Texas Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims

Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003, you have two years from the date of your injury to file a personal injury lawsuit in Texas. This applies to car accidents, truck accidents, slip and falls, workplace injuries, dog bites, and most other personal injury claims. Two years is shorter than many people expect — and shorter than the 3-year deadline in neighboring states like Louisiana.

The two-year clock starts on the date the injury occurs, not the date you finish treatment, hire an attorney, or realize how badly you were hurt. Once the deadline passes, the defendant will raise the expired statute of limitations as an affirmative defense, and the court will dismiss your case. No extensions, no exceptions for strong cases.

Two years disappears fast when you factor in the time needed to gather evidence, obtain police and medical records, consult experts, and negotiate with insurance companies. Attorneys who handle Texas personal injury cases recommend starting the process within weeks of the accident. In a state where Houston alone sees over 66,000 crashes per year, courts and insurance companies are overwhelmed — delays compound quickly.

When a personal injury causes death, surviving family members can file a wrongful death lawsuit under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.004. The deadline is 2 years from the date of death. This is the same as the general personal injury deadline, but the clock starts from the death — not the date of the accident that caused it.

Texas wrongful death claims can be brought by the surviving spouse, children, or parents of the deceased. If none of these individuals file within three months, the personal representative of the estate may bring the action. Texas also allows a separate survival action under § 71.021, which recovers damages the deceased person could have claimed had they survived — including pain and suffering experienced between the injury and death.

Given that Texas recorded 4,337 traffic fatalities statewide in 2023 (TxDOT Crash Records), wrongful death claims are tragically common. Houston alone accounted for 339 of those deaths in 2024. The 2-year deadline runs from the date of death, not the date of the accident — but waiting to act is risky because evidence deteriorates, witnesses become harder to locate, and the estate must be opened before a lawsuit can be filed.

If your injury was caused by a Texas government entity — a city, county, state agency, or government employee — you face a much shorter initial deadline. Under the Texas Tort Claims Act (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101), you must give the government unit formal written notice of your claim within 6 months of the incident.

The notice must include a description of the injury, the time and place of the incident, and other relevant details. Failing to provide this notice within 6 months can bar your claim. Some municipalities impose even shorter deadlines — the City of Houston, for example, requires notice within 90 days of the incident. Dallas and San Antonio have their own notice requirements that may differ from the state default.

Government liability in Texas is also subject to damage caps. Under the Tort Claims Act (§ 101.023), damages against government units are capped at $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence for bodily injury. If your accident involved a TxDOT vehicle, a Metro bus, a city-maintained road in dangerous condition, or any government employee acting within the scope of their duties, consult an attorney immediately — the notice deadline may be as short as 90 days.

Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.001, the statute of limitations is tolled (paused) for individuals who are under a legal disability at the time of injury. In Texas, legal disability includes being a minor (under 18) or being of unsound mind.

For minors, the 2-year statute of limitations does not begin to run until the child turns 18. This means a minor injured in an accident has until their 20th birthday to file a personal injury lawsuit. However, a parent or guardian can — and often should — file on the child's behalf before then. Evidence degrades over time, witnesses move or forget, and medical records become harder to obtain.

For individuals who are of unsound mind at the time of injury, the statute is similarly tolled until the disability is removed. If the person regains capacity, the normal 2-year limitation period begins running at that point. The burden of proving a legal disability falls on the person claiming it.

Texas recognizes the discovery rule in limited situations. Under this rule, the 2-year clock does not start on the date of the incident but on the date the injured person discovers — or, through the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have discovered — the injury and its likely cause.

The Texas Supreme Court has applied the discovery rule narrowly, primarily in medical malpractice, fraud, and latent injury cases. For a standard car accident where injuries are immediately apparent, the discovery rule does not apply — the clock starts on the date of the collision. Medical malpractice cases also have an additional constraint: a 10-year statute of repose under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.251, which bars claims filed more than 10 years after the medical act regardless of when the injury was discovered.

The discovery rule does not give you unlimited time. Even in cases where it applies, you must file within 2 years of the date you knew or should have known about the injury. Courts examine whether a reasonable person in your situation would have discovered the injury sooner. Relying on the discovery rule is risky — if a court disagrees that the injury was latent, your case is time-barred.

If you file a personal injury lawsuit after the 2-year statute of limitations has expired, the defendant will raise it as an affirmative defense. Texas courts treat the statute of limitations as a hard bar — there is no grace period, no good-cause extension for most claims, and no judicial discretion to revive a time-barred case simply because it has merit.

Missing the deadline means you lose the ability to file a lawsuit. Without that leverage, insurance companies have no reason to negotiate a fair settlement. In practice, a missed statute of limitations means losing your claim entirely — no matter how serious your injuries or how clear the other driver's fault.

This is especially critical in Texas, the largest personal injury market in the country. Insurance companies handling claims in Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas-Fort Worth are experienced at running out the clock on unrepresented claimants. Consult a Texas personal injury attorney as soon as possible after an injury — a brief consultation can clarify your deadlines and protect your right to file.

While the 2-year general rule covers most personal injury claims, certain types of cases have specific deadlines in Texas. Medical malpractice claims must be filed within 2 years under § 74.251, subject to the 10-year statute of repose. Product liability claims follow the general 2-year rule under § 16.003 but may also be subject to a 15-year statute of repose under § 16.012 for certain products.

Property damage claims in Texas have a 2-year statute of limitations under § 16.003 — the same as personal injury. Workers' compensation claims follow separate procedures and timelines under the Texas Labor Code. If your injury involves multiple legal theories or defendants, different deadlines may apply to different parts of your case. Texas's proportionate responsibility system (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001) can also complicate timing decisions when multiple parties share fault.

Not sure if your claim is still within the deadline? Take our free 2-minute assessment. You will answer a few questions about your accident and injuries, and we will provide a personalized report covering your filing deadline under Texas law, how the state's proportionate responsibility rule may affect your claim, and whether connecting with a Texas personal injury attorney makes sense for your situation.

Insurance companies are already tracking your deadline. The sooner you understand where you stand, the better positioned you are to protect your claim. Free, confidential, and takes less time than waiting on hold with an insurance company.