California personal injury statute of limitations: deadlines by claim type

Most California personal injury claims must be filed within two years. The exceptions are where firms get hurt: a claim against a city bus with a six-month clock, a medical negligence claim that runs from discovery, an uninsured motorist claim that needs more than a letter to the carrier, a minor whose deadline runs differently against a public entity. This guide sets out the deadlines by claim type and the rules that pause or shorten them.

This is general information, not legal advice. Deadlines depend on the facts, especially the date a claim accrues; check the statutes cited and the case law on accrual for any specific case.

The general rule: two years

Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 gives two years to bring an action for assault, battery, or injury to or the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another. That covers most car crash, premises, dog bite and other negligence claims, and wrongful death claims. For most injury claims, the clock starts on the date of the injury.

Deadlines by claim type

The statute of limitations calculator applies these to a date of loss.

When the clock is paused

Minority and lack of capacity. If the person entitled to sue was a minor, or lacked the legal capacity to make decisions, when the claim accrued, that time doesn't count toward the limitation period (CCP 352(a)). For a general injury claim, a minor's two years usually start at age 18.

Medical negligence notice. Before suing a health care provider for professional negligence, the plaintiff must give at least 90 days' written notice of intent to sue. If the notice is served within the last 90 days of the limitation period, the time to sue is extended to 90 days after service (CCP 364(d)).

Other tolling rules exist. Check them against the facts before relying on any of them, and calendar the earliest date that could apply.

The deadlines that come first

Three deadlines arrive well before the general two years.

Government claims. If any defendant is a public entity, such as a city, county, school district, transit agency or the state, a written claim must be presented within six months (Gov. Code 911.2). Minority does not toll this requirement (CCP 352(b)). The Government Claims Act guide covers the claim, the late-claim route and the deadlines after rejection.

Medical negligence. The one-year-from-discovery limit in CCP 340.5 can end a claim well inside three years. In no event may the time exceed three years, except for fraud, intentional concealment, or a foreign body with no therapeutic or diagnostic purpose left in the patient.

Uninsured motorist claims. A letter to the carrier is not enough. Within two years of the accident, the insured must have sued the uninsured motorist, reached agreement with the carrier on the amount due, or formally instituted arbitration by written notice sent by certified mail, return receipt requested (Ins. Code 11580.2(i)(1)). The rule sits in the same section that defines underinsured vehicles; read the policy and the statute together for an underinsured claim. See uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage.

Minors

• General injury claims. Tolled during minority under CCP 352(a).
• Medical negligence. CCP 340.5 sets its own rule: a minor's action must be brought within three years of the wrongful act, except that a child under six has until the later of three years or the eighth birthday.
• Public entities. Minority doesn't toll the claim requirement (CCP 352(b)), though it is a ground for a late-claim application (Gov. Code 911.6).
• Settlement. A parent's compromise of a minor's claim is not binding until a superior court approves it (Probate Code 3500). See minor's compromise.

How firms miss a statute

• The date of loss is entered wrong at intake and never checked against the police report.
• A public entity defendant, such as a city bus or a county road, is discovered after six months have passed.
• An uninsured motorist claim is opened with the carrier, but arbitration is never formally instituted.
• A medical negligence claim is calendared at three years when discovery set a one-year clock.
• Minority is assumed to toll a government claim.
• The statute date lives on one person's calendar, and that person leaves.
• A case is declined late, and the client isn't told the deadline in writing.

A statute check for every new case

Run the same check on every case at intake, and again whenever a new fact arrives:

1. Confirm the date of loss against the police report, the ER record and the client's account. If they disagree, calendar the earliest.
2. List every possible defendant, including owners, employers, contractors and public entities. Each can carry its own deadline.
3. Ask whether any defendant is public. If one is, the six-month claim date goes on the calendar before anything else.
4. Check the client's age and capacity on the date of loss, and note which tolling rules apply to which defendants.
5. Check whether a health care provider's care is part of the claim, and if so, when the client learned of the injury.
6. Check the client's own policy for UM or UIM coverage, and calendar the two-year date to sue, settle or institute arbitration.
7. Record the deadline, the rule and who calculated it on the case, and have an attorney confirm it.
8. Recheck at each phase change. New defendants and new injuries surface in records and discovery.

When a firm declines a case or withdraws, it should tell the client in writing that deadlines apply, and recommend that the client consult other counsel promptly.

Calendaring the statute in PlaintiffStack

On a personal injury case in PlaintiffStack, the statute date sits on the case overview with the time remaining, and every deadline on the case also appears on the firm's calendar. Tasks carry the deadline they serve, and the firm sees deadlines in the next 30 days that have no preparation task. Once a case is in litigation, Court rules calculates court deadlines under California's statewide rules, each with its citation, after one of the firm's attorneys has adopted the rules.

The deadline itself is a legal judgment; the software keeps it visible to everyone who needs to see it.