How long after car accident can you claim injury?
How long after car accident can you claim injury? To sue, Arizona and Texas both allow two years in general. A claim against a city, state or other public body can have a much shorter notice date: 180 days in Arizona and six months in Texas. How long does a lawsuit take for a car accident? A federal study found a median of 13.7 months.
Last checked November 9, 2026 · Official sources (25)
How long after a car accident can you claim an injury?
There are two clocks, and people mix them up. One is the time to make a claim with an insurance company. The other is the time to file a lawsuit, called the statute of limitations. The lawsuit deadline is the one a court enforces, and it is the one that can end your case. We found no single legal deadline for the insurance claim, but a policy can set its own notice time, so read yours.
| Situation | Arizona | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Lawsuit against a driver | Two years after the cause of action accrues. | Two years after the cause of action accrues. |
| The injured person dies | The case counts as accruing at the death. | Two years from the death. |
| The injured person is under 18 | Time under 18 does not count against the deadline. | Time under 18 is not included in the deadline. |
| Claim against a public body | Claim within 180 days; suit within one year. | Notice within six months; a city charter can set its own period. |
| Your own uninsured motorist coverage | Written notice to your insurer within three years of the accident, with limited exceptions. | Follow your policy's notice terms. We did not verify a statute. |
"Accrues" usually means the day you were hurt. In a death case it is the day of death, as the table shows. Late-found injuries are harder. We did not verify a rule that gives extra time, so do not count on one.
What if my pain started days after the crash?
See a doctor and write down the date. MedlinePlus, from the National Institutes of Health, says whiplash pain may not appear right away and can sometimes take hours to weeks to develop.
The deadline does not wait for the pain to show up. Treat the crash date as day one unless a lawyer tells you a different date applies in your case. A short medical record, made early, also helps show that the injury and the crash are linked.
Does talking to the insurance company stop the deadline?
No. Arizona's insurance regulator says filing a complaint with it does not pause or extend any legal deadlines. The same is true of phone calls, emails and offers. A long negotiation can run right through your last day.
Arizona has one safety net. An insurer that keeps negotiating directly with someone who has no lawyer must give a written warning 60 days before a third-party claimant's time limit may expire. Do not plan around it. The warning can be missed, and it does not change the date.
How long do I have in other states?
The length changes by state. This short list shows how wide the range is. It is not complete, and each state has exceptions.
| State | General time to sue for injury |
|---|---|
| California | Two years. |
| Florida | Two years for actions founded on negligence, as listed in the 2023 statute. |
| New York | Three years. |
| Maine | Six years for civil actions in general. |
If the crash happened in one state and you live in another, the state where it happened usually matters most, but ask a lawyer before you assume.
How long does a lawsuit take for a car accident?
Often more than a year after filing. A federal study of tort cases in the nation's largest counties found a median of 13.7 months from filing to the end of the case, and a mean of 19.3 months. Auto cases settled faster than the others in that study. It is old data, so treat it as a rough guide.
| Stage after filing | What happens | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Serving the other side | The defendant is formally told about the suit. | Planning guess: weeks. |
| Evidence exchange | Both sides trade records, answer questions and take statements. | Planning guess: several months. |
| Talks or mediation | A neutral person helps the sides try to agree. | Planning guess: often late in the case. |
| Trial | A judge or jury decides. | A 2005 federal study averaged 26 months for jury trials and 20 for bench trials. |
Courts set goals. Texas's rules say civil jury cases should be brought to trial or final disposition within 18 months of the appearance date, and nonjury cases within 12 months. Arizona publishes time standards that set reasonable expectations, not promises. Most cases never get that far. The federal study found the vast majority settled without a trial.
What if a city, county or state vehicle hit me?
Your deadline can be a fraction of the usual two years. In Arizona, a claim against a public entity must be filed within 180 days, and a claim not filed in time is barred. In Texas, a government unit is entitled to notice within six months of the incident, and a city may follow a charter period permitted by law.
The notice is a separate step from the lawsuit. Missing it can end the claim even if the two years are still open. If the other vehicle had a government plate or logo, ask who to serve and talk to a lawyer in the first weeks.
What does a timeline against the deadline look like? An example
EXAMPLE ONLY. The months are invented to show how a calendar works. This is not a prediction. Imagine a Texas crash with a private driver.
| Month | What happens in this example |
|---|---|
| 0 | Crash. Treatment starts. The two-year clock starts. |
| 1 to 8 | Treatment and therapy. The claim is opened with the insurer. |
| 9 | Doctor says treatment is done. Records are requested. |
| 12 | Demand sent. Offers go back and forth. |
| 18 | No agreement yet. The person asks a lawyer to review the deadline. |
| 20 | Lawsuit filed with four months to spare. |
| 24 | Last day to file in Texas. |
Now change one fact: the other vehicle belongs to a city. The notice date would have been month six, long before treatment ended.
What should I do now?
- Write down the crash date and add two years. Mark that date, then mark a date six months before it.
- Check whether any public body, school, transit agency or government worker was involved. If yes, find the notice date now.
- See a doctor if you have any pain, even mild, and keep the dates of visits.
- Ask the insurer when you can expect an offer, and put the answer in writing.
- If you are within six months of your deadline, talk to a lawyer before you accept an offer or sign anything.
InjuryBasics is not a law firm and cannot tell you the deadline in your case. A lawyer who sees your dates can.
Questions
How long after a car accident can you claim injury in Arizona?
Generally two years to file a lawsuit. A claim against a public entity must be filed within 180 days.
How long after a car accident can you claim injury in Texas?
Generally two years to file a lawsuit. A government unit is entitled to notice within six months.
How long does a lawsuit take for a car accident?
A federal study of large counties found a median of 13.7 months from filing to the end, and most cases settled without trial.
Does a complaint to the insurance department stop the clock?
No. Arizona's regulator says a complaint does not pause or extend legal deadlines.
What if the injured person is a child?
Arizona and Texas do not count time under 18 against the deadline, but have a lawyer confirm the date for your case.
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- A.R.S. § 12-542, checked 2026-11-09. “there shall be commenced and prosecuted within two years after the cause of action accrues”
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003, checked 2026-11-09. “personal injury, forcible entry and detainer, and forcible detainer not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues.”
- A.R.S. § 12-821.01, checked 2026-11-09. “within one hundred eighty days after the cause of action accrues”
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101, checked 2026-11-09. “A governmental unit is entitled to receive notice of a claim against it under this chapter not later than six months after the day that the incident giving rise to the claim occurred.”
- Bureau of Justice Statistics, Tort Cases in Large Counties, checked 2026-11-09. “Mean case processing time from filing to disposition was 19.3 months and the median was 13.7 months.”
- Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions, checked 2026-11-09. “Filing a complaint with DIFI does not pause or extend any legal deadlines or limits in your policy.”
- A.R.S. § 12-821.01, checked 2026-11-09. “Any claim that is not filed within one hundred eighty days after the cause of action accrues is barred and no action may be maintained thereon.”
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1, checked 2026-11-09. “Within two years: An action for assault, battery, or injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another.”
- N.Y. CPLR § 214, checked 2026-11-09. “The following actions must be commenced within three years”
- 14 M.R.S. § 752, checked 2026-11-09. “All civil actions shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues and not afterwards”
- Bureau of Justice Statistics, Tort Cases in Large Counties, checked 2026-11-09. “In the vast majority of tort cases, litigants settled the complaint without going to trial.”
- MedlinePlus (NIH), checked 2026-11-09. “The pain of whiplash may not appear right away after an accident, but sometimes may take hours to weeks to develop.”
- A.R.S. § 12-542, checked 2026-11-09. “which action shall be considered as accruing at the death of the party injured”
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003, checked 2026-11-09. “A person must bring suit not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues in an action for injury resulting in death.”
- A.R.S. § 12-502, checked 2026-11-09. “the period of such disability shall not be deemed a portion of the period limited for commencement of the action”
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.001, checked 2026-11-09. “the time of the disability is not included in a limitations period”
- A.R.S. § 12-821, checked 2026-11-09. “All actions against any public entity or public employee shall be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues and not afterward.”
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101, checked 2026-11-09. “A city's charter and ordinance provisions requiring notice within a charter period permitted by law are ratified and approved.”
- A.R.S. § 12-555, checked 2026-11-09. “gives written notice to the insurer of the person's intent to pursue the claim against the uninsured motorist portion of a motor vehicle policy within three years after the date of the accident”
- Ariz. Admin. Code R20-6-801, checked 2026-11-09. “to third party claimants 60 days, before the date on which the time limit may expire”
- Fla. Stat. § 95.11 (2023), checked 2026-11-09. “WITHIN TWO YEARS.- (a) An action founded on negligence.”
- Bureau of Justice Statistics, Tort Cases in Large Counties, checked 2026-11-09. “Auto tort cases were settled in a shorter period than all other cases.”
- Bureau of Justice Statistics, Civil Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005, checked 2026-11-09. “On average, the processing of a case required an additional half year for a jury trial (26 months), compared to a bench trial (20 months).”
- Texas Rules of Judicial Administration, Rule 6, checked 2026-11-09. “(1) Civil Jury Cases. Within 18 months from appearance date. (2) Civil Nonjury Cases. Within 12 months from appearance date.”
- Arizona Judicial Branch, checked 2026-11-09. “The Arizona case processing time standards seek to establish reasonable expectations for how long different types of cases should take to be resolved by the courts.”