Personal Injury Law
The Statute of Limitations for Injury Claims in New York
The deadlines that decide whether you can bring a claim at all — and why they start sooner than most New Yorkers expect.
September 12, 2025
If you have been hurt by someone else's carelessness in New York, the law gives you a limited amount of time to file a lawsuit. That deadline is called the statute of limitations, and it is one of the most unforgiving rules in the legal system. Let it pass, and even an airtight case can be dismissed before anyone looks at the merits.
The tricky part is that there is no single deadline. The right answer depends on the kind of injury, who caused it, and sometimes on facts about the injured person. Koenigsberg & Associates Law Offices, serving all five boroughs of New York City, breaks down the deadlines that matter most below — but this is general information, not legal advice about your specific case.
By the Numbers
The deadlines that matter most
3 yrs
General deadline to file most personal injury lawsuits (CPLR 214)
90 days
Deadline to serve a Notice of Claim against a city, county, or public authority
2.5 yrs
Deadline for most medical malpractice claims (CPLR 214-a)
2 yrs
Deadline to bring a wrongful death claim from the date of death (EPTL 5-4.1)
These are general rules. Exceptions, extensions, and shorter notice requirements can all change the real deadline in your case — which is why it is dangerous to rely on a single number.
Why It Matters
Why the statute of limitations is so important
The statute of limitations is not a technicality that gets waived for sympathetic plaintiffs. It is a hard cutoff that insurance companies and defense lawyers count on — and will raise the moment it helps them.
It is usually absolute
Once the statute of limitations expires, the court will almost always dismiss the case no matter how clear the other side's fault is or how serious your injuries are. The strength of your claim does not buy you extra time.
The clock starts early
For most accidents, the deadline runs from the date the injury occurred — not the date you hired a lawyer, finished treatment, or realized how serious the harm was. Waiting to see how you heal can quietly eat up your window.
Evidence disappears, too
Even well inside the deadline, surveillance footage gets overwritten, vehicles are repaired, and witnesses move or forget. The sooner a claim is investigated, the stronger it tends to be.
Different claims, different clocks
A single accident can involve several deadlines at once — a short notice period against a government defendant and a longer window against a private one. Missing the shortest one can cut off an entire source of recovery.
The General Rule
Three years for most injury claims
For the majority of personal injury cases against a private person or business — including most car accidents, slip-and-falls, and other negligence claims — New York gives you three years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit under CPLR 214(5). But several important categories run on their own clocks.
Personal injury (negligence)
3 yearsMost injury claims — car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian accidents, slip-and-falls, and other negligence cases against private people or businesses — must be filed within three years of the accident under CPLR 214(5).
Medical malpractice
2 years, 6 monthsClaims against doctors, hospitals, and other providers generally must be filed within two and a half years under CPLR 214-a. Special rules can extend this, such as the continuous-treatment doctrine and, for certain cancer cases, a discovery rule.
Wrongful death
2 yearsA wrongful death action must be brought within two years of the date of death (EPTL 5-4.1). A related claim for the pain and suffering the person endured before death follows the underlying injury deadline.
Intentional torts
1 yearClaims for assault, battery, and certain other intentional acts have a shorter one-year deadline under CPLR 215.
Product liability / toxic exposure
3 yearsInjuries from a defective product run three years from the injury. For harm caused by latent exposure to a substance, CPLR 214-c measures the three years from when the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been.
Claims Against the Government
Suing a city or public agency? The clock is much shorter
In a city the size of New York, many injuries involve a government defendant — a pothole or sidewalk defect, an MTA bus or subway, a city vehicle, or a public hospital. These claims carry special, much shorter deadlines, and missing the first one can end the case before it begins.
Serve a Notice of Claim within 90 days
Before you can sue a city, county, town, village, school district, the NYPD, or a public authority like the MTA or NYCTA, you generally must serve a formal Notice of Claim within 90 days of the incident under General Municipal Law § 50-e. This single short deadline catches many people off guard.
File the lawsuit within 1 year and 90 days
After the Notice of Claim, a lawsuit against most municipalities must be commenced within one year and 90 days of the event under General Municipal Law § 50-i — far shorter than the usual three-year window.
Watch for separate rules for the State
Claims against the State of New York itself proceed in the Court of Claims and carry their own strict timetables — generally a claim or a notice of intention within 90 days for a negligence injury. Public hospitals and other entities can add further wrinkles.
The takeaway
If a public entity may be responsible, do not wait.
A 90-day Notice of Claim deadline can expire before the typical injured person has even finished treatment. When any government agency might share the blame, the safest move is to speak with an attorney within days.
Exceptions & Extensions
When the deadline can be paused
In certain situations, the law 'tolls' — pauses — the statute of limitations. These rules are narrow and fact-specific, so you should never assume one applies without confirming it with a lawyer.
Injured children
For most injury claims involving a child, the statute is paused ('tolled') until the child turns 18, though an overall cap can apply. Importantly, the 90-day Notice of Claim deadline against a government entity is not automatically extended by a child's age — a court must grant permission to file late.
The discovery rule
New York does not apply a general 'discovery rule' to ordinary accident claims — the clock usually starts at the injury, even if you did not yet appreciate how serious it was. It applies only in specific situations, such as toxic exposure (CPLR 214-c) and certain medical cases.
Continuous treatment
In medical malpractice cases, the deadline can be paused while you remain under the provider's care for the same condition, so the 2.5-year clock may not start until that course of treatment ends.
Disability
If an injured person is legally unable to protect their own rights because of certain disabilities at the time the claim accrues, the law may toll the deadline under CPLR 208 — but these rules are narrow and fact-specific.
Protect Your Claim
How to keep a deadline from quietly passing
Because the right deadline depends on the facts, the safest approach is to treat every injury claim as time-sensitive from day one.
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Write down the date of the accident
Every deadline is measured from a specific event. Knowing the exact date — and preserving proof of it — is the foundation for calculating every clock that applies to your case.
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Identify who might be responsible
The answer changes your deadlines. A crash caused by a private driver, a city sanitation truck, and an MTA bus all run on different timetables. Pin down every potentially responsible party early.
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Act quickly if a government entity is involved
Because the Notice of Claim window can be as short as 90 days, a case that involves any public agency needs attention within days or weeks — not months.
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Preserve evidence now
Photographs, the police or incident report, medical records, and witness contact information are easiest to gather right after the event and hardest to recover later.
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Talk to a personal injury attorney early
An experienced New York attorney can map every deadline that applies to your specific facts, make sure nothing is missed, and start building the claim while the evidence is still fresh.
Related reading: How long do I have to file a no-fault insurance claim?
Don't Let the Clock Run Out
Find out how much time you really have
The only way to know which deadline applies to your situation is to have the facts reviewed by an attorney. At Koenigsberg & Associates Law Offices, we can usually tell you quickly whether you still have time to act — and start protecting your claim right away.
Initial consultations are free. If you were injured in New York City, reach out before signing anything or letting another day pass.