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Personal Injury Statute of Limitations by State: Car Accident, Slip and Fall, Malpractice and Wrongful Death Deadlines
The statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit, and it is the one part of an injury claim that no evidence can repair once it has passed. The period depends on the state and on the kind of claim: a car accident, a fall, a medical error and a death can carry different deadlines that start on different dates. The chart shows all four for every state; the guide explains what starts the clock, what pauses it, and the shorter deadlines that catch people first.
Quick answer
In most states you have two or three years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit, and the full range runs from one to six years depending on the state and the type of claim. Medical malpractice deadlines often run from when the injury was discovered, wrongful death deadlines run from the date of death, and a claim against a city, county, state or federal agency requires a written notice of claim on a much shorter timeline, sometimes six months or less. Filing an insurance claim does not stop the clock; only filing suit, or a written tolling agreement, does. Pick your state below for its deadlines and calculator.
By the CaseValue.law Editorial Team·Last updated and source-checked August 29, 2026·How we estimate
What the statute of limitations actually does
Every injury claim runs on a clock set by state law, and the clock differs by claim type and by state.
A statute of limitations is “any law that bars claims after a certain period of time passes after an injury” (Legal Information Institute). For injury claims the period is set by each state, and it is satisfied by one act only: filing a complaint in court before the date. A demand letter, an open insurance claim, an adjuster’s promise and months of negotiation do nothing to it. California’s general rule is typical in form: two years for “injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another” (Code of Civil Procedure 335.1).
The clock starts at accrual, and accrual is where the differences begin. Most injury claims accrue on the date of the injury; some accrue when the injury was discovered, or would have been with reasonable diligence, which is the discovery rule; a wrongful death claim accrues at death. When the period runs out the claim does not weaken, it ends: the defendant raises the deadline as a defense and the court dismisses the case without reaching the merits, however clear the fault. Insurers track the date closely, and the settlement value of an unfiled claim falls toward zero as it approaches, because the threat of suit is what gives a demand its weight.
Filing and settling are separate events. Most injury claims settle without a trial, but when the deadline is near, a lawyer files the lawsuit to preserve the claim and keeps negotiating. The alternative is a written tolling agreement, in which the defendant or its insurer agrees to extend the deadline for a set period. It has to be signed; a verbal assurance is worth nothing on the day the date passes. Everything below is about finding the real date, which is often earlier than the chart’s number suggests.
Personal injury filing deadlines in every state
Statute of limitations for the four most common injury claims, by state, from the CaseValue.law state legal database
Deadlines run from different trigger dates (the injury, its discovery, or the death), shorten sharply when a government entity is involved, and can be extended for minors. The chart shows the general deadline recorded in our database as of the review date; confirm yours with a licensed attorney before relying on it.
Six rules change when the clock starts or pauses. Most shorten the practical deadline rather than extend it, and every one varies by state.
The discovery rule
The period runs from the date the injury was discovered or should have been discovered, not the date it happened. It is the rule in most states for medical malpractice and latent injuries, and almost never applies to a crash or a fall, where the injury is known at once. It has outer limits: California allows a malpractice claim one year from discovery but no more than three years from the injury (Code of Civil Procedure 340.5).
Minors and incapacity
Most states pause the clock while the injured person is under 18 or lacks legal capacity; California excludes the whole period of the disability from the count (Code of Civil Procedure 352). The pause usually does not apply to claims against public entities, and children’s malpractice claims follow shorter rules in many states. Federal law also excludes a servicemember’s period of military service from any limitations period (50 U.S.C. 3936).
Government entities: the short notice deadline
A claim against a city, county, state agency, public hospital, school district or transit authority requires a written notice of claim before any lawsuit, on a deadline far shorter than the statute of limitations. California requires it within six months for injury or death (Government Code 911.2); a federal claim must be presented to the agency within two years and filed in court within six months of a denial (28 U.S.C. 2401(b)).
Statutes of repose
A repose period bars a claim a fixed number of years after the defendant’s act, “even if the plaintiff has not yet been injured” (Legal Information Institute), and no discovery rule extends it. They are common in medical malpractice (Texas closes claims ten years after the act, Civil Practice and Remedies Code 74.251) and in product cases.
The defendant leaves the state
Several states pause the clock while the defendant is outside the state; California excludes the time of absence from the count (Code of Civil Procedure 351). Courts have narrowed these statutes and the rules vary, so treat this as an argument after the fact, never as a reason to wait.
Continuing treatment
Some states run the malpractice period from the end of a continuous course of treatment for the same condition rather than from the negligent act. New York’s two-and-a-half-year period runs from the “last treatment where there is continuous treatment for the same illness, injury or condition” (CPLR 214-a). It requires an ongoing course of treatment, not merely an ongoing relationship with the doctor.
Why the claim type changes the deadline
The chart has four columns because the four most common injury claims start their clocks on different dates and, in many states, run for different lengths.
Car accident
Runs from the date of the crash. In no-fault states the insurer adds its own deadlines: Florida pays personal injury protection benefits only if initial treatment begins within 14 days of the accident (Florida Statutes 627.736). A government driver or a road agency triggers the notice deadline, and uninsured-motorist claims may carry contract deadlines in the policy.
Slip and fall
Runs from the date of the fall, and in nearly every state in our database it is the same length as the car-accident period. What changes the date is the owner: a fall on a sidewalk, in a park, at a transit station or in a public building is a claim against a government entity with a notice deadline measured in months.
Medical malpractice
Runs from the negligent act, from its discovery, or from the end of continuous treatment, depending on the state, and it is shorter than the general injury deadline in many states. Pre-suit notice can pause it (75 days in Texas), the expert report takes months, and a repose period sits behind everything. This is the column most often misread.
Wrongful death
Runs from the date of death, not from the injury that caused it, and in our database it is one to three years. The estate’s representative or the relatives the statute names must file, and a survival claim for the person’s own losses before death may run on the injury deadline instead. After a long illness the two dates can be years apart.
Insurer deadlines are not the statute of limitations
Three clocks run at once after an injury, and confusing them is how claims are lost. The insurance policy sets notice conditions, usually “prompt” or “as soon as practicable,” and in no-fault states a deadline to seek treatment or apply for benefits. Government entities set a notice-of-claim deadline in months. The statute of limitations sets the last day to file a lawsuit, in years. Filing a claim with an insurer satisfies the first clock and has no effect on the third, and an adjuster has no duty to tell you the third is running.
A claim is a request for payment; a lawsuit is a filing in court. Only the lawsuit stops the statute of limitations. If an insurer is still “reviewing” with months left, the answer is not patience; it is a filed complaint or a signed tolling agreement, and a licensed attorney can tell you which.
The crash or fall date from the police or incident report; for a medical error, the date you first learned of the injury, written down that day; for a death, the date on the certificate. The deadline is computed from this date, and disputes about it are decided on records.
2
Identify every defendant’s type
Private person, business, city or county, state agency, federal facility, or out-of-state driver. Each changes the deadline, the notice requirement or the state whose law applies, and a claim often has more than one.
3
Send written notice early
To every insurer that may owe coverage, including your own, and to any government entity by its statutory method and deadline. Keep proof of mailing. Notice protects coverage and satisfies the government’s claim requirement; it does not extend the lawsuit deadline.
4
Do not rely on the adjuster’s timeline
An open file, a pending offer or a request for more records pauses nothing. If a settlement is close as the date nears, get a written tolling agreement or file; a verbal assurance that the insurer will not raise the deadline has no legal effect.
5
Get a lawyer’s read before the halfway point
Malpractice and government claims take months to prepare, expert reports and notice periods included, and many lawyers decline claims that arrive with little time left. Ask early, even if you intend to negotiate on your own.
6
Write the filing deadline and the government-notice deadline on the calendar today
Take your state’s row from the chart, adjust it for the claim type and the exceptions above, and record both dates where you will see them. Then run the calculator with your state selected, so the time you have left and the value of the claim sit side by side.
Your state changes the rules
Pick your state for its filing deadlines, fault rule and calculator; the slip and fall module covers premises claims, including falls on government property.
Car Accident claims: the national picture
▸Filing deadlines range from 1 year to 6 years by state (average 2.7 years)
▸12 states use no-fault auto insurance, which changes when you can claim pain and suffering
Premises Liability claims: the national picture
▸Filing deadlines range from 1 year to 6 years by state (average 2.7 years)
Two or three years from the date of injury in most states, and anywhere from one to six years depending on the state and the type of claim. The chart on this page gives the period for car accidents, falls, medical malpractice and wrongful death in every state; claims against government entities have a separate notice deadline that is usually much shorter.
A rule that starts the limitations period when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury rather than when it occurred. It applies mainly to medical malpractice and injuries that surface late, usually with an outer limit, and it does not apply to a crash or a fall where the injury was obvious at once.
No. Ongoing medical treatment does not pause the deadline for an injury claim, which is why cases with long recoveries are often filed before treatment ends. The narrow exception is the continuous-treatment rule some states apply to malpractice claims, where the period runs from the end of the course of treatment.
Then a written notice of claim is required first, on a deadline measured in months rather than years, in the form the statute specifies. California, for example, requires the claim within six months of an injury; a federal claim must be presented to the agency within two years. Missing the notice deadline ends the claim even if the general deadline has not passed.
The defendant raises it as a defense and the court dismisses the lawsuit, regardless of how strong the case was. Insurers stop negotiating because there is no longer a suit to avoid. The narrow exceptions (tolling for minority, incapacity, absence or fraud) are argued after the fact and rarely rescue a claim that was simply filed late.
No. An insurance claim, a demand letter and negotiations have no effect on the statute of limitations. Only a lawsuit filed in court, or a written tolling agreement signed by the defendant or its insurer, changes the date.
Usually longer. Most states pause the clock until the child turns 18, though the pause generally does not apply to claims against public entities, and medical malpractice claims by children follow separate, shorter rules in many states. A parent can file on the child’s behalf at any time, and waiting rarely helps the evidence.
Only in defined ways: a written tolling agreement with the defendant, a statutory pause for minority, incapacity or the defendant’s absence, the discovery rule where it applies, or a notice period that tolls the clock under some malpractice statutes. A court will not extend it because a claim is strong or a claimant was busy.
Usually the state where you sue applies its own deadline, but many states have borrowing statutes that refuse a claim already time-barred where it arose (California’s is Code of Civil Procedure 361), so the shorter period often controls in practice. Treat the earliest possible deadline as the real one and ask a lawyer licensed in the relevant state.
Information on this page reflects laws and published figures as of 2026-08-29. This is general information, not legal or medical advice, and not a prediction for any potential case. Verify current rules with a licensed attorney before making decisions. Learn about our methodology.
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