Texas Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury
Texas gives you two years to file, and the deadline is close to absolute. Miss it and the claim is gone regardless of how clearly someone else was at fault.
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The two year rule
Section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code requires a personal injury suit to be filed within two years of the day the cause of action accrues, which is normally the date of the injury. The same two year period applies to wrongful death, running from the date of death rather than the date of the injury that caused it.
Filing means filing suit in court. Reporting the claim to an insurer, exchanging letters with an adjuster, or negotiating does none of it. Claims are lost every year by people who believed an active negotiation was holding the deadline open.
Claims against a government body run far shorter
If a city, county, school district, transit authority or state agency is involved, the Texas Tort Claims Act requires formal written notice long before the two year mark, and many cities shorten it further by charter to as little as a few months.
This catches people out constantly, because the vehicle that hit them looked like any other vehicle. A city truck, a school bus, a county maintenance vehicle or a public transit bus all trigger it.
When the clock starts later
The discovery rule delays the start where an injury was genuinely not discoverable at the time, which arises with some toxic exposures and certain surgical injuries. It is applied narrowly and is not a general safety net for a late claim.
For a claimant who was a minor when injured, the period is generally tolled until they turn 18. That does not delay everything: a parent's own claim for medical expenses runs on the ordinary schedule, so waiting can cost the family part of the case.
Why two years is the wrong plan
Evidence does not wait for the legal deadline. Camera footage is overwritten within days. Vehicles are repaired or scrapped. Skid marks disappear with the next rain. Witnesses move and stop answering. A truck's electronic logging data is overwritten by continued operation of the vehicle.
A claim brought at twenty three months is legally alive and evidentially dead. The deadline that decides most cases is measured in days, not years.
Summary
| Claim | Deadline | Runs from |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury | 2 years | Date of injury |
| Wrongful death | 2 years | Date of death |
| Survival claim | 2 years | Date of death |
| Against a governmental unit | Formal written notice in months, sometimes less by city charter | Date of incident |
| Claimant was a minor | Generally tolled until age 18 | The parent's own claim is not tolled |
| Uninsured or underinsured motorist | Set by the policy as well as by statute | Read the policy early |
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Frequently asked questions
Two years from the date of injury under section 16.003. Filing means filing suit in court. Negotiating with an insurer does not extend it, and an active negotiation on the day the deadline passes does not save the claim.
Yes, dramatically. The Texas Tort Claims Act requires formal written notice within months, and many cities shorten that further by charter. This is the most common way an otherwise strong claim is lost.
The discovery rule can delay the start where the injury was genuinely not discoverable, but it is applied narrowly. It is not a general remedy for a late claim, and it will be contested.
A minor's own claim is generally tolled until they turn 18, but a parent's claim for medical expenses runs on the ordinary two year schedule. Waiting can forfeit part of the family's case even while the child's own claim survives.
Ask a lawyer about your own deadline
A free consultation covers what applies to your claim specifically, which is rarely the general rule.
Contingency fee. You pay nothing unless we win.