Injury rules are easy to get wrong. They differ by state and by kind of claim, they change, and old rules get repeated long after a law moves on. A wrong deadline can cost a family its claim. This page sets out where our rules and figures come from, how statutes are read and dated, why we publish no average settlement figures, how often rules are rechecked, and where our limits are.
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.
Where rules and figures come from
We go to the source that makes the rule, and link it at the claim:
- State law: the statute in the legislature’s own text, such as Texas, Florida, New York, Arizona and Ohio.
- Court decisions: the opinion itself, from the court’s own site where we can reach it. Some rules, such as contributory negligence in the few places that keep it, rest on case law rather than a statute, so a state row needs a controlling opinion we have read.
- Courts and agencies: court self-help pages, state insurance departments and other official pages. Useful, but not the statute, so we name them in plain words, such as “the court’s guide says”. Forms are linked at the court or agency, never hosted here.
- Federal rules: the US Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, Supreme Court opinions, and documents from the IRS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other federal agencies.
- Tax: IRS publications, always with their edition. Publication 4345, Settlements—Taxability, for example, is Rev. 9-2023, and we say so.
- Data: government statistics, labelled with their year and what they count.
- Law firm and commercial pages: never a source for a rule, a figure, an example or a statistic. They appear only as the subject of a claim we have checked, and we do not name the firm.
How a claim gets on the page
Each rule and figure is sorted by how directly it was read, and that decides how we word it:
- Read in the statute, or in an official court opinion or agency page. We state it plainly and give the citation and the date we read it. Before a writer uses a rule, the whole section is read again, not just the sentence that matched a search, because exceptions often sit further down.
- Read only in part, in a summary or in an unofficial copy. It is not stated as a flat rule. If a page has to mention it, it says what we could and could not confirm, and labels any unofficial copy as one.
- Not read. It stays off the page, or the page says “not confirmed” and points you to that state’s courts. State tables show “not confirmed” for every row we have not read. “Not confirmed” never means there is no rule. We never fill a gap from a law firm page or a form site.
How statutes are read and dated
A statute can say something different from what is written about it, so we follow a few habits:
- Read date on every state figure. In text, tables and graphics, each state rule carries its statute and the day we read it, and each page ends with the date its sources were checked.
- The ordinary limit is not the whole story. Texas generally allows two years to sue for a personal injury (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.003(a)), but a governmental unit is entitled to notice of a claim within six months of the incident (101.101(a)), both read 6 November 2026. So deadline pages list claims against a government, minors, medical malpractice, wrongful death and the discovery of an injury next to the ordinary limit, wherever we have read them.
- When a change starts. Florida’s limit for an action founded on negligence is two years (Fla. Stat. 95.11(5)(a), read 6 November 2026), and the 2023 law that set it applies to causes of action accruing after 24 March 2023 (Laws of Florida ch. 2023-15). Older injuries keep the earlier limit, so a page never treats the change as reaching back.
- Exact words on scope. New York’s CPLR 1411(b) bars a claimant who is more at fault than the defendant, or than the defendants combined, “in any action to recover damages for personal injury subject to article fifty-one of the insurance law” (read 6 November 2026). Under the 2026 law that added it (Part EE of Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026), it applies to actions started on or after 26 May 2026, counted by the filing date, not the crash date. The section says nothing about property damage or wrongful death in that sentence, so we do not stretch it to them.
- Silence is not a rule. When a section says nothing on a point, we write “the section we read does not say” rather than “there is no limit”. Another statute, a city charter or case law may still apply.
- Reader links on official sites. Links go to the legislature’s or court’s own site, so you can read the same text we did.
How deadlines are shown
We show the rule, never your deadline. Our deadlines by state tool gives the statute, the rule, the date we read it and the exceptions we have read. Where it counts forward from a date you enter, it labels the result as the general rule’s arithmetic, sets it beside the exceptions, and warns that an earlier date may apply and that waiting until the last day is unsafe. When a deadline is counted from the injury, from its discovery, from a death or from a birthday, and whether it is paused, are questions a lawyer or the court has to answer for your case.
Why we publish no average settlement figures
Many pages online give an “average settlement” for a car accident, a back injury or a slip and fall. We looked for a public dataset behind figures like these and did not find one. Most claims settle privately, often under confidentiality terms, and are never reported to a court. The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics says that the terms of settlements reached before trial “may not be reported to the court or may not be publicly available” (BJS, Civil Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005, NCJ 223851, read 6 November 2026).
That study counts trials, not settlements. It covers state court trials in 2005, and its award figures include only plaintiffs who won money at trial. Where a page mentions it, the page says all of that in the same sentence and never calls it a settlement figure. No page gives an average, typical, median or “usual range” settlement by injury, accident or state, and no page repeats one from elsewhere.
What a claim settles for depends on things no average can capture: the injuries and the medical proof, the fault rule in the state, the insurance limits, liens and the law where the case is. Pages explain those parts instead. Worked examples use round numbers that are labelled as examples, not as what anyone gets.
How calculators work
Our calculators do arithmetic on numbers you enter, such as a fault percentage, a fee percentage, costs or liens, and show each step. They say “estimate” on every result. They never say what a claim is worth, what you will get or what a fair amount is. Each formula is tested against answers worked by hand before the calculator goes live. Every default that is a rate or a rule says where it comes from and when we read it, or that it is our assumption, and you can change it. A state we have not read shows “not confirmed”.
The pain and suffering calculator is an example. Firms often describe pain and suffering as a multiple of medical bills, or as a rate per day. We looked for a study or a statute behind either method and did not find one, so the calculator lets you choose the multiplier or the daily rate and says beside the result that no law sets either method.
How pages are checked
After a page is written, a separate fact-check compares each deadline, rule, limit, fee, percentage and date with its source, and reworks every sum on the page. A final review looks for errors, gaps and anything that could lead a reader to miss a deadline, a notice to a government body, or a court step. A page with a serious problem still open does not go out.
How often rules are rechecked
- State rows (deadlines, fault rules, notice rules, no-fault rules, insurance minimums, wrongful death rules): every three months, and again after each state’s legislative session.
- Laws with a known start date: when the date arrives.
- Tax: when the IRS revises the publication a page relies on.
- Everything else: at least every six months, and sooner when we learn a source has changed.
A page shows an updated date only when its content really changed. Between rechecks a law can change without our knowing, which is why each state figure shows the day we read it.
What is an assumption
Where we work something out ourselves, we say so. Arithmetic is shown step by step. Where practice varies, such as the order in which a fee, costs and liens come out of a settlement, the calculator shows the order it uses and lets you change it. A date counted from a statute is labelled as our count. A conclusion a source does not state is labelled as ours.
How we treat sales claims
Claims from firms and sellers are reported as claims, never as fact. We don’t name a firm when we question a claim, because these lines are repeated widely and singling out one would be unfair. Some we have checked, as of 6 November 2026:
- “You have two years to sue.” Not as a national rule. Limits differ by state and by kind of claim, and a claim against a government body can need notice within months. See our deadlines by state.
- “Florida gives you four years.” Out of date for negligence claims accruing after 24 March 2023: Fla. Stat. 95.11(5)(a) now says two years.
- “New York is a pure comparative fault state.” Not for auto personal injury suits under Insurance Law Article 51 started on or after 26 May 2026: CPLR 1411(b) bars a claimant who is more at fault than the defendants.
- “Injury settlements are tax-free.” Only in part. IRS Publication 4345 (Rev. 9-2023) treats money for personal physical injuries or physical sickness as not taxable, but not medical costs you deducted in earlier years, and other parts can be taxable. See are personal injury settlements taxable.
- “Pain and suffering is 1.5 to 5 times medical bills.” You may see figures like this on law firm pages. We looked for a study or a statute behind it and didn’t find one. It is a rule of thumb used in negotiation, not a law.
Our limits
Some sources can’t be read in full, because they block access, sit only on commercial sites or have not been posted. As of 6 November 2026 we have not read official text of the injury limits for Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire or Wisconsin, and Georgia and Tennessee are not yet read in their codes, so those rows say “not confirmed”. We read statutes, court rules and the opinions a row depends on, not every local ordinance, city charter or case. No check catches everything, so please tell us if you find a mistake. Fixes are logged on our corrections page, and our editorial policy covers the rest of how pages are made.
Before you rely on a rule here, check it with the court, or ask a lawyer or legal aid. If a deadline may be close, don’t wait for a recheck of ours.
Sources on this page checked on 6 November 2026.