How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Texas?

The general rule for personal injury claims in Texas is two years. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003 establishes a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions — meaning a lawsuit must be filed in court within two years of the date on which the cause of action accrued, which in most personal injury cases is the date of the accident or injury.

Missing this deadline is not a procedural technicality that a judge might overlook with good cause. The statute of limitations in Texas is a hard bar — once it expires, the claim is extinguished entirely. A personal injury lawsuit filed on day 731 after the accident will be dismissed, the defendant will win, and the injured person will recover nothing regardless of how severe their injuries are, how clearly the other party was at fault, or how strong the evidence is. No amount of compelling facts overcomes a statute of limitations defense once the deadline has passed.

That two-year deadline sounds straightforward. In many cases it is. But the specific date from which the two years begins to run, the exceptions that can extend or shorten the deadline, and the specific rules that apply when the defendant is a government entity create enough complexity that many people who believe they have time to act are actually closer to the deadline — or past it — than they realize.

When the Two-Year Clock Starts Running

In the simplest personal injury cases — a car accident, a slip and fall, a dog bite — the clock starts running on the date the injury occurs. A person injured in a car accident on January 15, 2024 has until January 15, 2026 to file a lawsuit. This is straightforward when the injury is immediately apparent and the cause is obvious.

The calculation becomes more complex in three scenarios that arise regularly in Texas personal injury cases.

• Injuries that are not immediately apparent. Some injuries do not produce obvious symptoms on the day they occur. Soft tissue injuries from car accidents — whiplash, ligament damage, disc injuries — may not produce their full symptom picture for days or weeks. Toxic exposure injuries may not produce recognizable symptoms for months or years. Occupational diseases develop over time from repeated exposure rather than a single incident.
• For injuries where the harm is not immediately apparent, Texas applies the discovery rule — a judicially created doctrine that delays the start of the limitations period until the plaintiff knew or, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have known of the facts that would support a cause of action. The discovery rule does not extend the limitations period indefinitely — it runs from when a reasonable person would have discovered the connection between their injury and the defendant’s conduct, not from when they actually learned of it if they failed to exercise reasonable diligence in investigating their situation.
• Medical malpractice cases. Medical malpractice claims in Texas are governed by a specific statute — Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 74.251 — that imposes a two-year limitations period but with specific accrual rules for cases involving health care providers. The limitations period in a medical malpractice case runs from the occurrence of the breach or tort, the date the health care treatment that is the subject of the claim is completed, or the date the hospitalization for which the claim is made is completed — whichever is later. Texas also imposes a ten-year statute of repose for medical malpractice claims — meaning that regardless of the discovery rule, a medical malpractice claim cannot be brought more than ten years after the occurrence of the act or omission that gave rise to the claim.
• Wrongful death claims. When a personal injury results in death, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003(b) provides that the wrongful death claim must be filed within two years of the date of death — not the date of the accident that caused the death. When a person is injured in an accident and survives for a period before dying from their injuries, the wrongful death limitations period runs from the date of death, while a survival action for the decedent’s own pre-death pain and suffering and medical expenses runs from the date of the original injury.

When the Defendant Is a Government Entity

When the party responsible for a personal injury is a government entity — the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, the Texas Department of Transportation, a school district, or any other governmental body — Texas law imposes a much shorter pre-suit notice requirement under the Texas Tort Claims Act, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 101.101.

A claimant who intends to sue a governmental unit for personal injury must provide formal written notice of the claim to the governmental unit within six months of the date the damage or injury occurred. This six-month notice requirement is a prerequisite to filing suit — failure to provide timely notice bars the claim entirely, even if the two-year statute of limitations has not yet expired.

The notice must include specific information — the damage or injury claimed, the time and place of the incident, and the incident — and must be in writing. Informal notice, a police report, or a general communication with the governmental entity does not satisfy the requirement. A formal written notice that meets the statutory requirements and is delivered to the appropriate governmental office within six months is required.

This six-month window catches many injury victims off guard because they are focused on their medical treatment and recovery in the months immediately following the incident, are not thinking about legal deadlines, and do not know until it is too late that the government defendant required a formal notice six months earlier. By the time they retain an attorney — sometimes a year or more after the accident — the notice deadline has long passed and the governmental entity has a complete defense to the claim.

The practical rule for any injury involving a government vehicle, a government property, a government employee’s conduct, or a government-maintained road or facility is to consult a personal injury attorney immediately — within days of the incident — to ensure the six-month notice requirement is on the calendar from day one.

When the Injured Person Is a Minor

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.001 provides a tolling provision for minors — a person under 18 years of age at the time of the injury. The limitations period is tolled — paused — during the period of the injured person’s minority. The two-year limitations period begins running on the date the minor turns 18, not on the date of the injury. A child injured at age 8 has until their 20th birthday to file a personal injury lawsuit on their own behalf.

However, a parent’s claim arising from the same incident — the parent’s loss of the child’s services or medical expenses paid on the child’s behalf — is subject to the standard two-year limitations period running from the date of the injury, not from the child’s 18th birthday. A parent who fails to file their own claim within two years of the injury may lose their individual claim even though the child’s claim remains viable.

Additionally, in medical malpractice cases involving minors, the minor’s tolling provision interacts with the ten-year statute of repose in specific ways that require careful analysis. A child injured by medical malpractice at age 1 has until age 12 to bring their claim under the ten-year repose period — the minority tolling provision does not extend the claim beyond the outer ten-year limit in medical malpractice cases.

The Discovery Rule and Toxic Tort Cases

Toxic tort cases — claims arising from exposure to harmful substances such as asbestos, pesticides, industrial chemicals, or contaminated water — are among the most common situations where the discovery rule significantly extends the limitations period. A person who was exposed to asbestos during their working years may not develop mesothelioma until decades later. The limitations period in that case runs not from the date of exposure but from when the person knew or should have known of the diagnosis and its connection to the asbestos exposure.

Texas also recognizes the inherent undiscoverability doctrine for cases where the nature of the injury makes it objectively impossible for the plaintiff to know they have a claim — even with the exercise of reasonable diligence — within the standard limitations period. This doctrine is applied narrowly and requires more than simply not knowing about the connection between the injury and the defendant’s conduct.

Why Waiting Is Always Dangerous Even When You Have Time

Even in cases where the statute of limitations has not expired, waiting to file or waiting to consult an attorney creates practical problems that erode the value of a claim over time.

• Evidence disappears. Surveillance footage from businesses near the accident scene is typically overwritten within 24 to 72 hours. Skid marks and physical evidence at the accident scene disappear within days. Witnesses’ memories fade. A defendant’s internal records about a dangerous condition may be destroyed in the normal course of business if no litigation hold has been placed on them.
• Medical documentation gaps develop. The connection between the accident and the injuries is strongest when medical treatment begins on the day of the accident and continues without significant gaps. A claimant who waits six months to begin treatment — or who stops treatment and then resumes it much later — creates documentation gaps that insurance defense attorneys exploit to argue that the injuries were not caused by the accident or were not as serious as claimed.
• Insurance adjusters have more time to build the defense. An insurance company that knows about a claim immediately begins gathering evidence, taking statements, and building the defense. A claimant who waits allows the insurance company to develop its defensive position before the claimant has any legal representation working on their behalf.
• The practical message is that the two-year deadline is a hard outer limit — not a target date. The strongest personal injury cases are built when an attorney is retained early, evidence is preserved before it disappears, medical treatment is documented contemporaneously, and the insurance company is on notice that the claimant has legal representation.

Barton & Associates handles personal injury cases in San Antonio and Bexar County, Austin and Corpus Christi, Texas. If you or a family member has been injured in an accident, call 210-500-0000 for a free consultation available 24 hours a day with a personal injury attorney. Do not assume you have time to wait.