How long do you have to file a personal injury claim in California?

Short answer: in California, most personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits must be filed within two years of the injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If a city, county, school district, Metro or any other public entity is involved, a written government claim is due within six months. Broukhim Legal PC, a personal injury and mass tort law firm in downtown Los Angeles, checks these dates in every free case review, because a missed deadline ends a claim no matter how strong it is.

This guide sets out every deadline that decides injury claims in Los Angeles County, the exceptions that pause or move them, and the dates that matter more than the lawsuit deadline itself.

The deadlines at a glance

The two-year rule for personal injury

Section 335.1 gives an injured person two years to file a lawsuit for an injury caused by someone else’s wrongful act or neglect. The clock usually starts on the day of the collision, fall or attack. It covers the common Los Angeles claims: a car accident, a truck accident, a pedestrian accident, a slip and fall and a dog bite.

Two years is the outer limit for filing in court, not the time available to build the case. Insurance companies rarely settle a serious claim quickly, and a lawsuit filed in the last weeks leaves no room to fix a problem with the paperwork or the defendant’s name. Most firms aim to have a demand package with the insurer well before the first anniversary.

Six months when the government is involved

This is the deadline that ends the most Los Angeles claims. Under the Government Claims Act, an injury claim against a public entity must be presented in writing within six months of the incident (Gov. Code § 911.2). It applies when:

• a Metro or LADOT bus, a city truck or a police vehicle caused the crash,
• a broken sidewalk, missing sign, faded crosswalk or dangerous road design contributed to the injury,
• the injury happened on public property, such as a park, library, courthouse or LAUSD school.

The public entity then has 45 days to act (Gov. Code § 912.4). If it rejects the claim in writing, the lawsuit must be filed within six months of that notice (Gov. Code § 945.6). A claim filed after six months needs a late claim application within one year (Gov. Code § 911.4), and relief is discretionary. Our bus accident and pedestrian accident pages explain how these claims are built.

Wrongful death and survival claims

A wrongful death claim belongs to the family members listed in Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60, usually a spouse, domestic partner, children or other heirs. The two-year period runs from the date of death, not the date of the accident. Where the death involves a public entity, the six-month claim rule applies as well.

Property damage: three years

Damage to a car, motorcycle or bicycle has a three-year limit under section 338. In practice, the vehicle claim is almost always resolved with the injury claim or directly with the insurer, so the two-year injury date is the one to track.

When the clock is paused or starts later

Injured children

For a child injured by a private party, Code of Civil Procedure section 352 pauses the two-year period until the child turns 18. The six-month government claim deadline works differently, so a child hurt on a school bus or at a public park still needs a claim filed promptly.

Injuries discovered later

Some injuries are not obvious on the day they happen. California’s discovery rule starts the clock when a person discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury and its likely cause. For exposure to hazardous materials or toxic substances, section 340.8 gives two years from the injury or from that discovery, whichever is later. This is why many mass tort claims, such as AFFF and PFAS, Roundup and paraquat cases, are still open years after the exposure.

Defendant absent from California

Time a defendant spends outside the state can pause the period in limited situations. Courts apply this narrowly, so no one plans around it.

Deadlines that arrive before the lawsuit deadline

• DMV SR-1 report: within 10 days of a crash with any injury or more than $1,000 in property damage (Vehicle Code § 16000).
• Video footage: traffic, bus and business cameras in Los Angeles often overwrite within days or weeks.
• Truck records: some federal trucking records are kept only for months, which is why a truck accident case starts with a preservation letter.
• Your own insurance policy: uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage has its own notice and arbitration timing; see our uninsured motorist page.

What happens if the deadline passes

A lawsuit filed after the limitation period is almost always dismissed on the defendant’s motion, and an insurer has no reason to negotiate a time-barred claim. If a date is close, or it is unclear which deadline applies, the safe move is a review now rather than later.

Talk to a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer about your dates

Broukhim Legal PC reviews personal injury and mass tort claims across Los Angeles County on a contingency fee, so there is no fee unless money is recovered. Attorney Bejan Broukhim is licensed by the State Bar of California (No. 183036) and the office is at 550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390, Los Angeles. Call (310) 731-4824 or request a free case review, in English or Spanish.