There is no single national deadline for an injury claim. Each state sets its own time limit to start a lawsuit, and the general limits we read for an injury to a person run from 1 year to 6 years. Claims against a city, county, state or federal agency can need written notice much sooner, sometimes within 90 days or 6 months. This section sets out the rules we read in each state’s official text, with the statute and the date we read it. It can’t tell you your own deadline, because exceptions can make the real date earlier.
This page is general information, not legal, tax or medical advice, and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Injury law and deadlines vary by state and change. Ask a lawyer or the court about your situation.
The guides here go from the general rule to the exceptions, then state by state. Every rule below was read in the official statute text or an official court or agency page on 6 November 2026. Where we couldn’t read the official text, our pages say “not confirmed” rather than repeat a figure from somewhere else.
What a time limit is, and what stops it
A statute of limitations is the time the law allows to start a lawsuit. The clock is about filing in court, not about talking to an insurer. In California an action is commenced when the complaint is filed (Code Civ. Proc. 350), and in Texas we found nothing in the limitations chapter that pauses the clock while you negotiate with an insurer. A case filed one day late can be thrown out however strong it is.
Our injury deadlines table and date calculator for all 50 states is the place to start. For each state it gives the general limit for an injury to a person, a wrongful death and damage to a car, with the statute and the read date, plus government notice and children’s rules. Its calculator only does date arithmetic on the general rule. Rows we couldn’t read in official text, including Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Wisconsin, say “not confirmed”. That doesn’t mean there is no limit there. It means you need that state’s courts or a lawyer.
The clocks that can run out first
The general limit is where the count starts, not where it ends. Four situations change the answer more often than any other.
A government body was involved
Claims involving a city bus, a county truck, a state road or a public school often need written notice long before the lawsuit limit. In Texas the notice is due within 6 months of the incident, and a city’s charter can set its own period (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 101.101). California requires a written claim to the public entity within 6 months for an injury or a death (Gov. Code 911.2(a)). New York cities, counties, towns, villages and school and fire districts need a sworn notice of claim within 90 days; after a death, the 90 days run from the appointment of the estate’s representative (General Municipal Law 50-e(1)(a)), and a death claim against the State of New York is due within 90 days of that appointment unless a notice of intention is served, and in any event within 2 years of the death (Court of Claims Act 10(2)). In Illinois a suit against a local public entity, such as a county, township, city or school district, must be started within 1 year of the injury or the date the claim accrued, and the act counts a death as an injury (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a), 10/1-204). For a federal vehicle or employee, a written claim goes to the agency within 2 years, then a suit within 6 months after a mailed final denial (28 U.S.C. 2401(b), Cornell LII copy).
The injured person is a child
Many states pause the clock for a child, but not in the same way, and the pause often has limits. Texas doesn’t count time under 18 (16.001), but its health care section applies “regardless of minority” (74.251). California’s pause doesn’t apply to claims that must first go to a public entity (CCP 352(b)). Florida pauses only while no parent or guardian exists, or one has an adverse interest or is adjudicated incapacitated, with a 7-year outer limit (95.051(1)(i)). New York’s rule is an extension, not a simple pause (CPLR 208(a)), and Michigan gives one year after the disability ends (MCL 600.5851(1)). Settling a child’s claim has its own court steps, set out in settlements for minors.
A doctor or hospital caused the injury
Medical malpractice usually sits in a separate section, often shorter. Ohio allows 1 year (R.C. 2305.113) beside a 2-year general limit. New York allows 2 years and 6 months (CPLR 214-a). California allows 3 years from the injury or 1 year from discovery, whichever comes first (CCP 340.5).
Someone has died
A wrongful death claim usually has its own limit, and many statutes count it from the death rather than the injury. In Texas “the cause of action accrues on the death” (16.003(b)); New York allows 2 years after the death (EPTL 5-4.1). The claim the person had before they died can be a separate claim with separate rules. Wrongful death deadlines by state sets out the family’s clocks, and our wrongful death guides cover who can sue and who shares the money.
State by state
Each state page sets out every clock we read there and the fault rule, with the statute beside each.
Texas
Most suits for an injury, a death or damage to a car must be filed within 2 years (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.003). The shortest Texas clock is the 6-month notice to a government body, and we haven’t read the city charters that can shorten it. On fault, someone found more than 50 percent responsible recovers nothing (33.001). Texas injury deadlines and fault rules covers each rule, including medical claims and children.
California
Two years for an injury or a death (CCP 335.1), but three years for damage to a car (338(c)(1)), so one crash can run on two clocks. A public entity needs the 6-month written claim first, and after a written rejection the suit is due within 6 months of the notice (Gov. Code 945.6). Fault reduces an award rather than barring it. California injury deadlines and fault rules adds the late-claim route and medical claims.
Florida
Florida changed two rules in 2023. The negligence limit is now 2 years for causes of action accruing after 24 March 2023 (Fla. Stat. 95.11(5)(a)), and someone more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm recovers nothing (768.81(6)). Florida is also still a no-fault state, so your own PIP pays first. Is Florida a no-fault state? covers both, with Florida’s government claim rules.
New York
Three years for most injury and property suits (CPLR 214), 2 years after a death, and 90 days’ notice to a local public body, then a suit within 1 year and 90 days (GML 50-i); after a death, the notice runs from the appointment of the estate’s representative and the suit is due within 2 years of the death (GML 50-e(1)(a), 50-i). For car-crash injury suits under the no-fault law filed on or after 26 May 2026, the filing date decides which rules apply: a claimant more at fault than the defendants is barred (CPLR 1411(b)), and the 90/180-day category is gone from “serious injury” (Insurance Law 5102(d)). New York injury rules after the May 2026 change sets out what changed and what didn’t.
Michigan
A suit against the other driver has 3 years as the general rule (MCL 600.5805(2)). A suit against your own insurer for PIP benefits runs on a much shorter clock: 1 year after the crash unless written notice reached the insurer or PIP was paid within that year, and even then, unless the clock was paused for a pending claim, losses incurred more than a year before the suit can’t be recovered (500.3145). Claims against the state need a verified notice within 6 months (600.6431). Michigan no-fault insurance explains the benefits and each clock.
Figures you may see elsewhere
- “You have two years to sue.” Not as a national rule. The general injury limits we read run from 1 year (Kentucky, KRS 413.140) to 6 years (Maine, North Dakota), and government notice can be due in months.
- “Florida gives you four years.” Out of date for negligence claims that arose after 24 March 2023.
- “Children can always wait until 18.” No. Florida, California and Texas each limit the pause, as set out above.
Legislatures change these rules: Florida, Louisiana and New York all have in the last few years. We read every row again every three months and after each state’s legislative session, and the read date sits beside each rule. Fault rules are a separate question from time limits; the fault rule lookup by state covers them.
Your next step
- Write down the dates now: the injury, when it was found if that was later, any death, and any no-fault payment or insurer letter.
- Ask whether a government body is involved, as a driver, a vehicle owner, or the owner of a road or building. If so, find its notice rule today. It may be the shortest deadline of all.
- If the injured person is under 18, don’t assume the clock is paused. Read your state’s row and ask the court how it applies.
- Read the statute yourself. Each state row in the table links to the official text.
- Ask someone who can look at the facts. A court clerk can explain where and how to file but can’t give legal advice. A lawyer, or legal aid if cost is a barrier, can say which limit applies.
Sources checked on 6 November 2026.
