California Car Accident Statute of Limitations: Every Deadline That Can Apply

Most people hear "two years" and stop there. That number is right for many crashes, and it is dangerously wrong for others. If a Los Angeles city truck hit you, you may have six months just to put a written claim in the right office. If a postal van hit you, a federal clock applies. If the driver ran and you need your own uninsured motorist coverage, you may have 24 hours to make a police report. This guide lays out each California car accident statute of limitations in order, with the statute behind it, so you can find the deadline that fits your crash. It is general information, not legal advice for your case. If you were hurt in a crash anywhere in Los Angeles County, call Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. at (323) 716-1992 any hour for a free review. You pay no fee unless Moe wins your case.

Which clock applies to your crash: the deadline table in plain words

Think of this as a table with one row per type of claim. Read down the list until you find yours. Row one: you were hurt, or a family member died, and the person at fault is a private driver or company. You have two years to file a lawsuit. For an injury the two years generally run from the crash. For a death the claim is for the death of an individual, and the two years generally run from the date of death (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). Row two: your car, phone, car seat, or other belongings were damaged. You have three years to sue for that loss (Code of Civil Procedure section 338(c)(1)). Row three: the at-fault party is a California public entity, such as the City of Los Angeles, LA County, or a state agency. You must present a written claim within six months for injury or death (Government Code section 911.2). If the entity sends a written rejection, you then have six months from that notice to file suit. If no proper written notice comes, the outer limit is two years from the crash (Government Code section 945.6). A late-claim application can be made within one year of the crash (Government Code section 911.4). Row four: the at-fault vehicle belonged to the federal government, such as a postal truck. You have two years to present a written claim to the federal agency, and six months to sue after the agency mails its final denial (28 U.S. Code section 2401(b)). Row five: you are using your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Within two years of the accident you must sue the uninsured driver, reach an agreement with your insurer on the amount, or start arbitration by certified mail (Insurance Code section 11580.2(i)). If the driver is unknown, you also need a police report within 24 hours. Row six, which is not a lawsuit deadline: the DMV accident report (SR-1) is due within 10 days when anyone is hurt or damage tops $1,000 (Vehicle Code section 16000). More than one row can apply to the same crash. A Metro bus that hits your car while an uninsured driver clips you can put you on three clocks at once. The rest of this page walks through each row.

Two years to sue for injuries or a wrongful death

California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives you two years for an action for injury to, or the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another. For most car crash injury claims against another driver, that is the deadline that matters. Count from the day of the crash. Say you were rear-ended on the 101 on March 10, 2026. Your lawsuit should be on file no later than March 10, 2028, and filing a few weeks earlier is safer than filing on the last day. A lawsuit is a case filed with a court clerk. A claim to an insurance company is not. Many people lose cases because they spent two years talking to an adjuster and never filed anything. For a wrongful death, the two years generally run from the date of death, not the date of the crash. If someone was hurt in a crash and died weeks later, that difference can matter, but you should still treat the crash date as the safe date until a lawyer confirms the rule for your situation. Several things people expect to stop the clock do not stop it. Ongoing medical treatment does not. Waiting for the police report does not. Filing a claim with the other driver's insurer does not. Negotiating with an adjuster does not, and neither does an insurer saying it is still investigating. Nothing in section 335.1 pauses the two years for any of those. California courts apply a discovery rule in some injury cases where the harm could not have been known when it happened. A car crash injury is usually obvious right away, so do not plan around that rule. If symptoms show up late, such as headaches or memory trouble after a hit to the head, tell a lawyer and a doctor quickly instead of assuming extra time exists. Miss the two years and the other side can ask the court to throw out your case, no matter how clear the fault or how bad your injuries. Insurers know the date. After it passes, they often stop returning calls.

Three years to recover for your car and other property

Your vehicle and belongings follow a different clock. Code of Civil Procedure section 338(c)(1) allows three years to sue for taking, detaining, or injuring goods or chattels, which covers damage to a car and the things inside it. This creates a split that surprises people. Your injury lawsuit could be barred after two years while your property damage claim is still alive for a third year. It can also work the other way in real life. Most people settle property damage within weeks, because repair shops and rental bills do not wait. If you settled your car damage early and signed a release, read it before you assume your injury claim is untouched. Some releases are written broadly, and a form sent by an adjuster is not always limited to the car. Do not let the longer property deadline lull you. Photographs of the damage, the repair estimate, and the tow records are all easier to collect in the first week than in year three. If the car is totaled, keep the total-loss valuation. If you want to argue the valuation is too low, you will need it. Standard uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy does not pay for your car. The statute says that coverage does not apply to property damage sustained by the insured (Insurance Code section 11580.2(c)(1)). Some policies add a separate, optional uninsured motorist property damage coverage with its own short notice rules, but most car damage runs through your collision coverage or the at-fault driver's liability coverage, so ask your agent which part of your policy applies.

Crashes with a city, county, or state vehicle: the six-month claim

This is the deadline most likely to end a good case. When your claim is against a California public entity, a lawsuit is not your first step. Your first step is a written claim presented to that entity within six months of the crash for injury, death, or personal property damage (Government Code section 911.2). Other types of claims get one year. Six months is not a typo. In Los Angeles, the entity could be the City of Los Angeles, LA County, a transit agency, a school district, or a state agency such as Caltrans. Each has its own claims office. For the City of Los Angeles, the Office of the City Clerk takes claims. The City Clerk's page lists three ways to file: the online Claim for Damages portal, mailing a signed form to the Office of the City Clerk at 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, City Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90012, or delivering it in person at the same room, where the entrance is on Main Street and office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The City says emailed or faxed claims are not accepted. After filing, the claim moves to the City Attorney. Claims against the state involve the Department of General Services, which the statute says carries a $25 filing fee unless a fee waiver is granted. After you present the claim, the entity decides whether to accept or reject it. If it sends you written notice of rejection, you have six months from the date that notice is delivered or mailed to file a lawsuit in court (Government Code section 945.6). Read the letter closely and calendar the date that day. If the entity never gives proper written notice, section 945.6 gives you two years from the crash. Do not rely on that fallback. A lawyer should decide whether it applies. If you missed the six months, there is a safety valve, and it is narrow. You can apply to the entity for leave to present a late claim. The application must be made within a reasonable time, not more than one year after the crash, must state why you were late, and must attach the proposed claim (Government Code section 911.4). If the entity denies the application, you can ask a judge to relieve you of the claim requirement, but that petition has its own short deadline and the judge must find a statutory reason, such as mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. Treat this as a rescue, not a plan. A practical point: a government driver's crash is not a regular insurance claim. A city or county pays from public funds under its own process, and the six-month claim is the entry ticket.

Children, people who cannot make decisions, and what does and does not pause the clock

The law pauses some deadlines for people who cannot protect themselves. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 352(a), if the injured person was under the age of majority, or lacked the legal capacity to make decisions, when the claim arose, the time of that disability does not count toward the time limit. In practical terms, a child injured in a car crash generally has until after their 18th birthday plus the usual two years to sue a private party. Here is the trap. That pause does not apply to claims against a public entity or public employee where a government claim must be presented (Code of Civil Procedure section 352(b)). If a child is hurt in a city bus crash, the six-month claim deadline keeps running. A parent or guardian must act. Being a minor does not stretch the one-year window for a late-claim application. A judge can excuse a late claim for a person who was a minor, or was physically or mentally incapacitated, during the claim period, but only after a timely late-claim application has been made and denied. Do not count on that exception. People also ask whether being in the hospital, being in a coma, or having a brain injury stops the clock. For a claim against a private driver, a lack of legal capacity to make decisions at the time the claim arose can pause the two years. Whether it applies to a given person depends on the facts and the medical records, and an insurer will test it. For a government claim, the answer is much stricter, as the section above explains. A few other facts are worth knowing. If the injured person is a child, or an adult who cannot make decisions, a court generally has to approve the settlement. And a family member's death does not extend any deadline by itself. The wrongful death clock runs from the death. What does not pause the clock: a pending insurance claim, a police investigation, a criminal case against the other driver, or the other driver's insurer asking for more records. Keep the date in view.

Crashes with a federal vehicle: the claim comes first

The United States cannot be sued the same way a private driver can. If a federal employee driving a federal vehicle caused your crash, such as a postal carrier or a driver for a federal agency, the rule is in 28 U.S. Code section 2401(b). A tort claim against the United States is forever barred unless it is presented in writing to the appropriate federal agency within two years after the claim accrues, or unless an action is begun within six months after the date the agency mailed, by certified or registered mail, notice of final denial of the claim. Read that sentence twice. The first step is a written claim to the correct agency, not a lawsuit. You do not present it to a California city clerk, and the six-month California rule in Government Code section 911.2 does not govern a federal claim. After the agency denies your claim in a certified or registered letter, the six-month clock to sue starts from the mailing date. The hard part is usually working out who the driver worked for. A white van with no markings could be a contractor and not a federal employee. A contractor is often a private company, which puts you back under the ordinary two-year rule for a private defendant. A mail truck that was run by a private carrier under contract has the same problem. That is why photos of the vehicle, the license plate, any logo, and the driver's name or badge matter on day one. If you are unsure, the safe course is to treat the shorter rule as possible until a lawyer rules it out. Do not assume the other side will tell you which rule applies. A federal agency is under no duty to explain deadlines to you.

Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage has its own two-year rule

If the driver who hit you had no insurance, too little insurance, or drove off, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) may pay. It comes with its own deadline, and your insurer's duty to remind you is limited. Insurance Code section 11580.2(i) says no cause of action accrues under your policy unless, within two years of the accident, one of three things happens. Either you file suit for bodily injury against the uninsured motorist, or you and your insurer conclude an agreement on the amount due, or you formally start arbitration by notifying the insurer in writing sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. A phone call or ordinary email does not count as starting arbitration. Once arbitration starts, it generally has to be concluded within five years. For a hit-and-run, three more conditions apply. The injury must arise from physical contact with the unknown vehicle or a vehicle you were in. The accident must be reported within 24 hours to the police department of the city where it happened, or to the sheriff or CHP if it happened in unincorporated territory. And you must file a sworn statement with your insurer within 30 days after that report, saying you have a cause of action against someone whose identity cannot be found. A near miss with no contact generally does not qualify. If you were in a crash in the City of Los Angeles, that means the LAPD. Do not wait to see how you feel in the morning. Other points from the same statute. A vehicle owned by the federal government or a state or local government is not an uninsured motor vehicle under the definition, so a government crash goes through the claim rules above and not your UM coverage. If you settle with the at-fault driver or take that case to judgment without your insurer's written consent, you can lose UM coverage. And for underinsured claims, the at-fault driver's policy limits usually have to be paid first, with what you receive subtracted from your UIM limit. The statute also says that if your UM claim is pending, the insurer must give you written notice of the deadline at least 30 days before it runs out, and if it fails, the time is tolled for 30 days from when notice is actually given. That notice is not required if the insurer knows you have an attorney. Do not rely on an insurer to save you. Moe once recovered a $100,000 policy-limit uninsured motorist settlement for a woman rear-ended by a driver who fled, after other firms turned her down. Every case is different, and past results are no promise of a similar outcome.

The DMV report and the police report are not lawsuit deadlines, but missing them hurts

Three reports come up after a Los Angeles crash, and people mix them up with the statute of limitations. First, the DMV report. Under Vehicle Code section 16000, a driver involved in a crash that caused injury, death, or damage over $1,000 to any one person's property must report it to the DMV within 10 days, personally or through an insurance agent, broker, or legal representative. The form is the SR-1. The DMV's driver handbook says you must file regardless of fault and that the report is made online at dmv.ca.gov/accidentreport. The statute excuses the driver of a vehicle owned or leased by a government agency, but that exception covers the government vehicle, not you. If you were driving a private car, you still file. Filing the SR-1 does not start or stop any lawsuit clock, and it is not an insurance claim. It is a separate state requirement, and you should do it even if the other driver says they will handle everything. Second, the police report. A collision report is the clearest neutral record of who was there, what each driver said, and which vehicle code sections the officer noted. The department that responds depends on where you crashed. In the City of Los Angeles that is usually the LAPD. On a freeway or in unincorporated areas it is often the CHP or the Sheriff. Ask the officer for the report number at the scene. A police report is not a condition for filing a lawsuit. But the DMV driver handbook says a driver must report a collision to law enforcement within 24 hours if anyone is injured or killed, and a hit-and-run UM claim depends on the 24-hour report described above. Third, your own insurer. Your policy likely requires prompt notice of any crash. That is a contract duty, separate from any statute of limitations, and a late notice can give your insurer an argument. Tell your insurer the facts of the crash, keep it short, and be careful about recorded statements until you have talked to a lawyer. None of these three reports is a substitute for filing a lawsuit or a government claim. People get comfortable because they did the paperwork, then discover the deadline that mattered was somewhere else.

A practical timeline after a Los Angeles crash, and how Moe helps

Here is a plain schedule you can follow. Dates count from the crash. Day one: get medical care, call the police, and if the driver fled, make sure a report is made within 24 hours. Photograph the scene, the vehicles, the plates, and any government markings. Within 10 days: file the DMV SR-1 if anyone was hurt or damage passes $1,000. The government-vehicle exception covers the driver of the government vehicle, so if a city bus hit your private car, you still file. Within 30 days of a hit-and-run report: file the sworn statement with your own insurer. Within the first few weeks: if any city, county, or state vehicle, road, or employee may be involved, have the claim presented to the right office. Do not wait for the full six months. The last week is the worst time to learn the form was incomplete. Within six months of a written rejection from a public entity: file the lawsuit. Calendar the date the letter was mailed. Before month 20: if your case is against a private driver, have a lawyer ready to file, because settlement talks often drag past what feels like plenty of time. For uninsured motorist claims, send the certified mail arbitration demand or file suit before the two years end. Before year three: any remaining property damage claim should be resolved or filed. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. handles car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, Uber and Lyft, uninsured motorist, and other crash cases from its downtown Los Angeles office at 527 W 7th St, Ste 924. Attorney Mohamad Moe Abdallah, State Bar No. 348886, takes the calls himself, tracks the deadlines above for your specific crash, and keeps you updated by call and text. The consultation is free, the fee is contingent so you pay nothing unless Moe wins, and the line is open 24/7, with Se Habla Espanol. Call (323) 716-1992.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question about your own case? Call (323) 716-1992 for a free review, or talk to a Los Angeles car accident lawyer →

Get help with your own case

Every crash is different, and the rules above play out differently in each one. If you were hurt, see how Moe handles your kind of case: Los Angeles Car Accident Lawyer, Los Angeles Truck Accident Lawyer, Los Angeles Motorcycle Accident Lawyer, Los Angeles Pedestrian Accident Lawyer, or Los Angeles Uninsured Motorist Lawyer. He reviews your case for free, 24/7, and you pay nothing unless we win.

Authoritative resources: California Courts, self-help for injury claims · Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1, 2-year deadline · California DMV · California Office of Traffic Safety, crash data