What Is the Statute of Limitations in an Injury Case?

If you're considering making a personal injury claim after any kind of accident, you might have heard about a rule known as the "statute of limitations." Maybe you've even heard that compliance with this rule is crucial to your claim. But what is a statute of limitations, and how does this kind of law apply to a personal injury case? Perhaps most importantly, what are the consequences of failing to comply with the statute of limitations?

What Is a Statute of Limitations?

Simply put, a statute of limitations is a state law that sets a strict deadline on the right to file a lawsuit in court. If you wait too long to get your case started, you effectively lose the right to have the court hear your case at all.

In the context of a personal injury case, getting the case started means filing the personal injury "complaint" in civil court, and "serving" it on the person you're suing. The complaint is the document that lets the court and the person you're suing know about your case and the nature of your claims.

Different States Follow Different Personal Injury Lawsuit Deadlines

Every state has spelled out statutes of limitations in their state codes, with different deadlines for different kinds of civil cases.

In most states, there's a specific deadline for personal injury lawsuits, although the language of these laws can vary, just as the specific filing deadline for personal injury lawsuits varies. A two- year deadline for filing personal injury lawsuits can be found in many states. In some states, one year is the rule, and in a handful of others you might have three, four, or even six years to get your case started in the court system.

These filing deadlines apply to all kinds of personal injury claims—whether arising from car accidents, slip and fall incidents, dog bites, or any other accident or mishap.

Failing to Comply With the Statute of Limitations Can End Your Case

Whether it's a personal injury lawsuit or any other kind of civil case, if you fail to comply with the statute of limitations—you file your lawsuit after the filing deadline has passed, in other words— that's almost certainly going to spell doom for your case. Specifically, the defendant (the person or business you're trying to sue) will file a motion asking the court to throw out your case (pointing out that the statute of limitations deadline has passed), and unless there are legal grounds to extend or alter the deadline (more on these exceptions in the next section) the court is certain to grant the dismissal.

If your personal injury lawsuit is dismissed for failure to comply with the statute of limitations, that's the end of your case. No matter how badly you were hurt, and regardless of how clear the defendant's fault might be, you'll be left without a legal remedy for your injuries and other losses stemming from the accident. That's what makes understanding and complying with the statute of limitations so crucial to the prospects of any personal injury lawsuit.

Keep the Statute of Limitations in Mind Even in an Insurance Claim

Even if you're confident that your personal injury case will be resolved through the insurance claim process, or that it will otherwise settle out of court, you want to leave yourself plenty of time to file a lawsuit in case you need to—at the very least, preserving the court option will give you more leverage during settlement talks.

Extending or "Tolling" the Statute of Limitations Deadline

Every state has laws that essentially carve out exceptions to the statute of limitations filing deadline, by defining circumstances that could pause (or "toll" in the language of the law) the running of the statute of limitations "clock." Of course, the specifics of these exceptions vary, so it's important to talk to a personal injury lawyer if you have questions about the law in your state. But here's a look at a few common scenarios that could alter or extend the filing deadline:

• the injured person is under the age of 18
• the injured person has been declared mentally incompetent, insane, or "of unsound mind"
• the injured person is incarcerated or is on active military duty during some portion of the applicable period of limitations
• the defendant (the person who allegedly caused the injury) is absent from the state, or has taken steps to conceal themselves within the state, or
• the defendant has tried to conceal the occurrence of the injury or their role in causing it.