How long do I have to file a car accident claim in Texas?

The two-year statute of limitations

Texas law gives an injured person two years from the day the cause of action accrues, which in a car crash is almost always the day of the collision, to file suit for personal injury. The deadline is not a guideline. If the second anniversary passes without a lawsuit on file, the defendant can have the case dismissed regardless of how badly you were hurt or how clear the other driver's fault was.

Two years sounds like a long time. In practice it is not. Medical treatment has to run its course before your damages can be fully valued, records have to be gathered from every provider, and a proper demand and negotiation take months. A claim that reaches a lawyer at month twenty is a claim being worked under pressure.

Exceptions that shorten the deadline

The most dangerous exceptions run the other direction from what people expect. If a governmental unit is involved, such as a city vehicle, a county truck, a transit bus, or a road condition maintained by a public entity, Texas's tort claims law requires formal written notice of your claim within six months of the incident, and many city charters shorten that window dramatically, in some cities to ninety days or less. Miss the notice deadline and the claim can die long before the two-year mark.

Claims involving your own insurance company, such as uninsured motorist benefits, also run on their own contractual and statutory timelines with their own notice provisions. The safe assumption is that every case has more than one clock running.

Exceptions that extend the deadline

Texas law tolls, meaning pauses, the limitations period for a person under eighteen, so a child's claim generally does not begin its two-year run until the child turns eighteen. Legal disability can toll it as well. These extensions are real but narrow, and relying on them without a lawyer's confirmation is a gamble no one should take.

Why the practical deadline is much sooner

Evidence does not wait two years. Surveillance and dash camera video is routinely overwritten in days or weeks. Vehicles get repaired or scrapped, taking their damage patterns and electronic data with them. Witness memories fade and phone numbers change. Insurance adjusters know all of this, and slow-walking a claim toward the deadline is a standard tactic. The statute of limitations tells you the last day you could file. The evidence tells you the real deadline, and it is measured in weeks, not years.

Injured in Arizona? Some rules on this page are Texas-specific. Arizona differs on points that change outcomes, including pure comparative fault and government-claim deadlines. See our Arizona answers or call (888) 508-6967.

Related: Car Accident Lawyer · Submit Your Case · All Common Questions

This page is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes depend on facts; talk to a lawyer about yours.