripheral vision loss in either eye creates dangerous blind spots. Conditions that reduce visual acuity below the legal threshold end a person’s ability to drive independently — a loss that carries both economic and quality-of-life dimensions that courts take seriously.

Employment impact. Many professions have vision requirements. Commercial drivers, construction workers, healthcare workers who operate imaging equipment, and professionals who rely on fine detail — surgeons, engineers, architects — face direct employment consequences when vision is permanently impaired. Lost earning capacity calculations in these cases can be substantial.

Sympathy factor. Eye injuries are viscerally relatable. Jurors and insurance adjusters do not need to be educated about what it means to lose sight. Every person in the room has experienced temporary eye discomfort and can imagine the horror of permanent vision loss. This emotional resonance translates to strong verdicts and motivates pre-trial settlement at fair values.

Multiple defendants. Many eye injuries in car accidents are caused or worsened by airbag deployment, which introduces product liability claims against airbag manufacturers alongside the negligence claim against the at-fault driver. Multiple defendants mean multiple insurance policies, which expands the pool of available recovery.

If you suffered an eye injury in a Long Island car crash, speaking with a Long Island car accident lawyer as soon as possible after the injury is the most important step you can take to protect the value of your claim.

Eye Injury Settlement Ranges in New York

Settlement values depend on injury type, severity, permanence, the victim’s age and occupation, and the specific facts of the accident. The ranges below reflect outcomes in New York personal injury cases, including Nassau and Suffolk County matters. Individual cases fall above and below these figures based on their specific characteristics.

Corneal Abrasion: $15,000 to $75,000

A corneal abrasion is a scratch on the clear outer surface of the eye. In a car accident, corneal abrasions are caused by shattered glass, airbag debris, deployed seatbelt webbing hitting the face, or direct impact with the steering wheel or dashboard. Most corneal abrasions heal completely within 48 to 72 hours with antibiotic drops and a protective patch. Cases where the abrasion heals without residual scarring or vision change typically settle in the range of $15,000 to $75,000, reflecting the pain and disruption of the injury without a permanent impairment component.

Corneal abrasions that become infected and progress to corneal ulceration, or that leave scarring affecting visual acuity, move into a higher category because the injury no longer resolves completely.

Retinal Detachment Requiring Surgery: $100,000 to $500,000

Retinal detachment is a medical emergency. The retina is a thin layer of light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye. In a high-force car accident, the sudden deceleration, impact, or airbag deployment can cause the retina to pull away from the underlying tissue that supplies it with oxygen and nutrients. Without emergency surgery — typically pneumatic retinopexy, scleral buckling, or vitrectomy — permanent blindness in the affected eye can result within days.

Even with prompt surgical intervention, retinal detachment cases often result in some degree of permanent visual impairment, including reduced central acuity, distorted vision (metamorphopsia), or curtailed visual field. Cases requiring surgery with good functional recovery typically settle in the range of $100,000 to $300,000. Cases involving incomplete visual recovery, persistent distortion, or significant curtailment of the visual field settle in the range of $250,000 to $500,000 or more, depending on the plaintiff’s age and how the residual impairment affects their daily activities and employment.

Orbital Fracture: $75,000 to $300,000

The orbit is the bony socket that houses and protects the eye. A direct blow to the eye — from a steering wheel, a deployed airbag, or a shattered window — can fracture the thin orbital floor or medial wall in what is called a “blowout fracture.” The fracture itself may trap orbital fat or the inferior rectus muscle in the fracture gap, causing diplopia (double vision) and restricted eye movement.

Orbital fractures that require surgical repair via titanium mesh or implant placement, and that result in resolved diplopia and normal eye movement, typically settle in the range of $75,000 to $150,000. Cases involving persistent diplopia, enophthalmos (the eye sinking backward into the socket), or damage to the optic nerve or globe carry settlement values in the range of $150,000 to $300,000 or beyond.

Partial Vision Loss: $200,000 to $1,000,000

Partial vision loss encompasses a wide spectrum of outcomes — from a permanent reduction in visual acuity in one eye (for example, from 20/20 to 20/100) to significant curtailment of the visual field, to loss of most functional vision in one eye with preservation of light perception only. The precise settlement range depends heavily on which eye is affected, whether the injury is unilateral or bilateral, the victim’s age and pre-injury visual acuity, and the effect on employment and independent living.

A working adult who loses the ability to pass the DMV vision standard in one eye and can no longer legally drive faces a fundamentally different daily reality than a retired plaintiff in the same medical situation. The economic analysis of lost independence, transportation costs, and affected employment capacity is built into the damages calculation, pushing well-documented cases toward the upper end of the $200,000 to $1,000,000 range.

Total Blindness in One Eye: $750,000 to $3,000,000+

Complete loss of functional vision in one eye — whether from a traumatic globe rupture, total retinal detachment with failed repair, avulsion of the optic nerve, or blunt trauma severe enough to destroy ocular structures — is one of the most serious single-organ injury outcomes in car accident litigation. Monocular blindness eliminates depth perception entirely, curtails driving ability, and in many occupations is disqualifying.

New York juries have consistently awarded seven-figure verdicts for monocular blindness in younger plaintiffs with long lives ahead of them. The settlement range of $750,000 to $3,000,000+ reflects verdicts and pre-trial resolutions in Nassau County, Suffolk County, and New York City. Cases at the upper end typically involve plaintiffs who are younger, more economically productive, and who lose employment in a field with strict vision requirements.

Total Blindness in Both Eyes: $2,000,000 to $10,000,000+

Bilateral blindness resulting from a car accident is among the most catastrophic personal injury outcomes recognized by New York courts. The victim loses not only employment capacity but independence in basic daily activities — cooking, navigating their home and neighborhood without assistance, reading conventional print, using a standard smartphone interface without accessibility accommodations. The need for attendant care support, guide dog costs, adaptive technology, orientation and mobility training, and residential modifications are all cognizable economic damages.

Life care plans for bilaterally blind car accident victims project recurring annual costs that, over a young victim’s life expectancy, can easily exceed $1 million in present value. Lost earning capacity calculations, particularly for higher-earning professionals, add substantially to the economic damages floor. Pain and suffering awards in bilateral blindness cases have reached seven and eight figures at trial. Pre-trial settlements typically fall in the range of $2,000,000 to $10,000,000+, with outliers in cases involving multiple defendants, punitive damages exposure, or exceptionally high pre-injury earning capacity.

Wrongful Death from Eye/Head Trauma: $1,000,000+

When the same blunt force or penetrating trauma that causes an eye injury also produces fatal intracranial hemorrhage — a scenario that occurs when glass, metal, or airbag debris enters the orbital socket and penetrates to the brain — the claim becomes a wrongful death action under New York EPTL §5-4.1. Wrongful death settlements in car accident cases in New York routinely exceed $1,000,000, with substantially higher outcomes in cases involving younger decedents with dependents and high earning capacity.

Factors That Determine Your Eye Injury Settlement Value

Understanding the settlement ranges above is useful, but every case is built from its own specific facts. The following factors have the greatest influence on where within a range a particular eye injury case will land.

Permanence of the injury. Injuries that resolve completely carry far lower settlement values than injuries that leave permanent sequelae. Insurance adjusters and defense lawyers scrutinize every medical record looking for language like “fully resolved” or “returned to baseline.” Documenting permanent impairment — reduced acuity, curtailed visual field, persistent photophobia, or complete vision loss — through serial ophthalmology visits is essential to maximizing recovery.

Age and life expectancy. A 25-year-old who loses an eye in a car accident will live with that loss for roughly 55 to 60 more years by actuarial tables. A 70-year-old with the same injury has a shorter remaining life expectancy. Courts and insurance carriers calculate pain and suffering damages with reference to the number of years the plaintiff must endure the impairment, which is why younger plaintiffs consistently achieve higher outcomes.

Employment consequences. Lost earning capacity is an economic damage with a concrete calculable value. A commercial truck driver who can no longer satisfy DOT vision standards and loses their CDL and their livelihood has a quantifiable economic loss. A graphic designer who can no longer perform fine detail work has a different but still real economic loss. A vocational rehabilitation expert and economist can translate this loss into a present-value number that becomes a floor for settlement negotiations.

Quality and timing of medical treatment. Gaps in medical treatment — periods when the plaintiff did not seek or receive eye care — are used by defense attorneys to argue that the injury was not as serious as claimed, or that the gap-period treatment was unrelated to the accident. Consistent treatment by board-certified ophthalmologists, with documented follow-up imaging and functional testing, is the evidentiary foundation of every high-value eye injury claim.

Number of available defendants. A single at-fault driver with minimum New York insurance limits of $25,000 per person cannot fund a $1 million eye injury settlement, regardless of how meritorious the claim is. Identifying additional defendants — a vehicle manufacturer, an airbag inflator manufacturer, a commercial employer whose employee caused the crash — opens access to additional insurance policies and increases the practical ceiling on recovery.

Quality of liability evidence. Insurance companies pay more when liability is clear. Dashcam footage showing the defendant running a red light, a police accident report attributing fault to the defendant, or eyewitness testimony corroborating the plaintiff’s account all increase the settlement leverage. Conversely, contested liability scenarios — where both drivers dispute who had the right-of-way — introduce comparative negligence arguments that can reduce the recovery.

The Serious Injury Threshold and Eye Injuries

New York’s no-fault automobile insurance system requires every registered vehicle owner to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits covering medical expenses and a percentage of lost wages regardless of fault. But PIP coverage has limits, and — critically — it does not cover non-economic damages like pain and suffering. To pursue a tort claim against the at-fault driver for pain and suffering and the full scope of your losses, you must satisfy the “serious injury” threshold established by Insurance Law §5102(d).

The statute defines “serious injury” to include several categories that are directly relevant to eye injury cases:

• Significant disfigurement: A facial scar from orbital surgery, chemical burns around the eye socket, or visible deformity from an enophthalmic orbit qualifies. Courts apply an objective standard — whether a reasonable person viewing the plaintiff would find the condition significantly disfiguring.
• Fracture: An orbital fracture is a fracture. Full stop. Any plaintiff who has sustained a documented fracture of the orbital floor, medial wall, or rim meets this category automatically, regardless of whether the fracture required surgery.
• Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system: Complete blindness in one or both eyes falls squarely within this category. The loss of the visual system’s function is precisely what the legislature had in mind when drafting this language.
• Permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member: Partial but permanent reduction in visual acuity, persistent diplopia, or permanent curtailment of the visual field all fit this category. The limitation must be both permanent and consequential — meaning it meaningfully affects the plaintiff’s ability to use the affected organ — but courts have recognized that even moderate reductions in vision qualify when the plaintiff’s occupation or daily activities are materially affected.
• Significant limitation of use of a body function or system: This category captures injuries that are serious but not necessarily permanent in the strictest sense. A retinal detachment that is surgically repaired but leaves the plaintiff with lasting metamorphopsia and inability to read for extended periods qualifies as a significant limitation of the visual function system.
• 90/180-day category: An eye injury that sidelines a plaintiff from their customary daily activities for 90 of the first 180 days following the accident satisfies this threshold even if the injury ultimately resolves. Post-surgical recovery from retinal detachment repair often involves weeks of face-down positioning, restricted activity, and inability to work — easily satisfying the 90-day threshold during the recovery period.

The threshold analysis matters not only for access to the tort system but also strategically. Defense attorneys routinely move for summary judgment arguing that a plaintiff’s injuries do not meet the threshold, and many eye injury cases — particularly those involving corneal abrasions that heal quickly — require careful medical documentation to withstand those motions. Establishing the threshold with ophthalmological evidence gathered close to the time of injury, including objective testing of visual acuity and visual field, is essential.

An experienced Long Island car accident lawyer will evaluate your specific ocular injury against each category of the §5102(d) threshold and build the medical record needed to defeat a summary judgment motion at the outset of litigation.

Airbag Eye Injuries and Product Liability

Airbags are the single most common cause of serious eye injuries in car accidents. They deploy in approximately 30 milliseconds — too fast for a driver to blink or turn away. The inflating bag generates significant kinetic force, chemical residue from the propellant charge, and fine debris from the bag material itself. Any or all of these mechanisms can damage the cornea, disrupt the vitreous humor, cause retinal detachment, fracture the orbit, or — in the most severe cases — rupture the globe entirely.

When an airbag deploys normally and still causes an eye injury, the claim is a standard negligence action against the at-fault driver. But when the airbag itself is defective — when it deploys with excessive force, deploys without a triggering collision, fails to deploy when it should, or ruptures violently rather than inflating smoothly — product liability claims against the airbag manufacturer and the vehicle’s original equipment manufacturer enter the picture.

The Takata inflator recall is the most significant airbag product liability event in automotive history and remains directly relevant to eye injury litigation today. Takata’s ammonium nitrate-based inflators, which were installed in tens of millions of vehicles from multiple automakers, were prone to rupturing violently after exposure to heat and humidity. Instead of deploying smoothly, a ruptured Takata inflator could send metal shrapnel into the vehicle cabin at high velocity — an unguided projectile aimed directly at the driver’s and passenger’s face. Eye injuries caused by Takata inflator shrapnel resulted in some of the highest individual settlements in airbag injury history.

Even outside the Takata recall, airbag manufacturers have faced product liability claims for:

• Airbags that deploy with disproportionate force relative to the collision severity, causing injuries that exceed what the collision alone would have produced
• Side curtain airbags that deploy unexpectedly during minor impact events, striking passengers in the face
• Airbag systems in which the sensor threshold is set too low, causing deployment in crashes that would not ordinarily injure unbelted occupants
• Airbag covers that fragment on deployment, sending plastic debris toward vehicle occupants’ eyes

Product liability claims under New York law are governed by the strict liability framework established in Codling v. Paglia, 54 N.Y.2d 167 (1973). Strict liability means the plaintiff need not prove that the manufacturer was careless — only that the product was defective, that the defect existed when the product left the manufacturer’s control, and that the defect caused the plaintiff’s injury. This is a materially lower burden of proof than negligence, and it can dramatically change the settlement dynamics of an eye injury case.

When both a negligent driver and a defective airbag contribute to an eye injury, the plaintiff has claims against at least two defendants — the driver and the manufacturer — with independent insurance policies. Multiple defendants competing to reduce their individual exposure, combined with the availability of punitive damages in egregious product liability cases, routinely produce settlements that exceed what a standard single-defendant negligence claim would yield.

Our firm handles both sides of this equation. If your eye injury was caused or worsened by airbag deployment, our Long Island airbag injury lawyer practice can evaluate whether a defective product claim is available alongside the standard car accident claim.

No-Fault Insurance and Eye Injuries

New York Insurance Law §5103 requires every registered vehicle owner to carry at least $50,000 in Personal Injury Protection benefits. PIP covers:

• Reasonable and necessary medical expenses, including ophthalmological treatment and surgery
• Up to $2,000 per month in lost earnings (80% of actual lost wages up to that cap)
• Up to $25 per day in other reasonable and necessary expenses

For a corneal abrasion that resolves in a week, PIP coverage is more than adequate to cover initial treatment costs. For a retinal detachment requiring emergency vitrectomy, postoperative care, and months of follow-up, PIP coverage of $50,000 may be exhausted before the recovery is complete. Orbital reconstruction surgery, in particular, can cost $15,000 to $40,000 for the surgical procedure alone, before anesthesia, facility fees, and post-operative ophthalmology visits are included.

When PIP benefits run out, the next layer of coverage depends on the specific policies in place. Some New York drivers carry optional additional PIP coverage that extends benefits beyond the $50,000 minimum. Health insurance provides secondary coverage for medical expenses. However, health insurance carriers frequently assert liens against tort recoveries — meaning that if you settle your personal injury case, your health insurer may be entitled to reimbursement for what it paid toward your medical care. Managing these liens is a standard part of personal injury representation and can significantly affect the net amount of a settlement.

Because PIP benefits pay for medical costs and a portion of lost wages regardless of fault, they provide immediate financial support during recovery. But PIP does not pay for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, or other non-economic damages — the components of a car accident settlement that often represent the largest portion of total recovery in eye injury cases. Pursuing those damages requires satisfying the §5102(d) threshold and filing a tort claim as described elsewhere in this guide.

Proving Your Eye Injury Claim

The difference between a modest settlement and maximum recovery frequently comes down to the quality of the evidentiary record. Eye injury cases demand specific types of documentation that are distinct from other personal injury claims.

Ophthalmological examination records. Emergency department physicians can diagnose gross ocular trauma, but they are not equipped to perform the specialized imaging and functional testing that documents the full extent of eye injury. Every eye injury plaintiff should be seen by a board-certified ophthalmologist — ideally a retinal specialist if retinal detachment is suspected — as early as possible after the accident. Serial examinations that track the injury over time establish permanence and rule out preexisting conditions.

Imaging evidence. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is the gold standard for imaging retinal structure and documenting detachment, vitreous traction, macular edema, and post-surgical outcomes. Fundus photography documents the state of the retina at each examination. CT scan of the orbit documents fractures, foreign body location, and extraocular muscle entrapment. MRI may supplement CT imaging in complex orbital injuries. This imaging record is the objective medical evidence that anchors both threshold arguments and damages calculations.

Visual acuity and visual field testing. Snellen acuity charts measure central vision; Humphrey or Goldmann perimetry documents visual field. Both types of testing produce objective, reproducible records that quantify the degree of vision impairment — information that translates directly into damages numbers. Defense experts will conduct their own testing; having consistent plaintiff-side records from the beginning of treatment prevents cherry-picking of favorable defense-side results.

Lost driving ability documentation. The DMV vision standard — 20/40 corrected or uncorrected acuity in at least one eye — means that any plaintiff whose vision is reduced below this threshold in their better eye has lost the legal right to drive. Documentation of this consequence includes a DMV letter reflecting revocation or inability to renew a driver’s license, occupational therapy evaluation of driving capacity, and a vocational expert’s analysis of transportation costs the plaintiff must now incur for activities that previously required driving.

Expert testimony from a low vision rehabilitation specialist. In cases involving significant permanent vision loss, a low vision rehabilitation specialist can document the adaptive techniques and equipment the plaintiff needs, the time required for training, and the residual functional limitations that persist even with maximum adaptive support. This expert testimony personalizes the damage model and prevents the defense from minimizing the injury with the argument that “glasses can correct it.”

Accident reconstruction and biomechanical evidence. Establishing that the forces in the collision were sufficient to cause the claimed ocular injury — and, in cases involving airbag deployment, that the airbag’s deployment dynamics contributed to the injury — sometimes requires biomechanical expert testimony. This is particularly important in cases where the defense argues that the accident was low-speed and therefore could not have produced the claimed trauma.

The evidentiary record in an eye injury case takes time and investment to build properly. Starting this process as early as possible — ideally in the days following the accident — is critical to avoiding gaps that defense attorneys will exploit.

Statute of Limitations

Standard personal injury claims (CPLR §214). For a personal injury claim against a private party — the at-fault driver or a manufacturer in a products liability action — the statute of limitations in New York is three years from the date of the accident or injury. For a car accident occurring on April 5, 2026, the deadline to file a lawsuit is April 5, 2029. Filing even one day late permanently bars the claim regardless of its merits.

Wrongful death claims (EPTL §5-4.1). If an eye or head injury from a car accident results in death, the surviving family has only two years from the date of death to commence a wrongful death action. This is a shorter period than the personal injury statute and the clock runs from death, not from the underlying accident — meaning that a plaintiff who survives for two years after the crash and then dies leaves the family with a rapidly closing window to act.

Government defendant claims (GML §50-e). When the at-fault vehicle is a government-owned vehicle — a municipal bus, a county public works truck, a city police vehicle — or when a road defect such as a missing guardrail or malfunctioning traffic signal contributed to the accident, the plaintiff must serve a Notice of Claim on the relevant government entity within 90 days of the accident. This is a strict procedural prerequisite — not merely a formality — and courts have very limited discretion to allow late filings. Missing the 90-day GML §50-e deadline extinguishes the government liability claim entirely, regardless of how strong the underlying case is. After the Notice of Claim is filed, the plaintiff then has one year and 90 days from the date of the accident to commence the lawsuit itself.

Product liability discovery rule. For product liability claims against a manufacturer, New York applies the same three-year period as personal injury claims, but the limitations period may run from the date of discovery — when the plaintiff knew or should have known that the defect caused their injury. In airbag cases where the defect was not immediately apparent, this rule can occasionally extend the filing window. However, courts interpret “should have known” broadly, and the discovery rule is not a reliable substitute for timely action.

Because evidence disappears quickly — vehicles are repaired, surveillance footage is overwritten, witnesses’ recollections fade — consulting with a Long Island car accident lawyer promptly after an eye injury accident is the most effective way to ensure all deadlines are preserved and no evidence is lost.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most important step after an eye injury in a car accident?

Seek emergency ophthalmological care immediately. A retinal detachment can become permanent if not surgically treated within hours to days. Once you are medically stable, consult a personal injury attorney before speaking with any insurance company or signing any documents.

Can I recover damages if I had pre-existing eye conditions before the accident?

Yes. Under New York’s “eggshell plaintiff” rule, a defendant takes the plaintiff as they find them. If a pre-existing eye condition made you more vulnerable to injury in the crash — for example, myopia that made your retina thinner and more susceptible to detachment — the defendant is still fully liable for all the harm that results. The defense can argue that your pre-existing condition would have eventually caused problems regardless of the accident, but this argument has limits and is contested through ophthalmological expert testimony.

What if the at-fault driver has minimum insurance limits?

New York’s mandatory minimum automobile liability coverage is $25,000 per person/$50,000 per occurrence — figures that are clearly inadequate for serious eye injury cases. When the at-fault driver is underinsured, your own Supplemental Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (SUM) coverage — and any umbrella policy you carry — become the most important sources of additional recovery. If a defective airbag contributed to your injury, the manufacturer’s coverage supplements the driver’s policy. Your attorney will identify every available coverage layer from the outset of the case.

How long does an eye injury car accident case take to resolve in New York?

Cases involving corneal abrasions that fully resolve can often settle within months of the accident once treatment is complete. Cases involving retinal detachment, orbital fracture, or permanent vision loss typically take one to three years from filing to resolution, as the medical picture must stabilize before damages can be fully quantified. Cases involving product liability claims against airbag manufacturers take longer due to the additional discovery involved.

Is there a difference between settling and going to trial for an eye injury case?

Settlements offer certainty and speed; trials offer the possibility of a higher award but carry the risk of a lower or zero result. In eye injury cases with clear liability and documented permanent impairment, experienced attorneys often negotiate pre-trial settlements that closely approximate what a jury would award, without the delay and cost of trial. However, if the insurance company refuses to offer a reasonable amount, trial is the appropriate course, and Nassau and Suffolk County juries have demonstrated a willingness to award substantial sums in serious eye injury cases.

If you or a family member suffered an eye injury in a New York car accident, the Law Office of Jason Tenenbaum, P.C. is available to review your case at no charge. The firm handles car accident eye injury claims on a contingency fee basis — you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Call 516-750-0595 or use the online contact form to reach us. Legal deadlines apply, so please do not delay.