Statute of Limitations for Negligence in New York: Deadlines and Tolling

The statute of limitations for negligence in New York is generally three years from the date of injury, set by CPLR § 214.¹ That window covers most car crashes, slip-and-falls, and property damage claims. Several common situations carry much shorter deadlines: medical malpractice gives you two and a half years, wrongful death gives you two, and a claim against a city, county, or school district requires a formal notice within 90 days. Miss any of these and the case is almost always over, no matter how strong the facts.

The Three-Year Default

For ordinary negligence, you have three years from the date of the incident to file suit.¹ A driver runs a red light and hits your car, a landlord ignores a broken stair rail, a store leaves a puddle without a warning sign — three years. An accident on March 15, 2024 generally must be filed by March 15, 2027.

The clock starts on the date of the incident. Not the date you hired a lawyer. Not the date you realized how badly you were hurt. A court will dismiss a case filed one day late if the defendant raises the issue, and defendants almost always raise it. The same three-year period applies to non-medical professional malpractice claims, such as negligent work by an accountant, architect, or engineer.¹

Medical Malpractice: Two Years and Six Months

Claims against doctors, dentists, and podiatrists have a shorter deadline of two years and six months from the date of the alleged error.² A wrong-knee surgery on January 1, 2024 has a filing deadline of July 1, 2026.

Three exceptions can move that start date later:

Continuous treatment. If the same provider keeps treating you for the same condition that produced the malpractice, the clock does not start until the last appointment. A single follow-up visit to check on your condition does not count; treatment must be active and related to the original problem.²
Cancer misdiagnosis. When a provider negligently fails to diagnose cancer or a malignant tumor, the deadline runs from the later of two dates: when you knew or should have known about the missed diagnosis and the resulting injury, or the end of continuous treatment for that condition. There is a hard outer boundary of seven years from the original negligent act.²
Foreign object left during surgery. When a surgeon leaves a non-prosthetic item inside a patient, such as a sponge or a clamp, you have one year from discovering the object, or from discovering facts that would reasonably lead to that discovery. The statute excludes chemical compounds, fixation devices, and prosthetics, so a surgical plate or mesh implant that causes problems later does not qualify.²

Wrongful Death: Two Years

When negligence causes a death, the personal representative of the estate has two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death action.³ This is a year shorter than the general negligence window and catches families off guard while they are still handling grief and estate paperwork.

Only the estate’s personal representative can bring the claim, not the surviving relatives on their own. If a related criminal case is pending against the defendant, the representative gets at least one year from the end of that criminal proceeding to file, even if the two-year deadline has already run.³

Claims Against a Government Entity

Suing a government body in New York involves much tighter deadlines and extra procedural steps that do not apply to private defendants. The rules differ by level of government.

Cities, Counties, Towns, Villages, and School Districts

Before filing suit against a municipality, you must serve a Notice of Claim within 90 days of the incident.⁴ The notice describes what happened, where, and how much you are claiming. Skip this step, or file it even slightly late, and the case can be permanently barred before it begins. This is where a large number of otherwise valid claims die.

After serving the Notice of Claim, you must file the lawsuit itself within one year and 90 days of the incident. For wrongful death claims against a municipality, the filing deadline extends to two years from the date of death. The government also gets at least 30 days after receiving the notice to investigate before you can file suit.⁵

If you miss the 90-day notice, there is a narrow path forward: a court can grant permission to file a late notice. Judges weigh several factors, the most important being whether the government already had actual knowledge of the facts within the original 90-day period or shortly after. The court also considers whether the claimant was a minor, whether the claimant was physically or mentally incapacitated, and whether the government would be meaningfully harmed by the delay.⁴ Permission is discretionary, and the extension can never push past the deadline for filing the lawsuit itself.

Claims Against New York State

Negligence claims against the State of New York go through the Court of Claims and follow their own timeline. You must either file the claim with the Attorney General within 90 days of the incident, or file a written notice of intention within those 90 days and then file the actual claim within two years.⁶ The 90-day notice of intention is the practical route for most claimants, since assembling a complete claim in under three months is often unrealistic.

Federal Agency Claims

If a federal employee caused the injury, such as a postal truck driver, a VA hospital physician, or a federal maintenance crew, the Federal Tort Claims Act controls. You must file a written administrative claim with the responsible agency within two years of the incident.⁷ No lawsuit can be filed until the agency denies the claim or fails to act on it for six months.⁸ Once the denial issues, you have six months to file suit in federal court. Miss that window and the claim is gone.

When the Clock Starts Late: Delayed Discovery

The standard rule assumes you know you have been hurt on the day it happens. Some injuries stay invisible for years, and New York carves out narrow exceptions.

For injuries caused by exposure to a harmful substance, such as asbestos, lead paint, or contaminated water, the three-year window runs from the date you discovered the injury or should have discovered it through reasonable effort, whichever is earlier.⁹ This replaces counting from the date of exposure, which would be unworkable for diseases that take decades to develop. To use this rule, you must also show that the scientific or technical knowledge needed to connect the substance to your condition was not available during the standard filing period.

The foreign-object rule for surgical items, covered above under medical malpractice, is the other main discovery exception. Both are narrow. Most negligence cases involving immediate, obvious injuries get no extension.

Tolling for Minors and Incapacitated Individuals

The clock can be paused, or “tolled,” when the injured person was under 18 or mentally incapacitated at the time of the injury.¹⁰ How tolling works depends on the length of the underlying deadline:

Claims with a three-year or longer deadline. The filing window extends to three years after the disability ends, meaning the child turns 18 or the incapacitated person regains capacity.
Claims with a deadline under three years, including medical malpractice. The deadline is extended by the length of the disability period itself.

A 10-year absolute cap applies in most situations, measured from the date the claim arose. One important exception trips people up: for minors in non-medical negligence cases, there is no 10-year cap. A child injured in a car crash at age two can sue until age 21, which is three years after turning 18. For medical malpractice, the 10-year cap does apply to minors, so a child injured by a doctor at age two must file by age 12 at the latest. Mental incapacity tolling is subject to the 10-year cap across all claim types.¹⁰

Two Rules That Can Extend Your Time

Defendant Out of State

If the person who injured you was outside New York when the claim arose, or later left and stayed away for four or more continuous months, that absence generally does not count against your deadline.¹¹ The same rule applies if the defendant is living in New York under a false name. This tolling does not apply when the defendant has a registered agent for service in New York or can be served without personal delivery in the state, which covers most businesses and many individuals with New York ties.

A Second Chance After a Non-Merits Dismissal

If you filed on time but the case was dismissed for a reason unrelated to the merits, such as a procedural defect or a jurisdictional issue, you have six months from the dismissal to refile.¹² This works even if the original statute of limitations has already expired. It does not save voluntary dismissals or cases thrown out for failure to prosecute, and you must actually serve the defendant within the six months; filing alone is not enough.

If you are anywhere near one of these deadlines, treat the earliest possible date as the real deadline and work backward from there. A missed filing date rarely produces a second chance.

1
New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 214 – Actions to Be Commenced Within Three Years
2
New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 214-A – Action for Medical, Dental or Podiatric Malpractice
3
New York State Senate. New York Code EPT 5-4.1 – Action by Personal Representative for Wrongful Act, Neglect or Default Causing Death of Decedent
4
New York State Senate. New York Code GMU 50-E – Notice of Claim
5
New York State Senate. New York Code GMU 50-I – Presentation of Tort Claims; Commencement of Actions
6
New York State Unified Court System. Court of Claims Act
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 2401 – Time for Commencing Action Against United States
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 2675 – Disposition by Federal Agency as Prerequisite; Evidence
9
New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 214-C – Certain Actions to Be Commenced Within Three Years of Discovery
10
New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 208 – Infancy, Insanity
11
New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 207 – Defendants Absence From State or Residence Under False Name
12
New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 205 – Termination of Action