Statute of limitations for injury claims in New Jersey and New York

A statute of limitations is the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit. If you file even one day late, the person or company that hurt you can ask the court to dismiss the case, and the court will usually agree. It does not matter how clear the fault was or how badly you were hurt.

New Jersey and New York set different deadlines, and each state has special rules for certain kinds of claims. Some of the most dangerous deadlines are not lawsuit deadlines at all. They are short notice requirements, sometimes only 30 or 90 days, that apply when a government agency, a public transit system or a no-fault insurance claim is involved.

This guide lays out the main deadlines in both states. It is general information, not advice about your case. Deadlines turn on facts such as who caused the injury, where it happened and the injured person’s age, so talk to a lawyer about your own dates as soon as you can.

How the deadline clock works

In most injury cases the clock starts on the day you are hurt. For a car crash or a fall, that is the date of the accident. For a wrongful death claim, which a family brings when someone dies because of another person’s wrongdoing, both states count from the date of death.

The deadline is met by filing a lawsuit in the right court. Opening a claim with an insurance company does not stop the clock, and neither do ordinary settlement talks with an adjuster. If time is running short and the case has not settled, a lawsuit has to be filed to protect it.

If your accident happened in one state and you live in the other, read our guide to accidents that cross the New Jersey and New York line, because the state where you sue can change the deadline.

New Jersey deadlines by type of claim

In a wrongful death case there is no time limit at all if the death resulted from murder, aggravated manslaughter or manslaughter and the defendant was convicted, found not guilty by reason of insanity or adjudicated delinquent.² For a birth injury, if the parents have not filed by the child’s 12th birthday, the child or an adult the child chooses may bring the case, but it still must be filed before the 13th birthday.¹ Our page on medical malpractice covers these cases in more depth.

PIP (personal injury protection) is the no-fault part of a New Jersey auto policy that pays medical bills regardless of who caused the crash. If the PIP carrier refuses to pay, the action to collect, whether a lawsuit or a PIP arbitration, must generally be brought within two years after you incur the expense and know it came from the accident, and no later than four years after the accident, whichever comes first. If PIP has already paid some benefits, you have two years from the last payment to pursue more.⁵ Our New Jersey PIP guide explains how the coverage works.

New York deadlines by type of claim

New York medical malpractice time runs from the act of malpractice, or from the last treatment if treatment for the same condition continued. If a foreign object, like a surgical sponge, is left in the body, you have one year from when it was found or reasonably should have been. For negligent failure to diagnose cancer or a malignant tumor, the discovery branch generally gives 2 years and 6 months from when you knew or reasonably should have known of the negligence and resulting injury, subject to a 7-year limit from the negligence. Qualifying continuous treatment can produce a later deadline.⁶

For wrongful death, if the defendant was criminally prosecuted for the same event, the family has at least one year from the end of the criminal case.⁷ Bills to lengthen the period to three years have been vetoed, so as of this writing it remains two years. In the same way, if someone who assaulted you is criminally prosecuted, CPLR 215(8) gives you at least one year from the end of the criminal case.⁶

For a negligence claim against New York State, generally you must either file the claim in the Court of Claims and serve the Attorney General within 90 days after accrual, or serve a notice of intention on the Attorney General within that period. A timely notice of intention generally gives you two years from accrual to file and serve the negligence claim. For an intentional tort, the extended period is one year. A wrongful-death claim generally requires filing and service, or service of a notice of intention, within 90 days after appointment of the estate representative, and the claim must in any event be filed and served within two years after death.⁹ Court of Claims service rules are strict. Service by certified mail, return receipt requested, is complete only when the Attorney General’s office receives it.¹⁵ A judge may allow a late claim in some cases, but only before the regular limitation period runs out.⁹

The Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC) handles certain claims by people hurt by uninsured or unidentified drivers in New York. After a hit-and-run, the notice of intention is due within 90 days, and the accident should be reported to the police within 24 hours if that is reasonably possible. When the uninsured vehicle is identified, the notice is due within 180 days.¹¹ See our page on uninsured and underinsured motorist claims.

Notice deadlines that can end a case first

The statute of limitations is often not the first deadline to run out. When a government body, a public transit system or certain insurance programs are involved, you must give formal written notice within a short window. Miss the notice and the case may be over before a lawsuit is ever filed.

• New Jersey public entities. Under the Tort Claims Act, a notice of claim is due within 90 days. A judge may allow a late notice up to one year after the claim arose, but only if you show extraordinary circumstances and the public entity was not substantially prejudiced. You also cannot sue until six months after the entity receives the notice.⁴
• New York municipalities. A sworn notice of claim is due within 90 days, and the lawsuit must be filed within 1 year and 90 days. A court can allow a late notice, but never beyond the time to sue.⁸¹⁸
• New York no-fault. Written notice to the no-fault insurer is due within 30 days of the accident. A late notice is excused only if you give written proof of a clear and reasonable justification.¹⁰ Our New York no-fault guide explains the application.
• MVAIC. The notice of intention after a hit-and-run is due within 90 days.¹¹

Claims involving the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, NJ Transit, New York City Transit and the New York City Housing Authority have specific notice requirements as well. Our notice of claim guide walks through them step by step.

Claims against the federal government

If a federal employee hurt you while on the job, for example a mail truck driver, the claim is against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act. You cannot go straight to court.¹⁶ You must first present a written administrative claim to the federal agency involved within two years after the claim accrues. If the agency denies it, you have six months from the date the denial is mailed to file suit.¹² If the agency does not decide within six months, you may treat the silence as a denial and go to court.¹⁶

The claim is usually presented on Standard Form 95. The appropriate federal agency must receive a signed written claim stating a specific dollar amount within the applicable two-year period. Mailing it by that date is not enough.¹⁷

Children and people with a mental disability

In New Jersey, if the injured person was under 18 or had a mental disability that prevented them from understanding their legal rights or bringing a case when the claim arose, the normal deadline generally starts after they turn 18 or regain capacity.¹³ For most injuries that means a child has until two years after the 18th birthday. The major exception is medical malpractice for an injury at birth, which must be filed before the child’s 13th birthday.¹³ The Tort Claims Act also lets a minor or a mentally incapacitated person sue within its time limits after reaching majority or regaining capacity.⁴

In New York, if the injured person is under 18 or insane when the claim arises, a deadline of three years or more is extended to three years after the disability ends. A shorter deadline is extended by the length of the disability. The extension can never reach past 10 years from when the claim arose, except for a child’s claims other than medical, dental or podiatric malpractice.⁶ In practice, a child hurt in a New York car crash generally has until three years after turning 18, but the infancy toll alone cannot extend a medical malpractice deadline beyond 10 years after the claim accrued. Other accrual and tolling rules require separate review.

Being a child or being incapacitated is something a New York court weighs when deciding whether to allow a late notice of claim against a municipality. It is not an automatic excuse.⁸

When the clock starts later

New Jersey recognizes a discovery rule. A claim does not accrue until the injured person discovers, or with reasonable diligence should have discovered, that they may have a basis for a claim. The rule comes up most often in medical malpractice, where a patient may not learn for some time that an injury was caused by an error. A judge, not a jury, decides whether the rule applies, usually after a hearing, and the injured person has the burden of proving it.¹⁴

The discovery rule is not a safety net for waiting. If you knew you were hurt and who caused it, the clock was running.

New York has no general discovery rule for injury cases. The clock usually starts on the date of the injury, and the exceptions are written into specific statutes, like the foreign object and cancer rules for medical malpractice described above.⁶

What to do right now

1. Write down the date of the injury and exactly where it happened.
2. Note anything that suggests a public body is involved, such as a government vehicle, a public bus or train, a public road or a public school.
3. In New York, file your no-fault application within 30 days. In New Jersey, report the crash to your auto insurer right away.
4. After a hit-and-run in New York, report it to the police within 24 hours if you can, and start the MVAIC notice.
5. Keep copies of everything you send, with proof of when and how you sent it.
6. Talk to a lawyer well before any deadline, since a lawsuit takes time to investigate and prepare.