How long you have to file a personal injury claim depends on your state: most give you 2 years from the date of injury to file, though deadlines run from 1 to 6 years. Miss that deadline — the statute of limitations — and the court will dismiss your claim for good. Settlement Comps verified the filing deadline for all 51 US jurisdictions — find yours below.
How long you have to file a personal injury claim depends on your state: most give you 2 years from the date of injury to file, though deadlines run from 1 to 6 years. Miss that deadline — the statute of limitations — and the court will dismiss your claim for good, no matter how strong it was. Deadlines range from 1 year (Kentucky, Tennessee) to 6 years (Maine, North Dakota), and Missouri allows 5. There is no minimum waiting period — you can file right after the injury. Medical-malpractice and claims against a government entity run on shorter, separate clocks, and Settlement Comps verified the filing deadline for all 51 US jurisdictions. Three things change the clock in practice: the discovery rule (for injuries you couldn't reasonably have known about right away, the clock can start later), a pause until adulthood for injured minors, and claims against a government entity (which usually carry a much shorter, separate notice deadline). The table below lists Settlement Comps' verified filing deadline for every state.
What happens if you miss the deadline? If you miss your state's statute of limitations, the court will dismiss your personal injury claim for good and you lose the right to any compensation, no matter how strong the case was.
When does the clock start? For most personal injury cases the statute-of-limitations clock starts on the date of the injury, but under the discovery rule it can start later — when you knew, or reasonably should have known, that you were harmed.
Is the deadline shorter for a claim against the government? Yes — a claim against a city, county, or state agency usually requires a formal notice of claim within 60 days to 1 year, far shorter than the standard deadline, and missing that notice bars the claim even if years remain on the normal clock.
Is the deadline different for property damage than for injury? Often yes — many states give you a separate, sometimes longer, deadline to sue over vehicle or property damage than over the bodily injury, so don't assume one date covers both.
What is the statute of limitations, exactly? It is the state law that sets how long you have to sue after an injury; once it passes, the court will refuse to hear the case regardless of how strong it is.
Pick your state. Add the injury date and we'll estimate your filing deadline too.
Standard deadline for a negligence-based personal injury claim. Special case types (malpractice, government, wrongful death) can differ — see the exceptions below.
| State | Deadline to file | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2 years | — |
| Alaska | 2 years | — |
| Arizona | 2 years | — |
| Arkansas | 3 years | — |
| California | 2 years | — |
| Colorado | 2 years | 3 yrs for motor-vehicle accidents |
| Connecticut | 2 years | — |
| Delaware | 2 years | — |
| District of Columbia | 3 years | — |
| Florida | 2 years | changed from 4 yrs in March 2023 |
| Georgia | 2 years | — |
| Hawaii | 2 years | — |
| Idaho | 2 years | — |
| Illinois | 2 years | — |
| Indiana | 2 years | — |
| Iowa | 2 years | — |
| Kansas | 2 years | — |
| Kentucky | 1 year | 2 yrs for motor-vehicle accidents |
| Louisiana | 2 years | extended from 1 yr, effective July 2024 |
| Maine | 6 years | — |
| Maryland | 3 years | — |
| Massachusetts | 3 years | — |
| Michigan | 3 years | — |
| Minnesota | 2 years | — |
| Mississippi | 3 years | — |
| Missouri | 5 years | — |
| Montana | 3 years | — |
| Nebraska | 4 years | — |
| Nevada | 2 years | — |
| New Hampshire | 3 years | — |
| New Jersey | 2 years | — |
| New Mexico | 3 years | — |
| New York | 3 years | — |
| North Carolina | 3 years | — |
| North Dakota | 6 years | — |
| Ohio | 2 years | — |
| Oklahoma | 2 years | — |
| Oregon | 2 years | — |
| Pennsylvania | 2 years | — |
| Rhode Island | 3 years | — |
| South Carolina | 3 years | — |
| South Dakota | 3 years | — |
| Tennessee | 1 year | — |
| Texas | 2 years | — |
| Utah | 4 years | — |
| Vermont | 3 years | — |
| Virginia | 2 years | — |
| Washington | 3 years | — |
| West Virginia | 2 years | — |
| Wisconsin | 3 years | — |
| Wyoming | 4 years | — |
According to Settlement Comps’ verified data for all 51 US jurisdictions, here is the standard personal injury filing deadline in each state, stated as a direct answer:
In Alabama, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Alaska, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Arizona, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Arkansas, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In California, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Colorado, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim (3 years for motor-vehicle accidents).
In Connecticut, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Delaware, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In the District of Columbia, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Florida, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim (changed from 4 years in March 2023).
In Georgia, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Hawaii, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Idaho, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Illinois, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Indiana, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Iowa, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Kansas, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Kentucky, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 1 year from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim (2 years for motor-vehicle accidents).
In Louisiana, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim (extended from 1 year, effective July 2024).
In Maine, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 6 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Maryland, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Massachusetts, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Michigan, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Minnesota, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Mississippi, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Missouri, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 5 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Montana, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Nebraska, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 4 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Nevada, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In New Hampshire, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In New Jersey, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In New Mexico, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In New York, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In North Carolina, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In North Dakota, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 6 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Ohio, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Oklahoma, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Oregon, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Pennsylvania, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Rhode Island, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In South Carolina, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In South Dakota, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Tennessee, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 1 year from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Texas, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Utah, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 4 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Vermont, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Virginia, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Washington, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In West Virginia, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 2 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Wisconsin, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 3 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
In Wyoming, Settlement Comps’ verified data shows you have 4 years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim.
This is where the one-line answers other sites give you fall apart. Any of these can move your real deadline.
Suing a city, county, state, or public hospital usually requires a formal written notice of claim first — often within 60 days to 1 year, far shorter than the standard deadline. Miss the notice and the claim can be barred even if years remain on the normal clock.
For injuries you couldn't reasonably have discovered at the time (some medical or toxic-exposure cases), the clock may start when you knew or should have known — not the date of the incident. It can extend your window, but don't count on it without legal advice.
When the injured person is under 18, the deadline is often paused (tolled) until they reach adulthood, so a child's claim can be filed years later. The rules vary by state and don't always apply to every claim type.
Wrongful-death claims typically run from the date of death, not the injury, and medical-malpractice claims often have their own deadline plus a hard outer limit (a statute of repose). Both can differ from the general number above.
A free, no-obligation review confirms your real deadline and whether your claim is worth pursuing — most attorneys will tell you in one short call, and it costs nothing to ask. Don't let the clock decide for you.
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In almost all cases the court will dismiss your lawsuit and you lose the right to compensation, no matter how clear the other side's fault was. There are narrow exceptions (tolling for minors or certain discovery situations), but they don't apply to most claims — which is why the deadline is treated as a hard wall. If you're close to it, talk to an attorney immediately; some filings can be made quickly to preserve the claim.
Usually the date of the injury or accident. The exception is the discovery rule: for harm you couldn't reasonably have known about right away (some medical or toxic-exposure injuries), the clock may start when you discovered it or should have. Because whether the discovery rule applies is a legal judgment, don't assume it buys you time without confirming.
In most states the standard personal-injury deadline applies to car accidents. A few states set a different period specifically for motor-vehicle claims — for example Colorado allows 3 years for motor-vehicle accidents (vs. 2 general), and Kentucky allows 2 years for motor-vehicle accidents (vs. 1 general). Claims involving a government vehicle can be much shorter. Check your state's row above and confirm the specifics.
No. Negotiating with an insurer does not pause the statute of limitations. Many people lose valid claims because talks dragged past the deadline while they waited for an offer. The lawsuit deadline runs independently of any insurance negotiation, so track it separately.
The statute of limitations is the legal deadline to file a personal injury claim, and it depends on your state and the type of claim: most states give 2 years from the date of injury, ranging from 1 year (Kentucky, Tennessee) to 6 years (Maine, North Dakota), and once it passes the court will almost always dismiss the case regardless of merit.
If you miss the statute of limitations deadline, the court will almost always dismiss your personal injury lawsuit and you lose the right to compensation no matter how strong the case, with only narrow exceptions such as the discovery rule, injured minors, fraudulent concealment, or claims against a government entity.
The discovery rule in personal injury cases delays the start of the statute of limitations until you knew, or reasonably should have known, that you were injured; it applies mainly to injuries that are not immediately obvious, such as delayed-onset conditions or medical malpractice or other inherently undiscoverable situations, rather than an obvious car crash where the clock starts on the accident date.
Every figure above is the general statute of limitations for a negligence-based personal injury claim. Deadlines were cross-referenced across multiple legal references, and — because the widely circulated state-by-state charts are often out of date — the states that differ from the common two-year rule or changed recently were checked against the primary statute. Where sources disagreed, we show the shorter deadline, so the tool prompts earlier action rather than a false sense of time (the "safe-direction" rule). Reviewed July 4, 2026.
Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140(1)(a) · Tennessee Tenn. Code § 28-3-104(a)Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120 (5) · Maine Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, § 752 (6) · North Dakota N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-16 (6)Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207 · Utah Utah Code § 78B-2-307 · Wyoming Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105Fla. Stat. § 95.11 (2023 HB 837) · Louisiana extended 1→2 years, effective July 1, 2024 La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-80-102, 13-80-101 · California Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1
Primary & authoritative references: Cornell Legal Information Institute — statute of limitations · Justia US state codes · California Legislative Information — Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 · Nolo 50-state chart. For any specific claim, confirm the current deadline against your state's official code or a licensed attorney — statutes change and special claim types run on separate clocks.