Time limits
How long you have.
The short answer
- Injury: two years in California and Texas, three in Washington, generally from the day of the injury.
- Death: the same periods, generally counted from the date of death.
- Government involved: a written claim within six months in California and Texas, and a Texas city’s charter can shorten it. In Washington a claim form, then a sixty day wait, within the normal period.
- Children: the clock generally waits for the 18th birthday, but not for government claims, and not for a wrongful death claim in Washington.
- Your own insurer: California’s uninsured motorist claim has its own two year rule. In Texas it is a four year contract claim.
To sue for an injury
- California2years
Generally two years for an injury caused by someone else’s wrongful act or carelessness.
- Texas2years
Two years from the day the claim arises. For most crashes and falls that is the day of the injury.
- Washington3years
Three years for most injury claims.
The period runs from the day the claim arises, which for a crash or a fall is almost always the day it happened. Filing a lawsuit stops the clock. Sending a claim to an insurer, negotiating with an adjuster or receiving an offer does not. People lose cases this way every year: the adjuster keeps talking until the deadline passes and then stops answering the phone.
After a death
- California2years
Generally two years for a death caused by someone else’s wrongful act or carelessness, usually counted from the date of death.
- Texas2years
Two years, counted from the date of death.
- Washington3years
Three years, generally counted from the date of death.
For the car and other property
- California3years
Three years for damage to a vehicle or other personal property.
- Texas2years
Two years for damage to a vehicle or other property.
- Washington3years
Three years for damage to a vehicle or other personal property.
In California the property clock is longer than the injury clock. Do not let that mislead you about the injury claim.
If the injured person is under 18
In all three states the time before an injured child’s 18th birthday generally does not count. The exceptions matter. The government claim deadlines still run against a child in California and should be assumed to run in Texas. In Washington a wrongful death claim belongs to the estate’s personal representative, not to the child, so a child’s minority does not extend it. Medical negligence claims by children have their own rules in every state.
Claims against your own insurer
A claim on your own uninsured motorist coverage has a clock the injury deadline does not tell you about. In California, within two years of the crash one of three things must happen: a lawsuit against the uninsured driver, a written agreement with your insurer on the amount, or a formal written demand for arbitration by certified mail. In Texas the claim is a contract claim with a general four year limit, while the claim against the driver stays at two years. Washington has no separate statute on this point that the site has verified; the policy’s terms and the ordinary three year period govern.
Other claims with their own rules
Medical negligence has its own periods in all three states, including discovery rules and outer limits. Washington gives assault and battery two years rather than three. Claims under a contract, including some insurance disputes, run on contract periods. The table below has each state’s rule and source. When a case has more than one kind of claim in it, the shortest clock is the one that matters.
None of this replaces a lawyer’s reading of your own facts. Dates can be argued, tolled and extended in ways no table can show. If a deadline here looks close, call before it is closer. The talk to a lawyer page says how.
The rules, with their sources
These are the rules of law this page relies on. Each one is a general statement with exceptions that are not shown, and each links to the statute, regulation or court decision it comes from.
| Topic | California | Texas | Washington |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline to sue for an injury | Generally two years for an injury caused by someone else’s wrongful act or carelessness. [1] | Two years from the day the claim arises. For most crashes and falls that is the day of the injury. [2] | Three years for most injury claims. [3] |
| Deadline to sue after a death | Generally two years for a death caused by someone else’s wrongful act or carelessness, usually counted from the date of death. [4] | Two years, counted from the date of death. [5] | Three years, generally counted from the date of death. [6] |
| Deadline for vehicle and property damage | Three years for damage to a vehicle or other personal property. [7] | Two years for damage to a vehicle or other property. [2] | Three years for damage to a vehicle or other personal property. [3] |
| Claims against a government agency | A written claim must be presented to the city, county, state agency or other public entity within six months. If the entity sends a proper written rejection, a lawsuit generally has to be filed within six months of that notice. A request to file late must be made within a reasonable time, not to exceed one year after the claim arose. The statute leaves a few narrow kinds of time out of that year. [8] | A city, county, school district or state agency must receive notice of the claim within six months of the incident. The notice describes the injury or damage, the time and place, and what happened. A city’s charter can set its own notice period, which may be shorter, so do not assume you have the full six months. [9] | Before suing a city, county or other local government, you must present a tort claim form to its designated agent and then wait 60 calendar days. Claims against the State go to the Office of Risk Management with the same 60 day wait. The form has to be presented within the normal limitation period, and that period is paused during the 60 days. [10] |
| If the injured person is under 18 | If the injured person was under 18 when the claim arose, the time before their 18th birthday generally does not count. That does not apply to claims against a public entity, where the six month claim rule still runs, and medical negligence claims by children have their own rule. [11] | If the injured person was under 18 when the claim arose, the time before their 18th birthday is generally not counted against the two years. That rule does not apply the same way to medical malpractice claims, and it should not be assumed to extend the notice deadline for a claim against a government agency. [12] | If the injured person was under 18 when the claim arose, the time before their 18th birthday generally does not count. This does not extend the deadline in a wrongful death case, because that claim belongs to the personal representative of the estate, not to the child. [13] |
| Claims with different deadlines | Claims against a doctor, hospital or other health care provider must be filed within three years of the injury or one year after it was or should have been discovered, whichever comes first. [14] | Medical malpractice claims have their own rules: generally two years, with a separate rule for children under 12 and an outer limit of 10 years. [15] | Assault and battery claims have a two year limit. Medical malpractice claims follow their own rules, including a one year discovery rule. [16] |
| Deadline for a claim under your own policy | For an uninsured motorist claim, one of three things must happen within two years of the crash: a lawsuit is filed against the uninsured driver, an agreement on the amount is reached with your insurer, or arbitration is formally started in writing by certified mail. [17] | A claim against your own insurer for uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits is a contract claim, generally subject to a four year limit. The deadline to sue the driver who caused the crash is still two years. [18] | This state has no separate rule on this point that the site has verified. |
Sources
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a)
- RCW 4.16.080(2)
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1; Norgart v. Upjohn Co. (1999) 21 Cal.4th 383, 404
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(b)
- RCW 4.16.080(2); Atchison v. Great Western Malting Co., 161 Wn.2d 372 (2007)
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1)
- Cal. Gov. Code §§ 911.2, 911.4, 945.6
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101
- RCW 4.96.020; RCW 4.92.100; RCW 4.92.110
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 352
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.001
- RCW 4.16.190; Atchison v. Great Western Malting Co., 161 Wn.2d 372 (2007)
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.5
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.251
- RCW 4.16.100(1); RCW 4.16.350
- Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2(i)
- Franco v. Allstate Ins. Co., 505 S.W.2d 789 (Tex. 1974); Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.051
The rules on this page were last checked against these sources on October 3, 2026. Laws change, so follow the link before you rely on a rule.
Attorney review in progress. Responsible attorney: Emery Brett Ledger. Page last updated October 26, 2026.