Personal Injury Filing Deadlines: How the Statute of Limitations Works

Every state puts a hard deadline on injury claims. Miss it and the strength of your case stops mattering — courts routinely dismiss late claims without ever looking at the facts.

That deadline is the statute of limitations, and it is one of the few parts of a claim that is genuinely unforgiving. Here is how it works and where people get caught.

The deadline depends on your state

There is no national deadline. Each state sets its own, and for personal injury they commonly range from one to six years, with two and three years being the most common. A claim that is comfortably on time in one state can already be dead in another.

We deliberately do not publish a state-by-state table here. These statutes get amended, and the number that applies to you depends on the type of claim, not just where you live. A wrong number found online is worse than no number, because it produces false confidence. Confirm your deadline with an attorney licensed in your state.

The clock usually starts at the injury — usually

In most cases the period runs from the date you were hurt. Two common exceptions:

• The discovery rule. When an injury was not immediately apparent — common in medical malpractice or toxic exposure — the clock may start when you knew or reasonably should have known you were harmed.
• Minors. Many states pause the clock for injured children, often until they turn 18.

These are fact-specific determinations, not boxes you can check yourself.

The exception that catches the most people: government claims

If a government entity is involved — a city bus, a police vehicle, a pothole on a public road, a fall at a public building, a school district — the ordinary deadline usually does not apply. Most states require a formal notice of claim filed with the agency first, and those windows are frequently measured in months, sometimes as few as 60 or 90 days.

This is the single most common way legitimate claims are lost. If any government body might be involved in your injury, treat the timeline as urgent today, not eventually.

Different claims, different clocks

A single accident can carry several deadlines at once. Property damage often has a longer window than bodily injury. Wrongful death is typically measured from the date of death rather than the injury. Medical malpractice frequently has its own statute plus an outer limit that applies regardless of when the harm was discovered. Claims against government entities have their own track entirely.

That is why "I have two years" is a risky assumption even when it is technically true for one part of your claim.

Why the deadline is the wrong target anyway

Waiting until you are near the limit damages cases well before it kills them:

• Surveillance video is commonly overwritten within days or weeks
• Witnesses relocate and memories degrade
• Vehicles get repaired or scrapped, destroying physical evidence
• Gaps between the accident and treatment become the insurer's central argument

Attorneys also need lead time to investigate, obtain records, and negotiate before filing. Arriving with three weeks left narrows what anyone can do for you.

If you think you might be out of time

Do not decide that on your own. Which statute applies, whether an exception tolls it, and whether a government notice requirement is in play are questions with real answers — and people talk themselves out of valid claims constantly.

Answer a few questions about what happened and we will connect you with a participating law firm licensed in your state. Free, confidential, and no obligation.

For readers in Nevada specifically, see how long you have to file in Nevada.