How Long Do You Have to File an Injury Claim in New York?

The general rule: three years

For most personal injury claims against a private defendant — another driver, a shop, a landlord, a property owner — the limitation period is three years from the date of the injury, under CPLR § 214. Miss it and the claim is time-barred no matter how strong it was.

Three years sounds generous. In practice it is not, because the work that wins a case — preserving camera footage before it is overwritten, finding witnesses, documenting a scene before it is repaved — has a much shorter useful life than the filing deadline.

The 90-day rule: claims against public bodies

This deadline ends more New York injury claims than any other. If your injury involves the City of New York, the MTA or New York City Transit, NYCHA, a public hospital, a school district, or a county, you must serve a formal Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law § 50-e. The lawsuit itself must then generally be started within one year and 90 days under § 50-i.

A phone call is not a notice of claim. Neither is an incident report, an ambulance record, or a complaint to a superintendent. Section 50-e requires a written notice, verified, containing the nature of the claim, the time and place and manner in which it arose, and the injuries claimed — served on the correct entity in the correct way.

Which body, and which rule

• The City of New York — served on the Comptroller. Potholes, sidewalks the City maintains, City vehicles.
• The MTA and New York City Transit — their own service requirements, and a bus or subway injury is one of the most common places this deadline is missed.
• NYCHA — public housing is a public body. A stairwell fall in NYCHA housing runs on 90 days, not three years, and people routinely assume otherwise because it feels like an ordinary landlord case.
• School districts and public hospitals — including where the injured person is a child. Infancy extends the outer limit for asking a court's permission to file late, but it is not by itself a reason a court will grant it — the application still has to show the public body knew the essential facts and has not been prejudiced. Families routinely assume a child's claim simply waits until eighteen. The 90-day rule does not.
• The State of New York — a different statute again: a claim or notice of intention within 90 days under Court of Claims Act § 10, filed in the Court of Claims rather than the Supreme Court.

If the 90 days have already passed

It is not automatically over. A court may permit late service of a notice of claim, and the application turns on whether the public body had actual knowledge of the essential facts within 90 days or a reasonable time after, whether there is a reasonable excuse, and whether the delay has prejudiced its ability to defend. It is discretionary and it is frequently refused — worth applying for, never worth relying on.

If any government entity, transit agency, public hospital or school might be responsible for your injury, assume you have 90 days and act in the first week.

Wrongful death: two years

A wrongful death claim must be brought within two years of the date of death under EPTL § 5-4.1. That is a separate claim, on a separate clock, from any claim for the pain and suffering the person experienced before they died — which is why these cases often involve two different deadlines running at once.

No-fault: 30 days

Shortest of all, and the one people are least likely to have heard of. After a motor vehicle collision the no-fault application goes to your own insurer within 30 days. It is entirely independent of every deadline above, and it governs whether your medical bills get paid while everything else is still being argued about.

When the clock is paused

Several situations extend or suspend the limitation period:

• Injured children. The period is generally tolled until the child turns eighteen, so a claim can survive well past the ordinary three years. The 90-day municipal notice rule is far less forgiving, so a child hurt on city property still needs advice quickly. See child injury claims.
• Legal incapacity. Where an injured person is unable to manage their own affairs, the period may be tolled.
• Defendants who leave the state. Time during which a defendant is absent from New York may not count.

None of these are things to rely on without advice. They are exceptions with their own conditions, and arguing one is considerably harder than filing on time.

Different claim, different clock

One accident can produce several claims on different timetables. A construction worker hurt on a Manhattan site may have a workers’ compensation claim, a Labor Law claim against the site owner and general contractor, and — if a city agency owned the property — a 90-day notice obligation, all from the same fall. See construction and work injuries.

What to do about it

Find out which clock you are on, early. That is a five-minute conversation and it costs nothing. Our office is in Fresh Meadows, Queens, and we handle claims across the five boroughs and the rest of New York State; each borough has its own courthouse and venue rules, set out on our where we serve pages. If a public body might be involved, do not wait — the 90-day version of this question is the one that ends cases.

Talk to us

The consultation is free and there is no fee unless we win. Call (718) 328-8001 or tell us what happened.

More from the blog

• What to Do After a Car Accident in Queens
• Who Pays Your Medical Bills After a Car Accident in New York?
• What Is My Personal Injury Case Worth in New York?

This article is general information about New York law, not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.