Georgia Personal Injury Deadlines: How Long Do You Have to File?
Most Georgia injury claims must be filed within two years, but some deadlines are shorter and some can be paused. Here’s how the rules work and why it pays to confirm your date early.
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Check Your Deadline Risk
Most Georgia injury claims have a 2-year deadline, but some are much shorter.
Why it matters
Most deadlines count from the date of the crash or injury.
Why it matters
Claims against governments need written notice in as little as 6 months.
Why it matters
Different rules can apply to children.
Why it matters
A pending criminal case can affect the timing of a civil claim.
Why it matters
Uninsured motorist claims have their own requirements.
Why it matters
Some injuries are discovered later, which can matter for timing.
Why it matters
Talks with an insurer do not stop the deadline from running.
Why it matters
Building a case takes time. A free review can confirm your deadline.
General information, not legal advice. Every case is different.
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Georgia Injury Deadline Checker
Enter the date you were hurt to see the deadlines that usually apply. Then confirm yours with an attorney.
General information only, not legal advice. Exceptions can shorten or extend these deadlines, including for minors, wrongful death, a pending criminal case or injuries discovered later. Only an attorney who reviews your facts can confirm your deadline. Using this tool does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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Overview
The Basic Rule: Two Years for Most Injury Claims
In Georgia, the deadline to file a lawsuit for a personal injury is generally two years from the date the right to sue arises, which for most accidents is the day you were hurt. That rule comes from O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, and it covers most car wrecks, truck and motorcycle crashes, slip-and-falls, dog bites and similar claims.
This is the statute of limitations. It is a deadline to file a lawsuit in court, not to call an insurer or to settle. If a lawsuit isn’t filed in time, the defendant can usually have the case dismissed, however strong the evidence.
Two years is often enough time, but treatment and insurance negotiations can eat up months, and a lawyer needs time to investigate and prepare a lawsuit. The earlier you know your exact date, the more options you keep.
Negotiating with an insurance company does not pause the statute of limitations.
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Call 888-BIG-GUNNRequest a Free Case ReviewGeorgia Injury Deadlines at a Glance
The table below lists common deadlines under Georgia law. These are general rules; the facts of your case can change the date, so treat this as a starting point, not a final answer.
| Type of Claim | General Deadline | Georgia Law |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury (car wrecks, falls, dog bites, etc.) | 2 years from the injury | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 |
| Loss of consortium (spouse’s claim) | 4 years | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 |
| Damage to a vehicle or other personal property | 4 years | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-31 |
| Wrongful death | Generally 2 years from the date of death | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33; § 51-4-2 |
| Estate’s claims after a death (medical and funeral bills, pain and suffering) | 2 years, but the clock can pause up to 5 years until an estate representative is appointed | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-92 |
| Medical malpractice | 2 years from the injury, and no more than 5 years from the negligent act | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71 |
| Medical malpractice: foreign object left in the body | 1 year from discovery | O.C.G.A. § 9-3-72 |
| Claim against a Georgia city | Written ante litem notice within 6 months | O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5 |
| Claim against a Georgia county | Claim presented within 12 months | O.C.G.A. § 36-11-1 |
| Claim against the State of Georgia | Written notice within 12 months; lawsuit within 2 years | O.C.G.A. §§ 50-21-26, 50-21-27 |
| Uninsured motorist (UM) claim | Your UM carrier must be served within the time allowed to sue the at-fault driver; your policy’s notice terms also apply | O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11(d) |
Claims Against Cities, Counties and the State
When a government vehicle, employee or property is involved, the key deadline may not be the two-year statute of limitations. Georgia requires advance written notice, called an ante litem notice, before you can sue many government bodies. These deadlines are shorter and come with specific content and delivery rules.
Cities: 6 Months
Under O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5, you must give a city written notice within six months of the incident. The notice must describe the time, place and extent of the injury and the negligence involved, state the specific amount of money you are claiming, and be delivered to the mayor or the chair of the city council by personal delivery or certified mail. The city then has 30 days to act on the claim.
Counties: 12 Months
Under O.C.G.A. § 36-11-1, claims against a Georgia county must be presented within 12 months after they arise, or they are barred. The statute gives minors and people under other legal disabilities 12 months after the disability ends.
The State of Georgia: 12 Months
Claims against the State and its agencies fall under the Georgia Tort Claims Act. Written notice must be given within 12 months of when the loss was or should have been discovered, sent by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery (return receipt requested) or hand-delivered to the Risk Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services, with a copy to the state agency involved (O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26). A lawsuit generally cannot be filed until the claim is denied or 90 days pass, and it must be filed within two years of when the loss was or should have been discovered (O.C.G.A. § 50-21-27).
Other public entities, such as school districts and transit systems, can have their own immunity and notice rules. If a public employee or public property is involved at all, get the notice question answered early. Georgia courts have held that the criminal-case tolling rule discussed below does not extend ante litem notice deadlines, so a pending traffic ticket against a government driver will not buy you more time to send notice.
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Situations That Can Change Your Deadline
Georgia law has several “tolling” rules that can pause or delay the clock. They are real, but they are also narrow and fact-specific. Never assume one applies to you without having a lawyer check.
Injured Minors
Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90(b), a person who is under 18 when a claim arises generally has the same amount of time after turning 18 to file. For most injury claims, that means until the injured child’s 20th birthday. There are important exceptions: medical malpractice has its own rules for children (see below), claims against government bodies have their own notice rules, and evidence fades over time. Families usually benefit from acting well before the deadline.
Legal Incapacity
If an injured person is legally incompetent because of an intellectual disability or mental illness when the claim arises, the time to file generally does not start until the disability is removed (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90(a)). If that kind of disability begins after the claim arises and was not voluntarily caused, the clock can stop running while it continues (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-91).
A Pending Criminal Case
Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99, the deadline for a crime victim’s injury claim that arises from the crime can be paused while the criminal prosecution is pending, for up to six years. In Beneke v. Parker (2009), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that this can include traffic offenses, so a traffic citation against the at-fault driver may pause the clock until the ticket is resolved. Courts have also limited this rule, including holding that family members bringing a wrongful death claim are not the “victim.” Tickets are often resolved quickly, so don’t plan around it.
An Estate That Hasn’t Been Opened
When someone dies, the claims that belonged to that person (such as medical bills, funeral expenses and the pain they suffered before death) are brought by their estate. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-92, the time between the death and the appointment of an estate representative is not counted, up to five years. Georgia courts have held this pause applies to the estate’s claims, not to the family’s separate wrongful death claim for the full value of the person’s life, which generally still must be filed within two years of the death.
Injuries You Couldn’t Have Known About
In a narrow set of cases, such as some illnesses caused by gradual exposure to a harmful substance, the clock may not start until the person knew or reasonably should have known about the injury and its cause. This rarely helps in car wrecks, falls or other cases where the injury is apparent right away.
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Medical malpractice claims generally must be filed within two years of the date the injury or death occurred (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71). There is also a five-year statute of repose: in most cases, no malpractice lawsuit can be filed more than five years after the negligent act, even if the injury was discovered later.
If a foreign object, like a surgical sponge, was left in a patient’s body, the claim must be filed within one year after it is discovered (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-72).
Children are treated differently in malpractice cases. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-73, a child injured before age five has until two years after their fifth birthday to file, subject to a cutoff at the child’s tenth birthday. Children five and older generally follow the adult malpractice deadlines, not the “wait until 18” rule. Malpractice suits also require an expert affidavit at filing (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1), which takes time to obtain. Learn more on our medical malpractice page.
Uninsured Motorist Claims Have Extra Steps
If the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough, your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage may pay. To protect that claim, your UM insurer must be served with the lawsuit as if it were a named defendant (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11(d)), generally within the same time limit that applies to your claim against the driver. Your policy likely also requires prompt notice, and a hit-and-run must be reported to police under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-273. Our guide to Georgia UM coverage explains these rules in more detail.
Did 2025 Tort Reform Change These Deadlines?
Georgia’s 2025 tort reform law (SB 68, signed April 21, 2025) did not change the statutes of limitations or ante litem notice periods described on this page. It did change a related rule: a plaintiff can now voluntarily dismiss a case without court permission only within 60 days after the defendant files an answer (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-41).
Georgia’s renewal statute (O.C.G.A. § 9-2-61) has long let some dismissed cases be refiled within six months, even after the deadline. With the new dismissal limits, it’s more important to file a well-prepared case on time than to count on a do-over.
How to Protect Your Deadline
1
Write Down the Key Dates
Note the date of the injury, the date of any death, and the date you first learned of any hidden injury. Your deadline is measured from these dates.
2
Ask Whether a Government Body Is Involved
A city truck, county road crew, public bus or state property can trigger ante litem notice deadlines as short as six months.
3
Notify Your Own Insurance Company
Report the crash under your policy promptly, especially if the other driver may be uninsured, underinsured or unknown.
4
Keep Your Paperwork Together
Save your crash report, photos, medical bills and letters from insurers. Our guide to Georgia crash report codes can help you read the report.
5
Get a Lawyer’s Read on Your Date
A lawyer can confirm your exact deadline, check whether any tolling rule applies and make sure notices go to the right people in the right way.
Talking to Insurers Doesn’t Stop the Clock
An adjuster may keep asking for records or make offers late in the process. Whatever the reason, settlement talks do not extend the statute of limitations. If your deadline is near and the claim isn’t resolved, a lawsuit may need to be filed to protect it. See our article on insurance lowball tactics for what to watch for.
If you lost a loved one, our guide to Georgia wrongful death claims explains who can bring the claim. For crash-specific help, see our Atlanta car accident lawyer page and after-the-wreck checklist.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
For most personal injury claims, you have two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Property damage claims generally have four years under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-31. Some claims, especially those against government bodies, have shorter notice deadlines, and some circumstances can pause the clock.
No. The deadline is for filing a lawsuit in court, not for settling. Many claims settle before a lawsuit is needed, but if a claim isn’t resolved as the deadline approaches, filing suit protects your right to keep pursuing it. Negotiations with an insurer do not extend the deadline.
Georgia requires written notice before suing many government bodies. For a city, notice generally must be given within six months (O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5); for a county, claims must be presented within 12 months (O.C.G.A. § 36-11-1); and for the State, notice is due within 12 months under the Georgia Tort Claims Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26). Each has specific content and delivery rules.
For most injury claims, Georgia gives a minor the same two years after turning 18, which usually means until the child’s 20th birthday (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90(b)). Medical malpractice claims for children follow different, shorter rules under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-73, and government notice rules can differ too. Acting sooner also helps preserve evidence.
Possibly. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99 and the Supreme Court of Georgia’s decision in Beneke v. Parker (2009), a pending traffic prosecution can pause the deadline for the injured victim until the case is resolved, up to six years. But most tickets are resolved quickly, the rule has limits, and it does not extend ante litem notice deadlines, so it should not be relied on without legal advice.
A wrongful death claim for the full value of the person’s life generally must be filed within two years of the death. The estate’s separate claims, such as medical and funeral expenses, may be paused for up to five years while no estate representative has been appointed (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-92). Families should confirm both deadlines with a lawyer.
If a lawsuit is filed after the statute of limitations expires and no exception applies, the court will usually dismiss it, and the claim can’t be pursued. That’s why it’s worth confirming your deadline early, even if you’re still treating or talking with the insurance company.
Talk to a Georgia Injury Lawyer About Your Deadline
Deadlines are one of the few parts of an injury case that can’t be fixed later, so it’s worth getting yours confirmed early, even if you’re not sure you want to file. The Gunn Law Group, founded by attorney Harrell Gunn, has offices in Buckhead and Norcross, and there’s no attorney fee unless we recover for you. Hablamos español. Call 888-BIG-GUNN (888-244-4866) for a free, no-obligation consultation.
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