Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Cases
in New Hampshire
Protecting Your Rights
New Hampshire imposes strict deadlines for filing personal injury lawsuits. Missing the deadline can permanently eliminate your right to compensation, no matter how serious your injuries or how clear the other party’s fault.
The Three-Year Rule: RSA 508:4
Under New Hampshire RSA 508:4, most personal injury lawsuits must be filed within three years of the act or omission that caused the injury. This is the general statute of limitations that applies to most personal injury claims in New Hampshire, including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip-and-fall injuries, dog bites, and other negligence-based claims.
The three-year clock typically begins running on the date of the accident or incident that caused your injuries. Once those three years expire, the court will likely dismiss your case if the defendant raises the statute of limitations as a defense. Insurance companies are well aware of these deadlines and will routinely deny claims once the limitations period has passed.
Critical Warning
Filing an insurance claim does NOT stop or extend the statute of limitations. Only filing an actual lawsuit in court preserves your legal claim. Many people make the mistake of assuming that ongoing negotiations with an insurance company protect their rights — they do not.
Filing Deadlines by Case Type
While the three-year rule applies to most personal injury cases, certain types of claims have different or additional timing requirements. Below is a summary of the key deadlines you should be aware of:
Type of Case | Deadline | Governing Law |
|---|---|---|
Car Accident Injury | 3 Years | RSA 508:4 |
Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist (claim against your own insurer) | 3 Years, but the clock starts later | RSA 508:4 (runs from the insurer's denial) |
Slip and Fall / Premises Liability | 3 Years | RSA 508:4 |
Dog Bite | 3 Years | RSA 508:4 |
Medical Malpractice | 3 Years* | RSA 508:4 (w/ discovery rule) |
Product Liability | 3 Years | RSA 508:4 |
Wrongful Death | 3 Years | RSA 556:11 |
Claims Against the State or a State Agency | Shorter / Special | RSA 541-B |
Claims Against a City, Town, or School District | 3 Years, but 60-day notice first | RSA 507-B:7, I |
*Note: Some case types involve special rules regarding when the clock starts running. See the Discovery Rule section below for details.
The Discovery Rule: When Injuries Aren’t Immediately Apparent
Not every injury reveals itself at the moment it occurs. Some injuries develop gradually, and some are caused by events whose connection to the injury only becomes clear later. New Hampshire law addresses this under the discovery rule.
Under RSA 508:4, if the injury and its causal relationship to the defendant’s conduct were not and could not reasonably have been discovered at the time of the act or omission, the three-year statute of limitations begins running from the date the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.
When the Discovery Rule Applies
✅ Medical malpractice — A surgical instrument is accidentally left inside a patient and is only discovered during a later procedure or imaging study. The clock starts when the patient discovers (or should have discovered) the instrument.
✅ Toxic exposure — A worker is exposed to hazardous chemicals on the job and develops a condition years later that is eventually linked to the exposure.
✅ Defective products — A medical device or pharmaceutical causes harm that only manifests after prolonged use.
✅ Latent injuries from an accident — Soft tissue injuries, traumatic brain injuries, or internal damage that may not produce symptoms immediately after a crash.
Limitations of the Discovery Rule
The discovery rule is not a blanket extension. It applies only in situations where the injured person genuinely did not and could not have known about the injury through reasonable diligence. Courts examine this objectively: if a reasonable person in your situation would have discovered the injury earlier, the clock may have started earlier than you think. Additionally, the discovery rule does not apply to most straightforward accident cases where the injury is immediately apparent, such as a broken bone from a car crash.
Practical Takeaway
Even if you believe the discovery rule may apply to your case, do not rely on it as a reason to delay. The safest course of action is always to consult with an attorney as soon as you suspect you may have been harmed by another person’s negligence.
Tolling: When the Clock Pauses
In certain limited circumstances, New Hampshire law will pause (or “toll”) the statute of limitations. Tolling effectively extends the filing deadline by stopping the clock during a period when the injured person is unable to act. The most common tolling situations include:
Minors / Incapacitated
Being under 18 is itself a legal disability, and RSA 508:8 provides that an infant "may bring a personal action within 2 years after such disability is removed." The disability of minority is removed at 18. In practice that means a child injured in New Hampshire generally has until their 20th birthday, not their 21st.
Three things matter more than that arithmetic.
A parent's claim is separate and it is not tolled. A parent's right to recover for injuries to a child, most often the medical expenses the parent paid, is derivative, but nothing prevents the parent from suing in their own name while the child is still a minor. The child's disability does not stop the clock on the parent's claim, which runs on the ordinary three-year deadline in RSA 508:4. Waiting for the child's clock is one of the most common ways a family quietly forfeits the parent's half of the case.
The disability has to exist when the claim arises. RSA 508:8 protects someone who was already a minor or already incompetent when the cause of action arose. A disability that develops later does not stop a clock that has already started.
Where the injury happened close to the 18th birthday, do not assume the 20th birthday is the outer limit. The ordinary three-year period under RSA 508:4 can run later than that, and which deadline controls in that situation is a question to put to a lawyer rather than to answer from a chart.
And where a city, town, or school district is involved, the 60-day notice requirement under RSA 507-B:7, I still has to be met regardless of the injured person's age.
Defendant Leaves the State
In some situations, if the defendant leaves New Hampshire after the cause of action arises, the time of their absence may not count toward the statute of limitations. This prevents defendants from evading liability by simply leaving the jurisdiction.
Important limitation:
Tolling exceptions are narrow and fact-specific. They do not apply in most standard accident cases. If you believe tolling may apply to your situation, you should have an attorney evaluate the specific facts of your case as soon as possible.
Special Rules: Claims Against Government Entities
If your injury was caused by a government entity or employee, for example a crash with a city plow truck, an injury on government property, or harm caused by a public employee on the job, different and shorter deadlines apply. Which rules apply depends on whether you are suing a city or town or suing the State, and the two are not the same.
Cities, towns, counties, and school districts: 60 days' notice, by registered mail. Under RSA 507-B:7, I, you generally have three years to bring the action, but before you can bring it at all the clerk of the governmental unit must be notified by registered mail within 60 days of the injury, or of the date you discovered it if it could not reasonably have been discovered sooner. The notice must state the date, time and location of the injury. The statute calls this a "condition precedent," which means the lawsuit cannot proceed without it.
There is a meaningful protection built into the same sentence. If the town claims it never got notice, the burden is on the town to show that it was "substantially prejudiced" by the lack of notice. Missing the 60 days is serious, but it is not always automatically fatal.
RSA 507-B:7, II also removes the notice requirement entirely for claims based on offenses under RSA 632-A or RSA 639:2, and allows those actions to be brought at any time.
The State of New Hampshire and its agencies: a different chapter. Claims against the State are governed by RSA 541-B, which has its own notice requirements, its own damages caps, and its own procedures. RSA 541-B is not the statute for a claim against a city or town, and the 180-day figure often quoted for government claims comes from RSA 541-B:14, IV, which applies to State agency claims.
-Sovereign immunity limits both the types of claims that can be brought against the State and the damages recoverable
-Procedural requirements for government claims are strict and frequently unforgiving
-Some government employees have immunity that affects your ability to recover
-The 60-day municipal notice period runs from the injury, not from the day you decide to make a claim, so it can expire while you are still treating
Do Not Wait
If you believe a government entity or employee may be responsible for your injury, contact an attorney immediately. The notice deadlines for government claims can be significantly shorter than the standard three-year statute of limitations, and missing them is often fatal to your case.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?
The consequences of missing the statute of limitations are severe and, in almost all cases, permanent. New Hampshire courts enforce these deadlines rigorously. Here is what happens when the filing deadline passes:
• The defendant will file a motion to dismiss your case, citing the expired statute of limitations
• The court will almost certainly grant the motion, ending your case regardless of its merits
• You will lose the legal right to seek any compensation for your injuries — even if the other party was clearly at fault
• Insurance companies will deny your claim outright once they know the statute has expired
• No amount of evidence, no severity of injury, and no degree of the other party’s fault can overcome a missed deadline
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has made clear that these deadlines are not merely technical rules. In Donnelly v. Eastman (149 N.H. 631, 2003), the Court ruled that a personal injury case had to be dismissed because the plaintiff’s attorney prepared the necessary documents but failed to file them with the court before the deadline. The Court held that, although the attorney had the paperwork ready, the case was untimely because it was not actually filed. The Court further noted that attorneys are responsible for knowing and following applicable deadlines and court rules.
The lesson is clear: Preparation is not enough. The lawsuit must be filed with the court before the deadline expires. There is no grace period, and courts are extremely reluctant to make exceptions.
Special Rules: Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Claims
If the driver who hit you had no insurance, or not enough of it, your claim against your own insurance company follows a different clock than your claim against the driver.
The claim against the driver is a tort claim. It runs three years from the act or omission, like any other injury claim. The claim against your own insurer is not a tort claim at all. It is a claim for breach of your insurance contract, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court has said so directly: "The insurer's liability rises solely from the insurance contract and nothing else." Metropolitan Property & Liability Insurance Co. v. Walker, 136 N.H. 594, 597 (1993).
That distinction decides when your time starts running. A contract claim does not accrue until the contract is broken. In Walker, the court held that the clock "commenced to run on the date when the insurer rejected the insured's claim for underinsured motorist benefits." 136 N.H. at 598.
The practical effect is large. Pauline Walker was hurt in December 1982. Her insurer did not deny her underinsured claim until May 1989. When she demanded arbitration that August, more than six and a half years after the crash, the Supreme Court held she was in time, because her three years ran from the denial and not from the accident. The court reversed the summary judgment against her and sent the case back. She won that limitations ruling; she did not win the case, and the insurer's other defenses were never reached.
Three cautions, because this is not a longer deadline in every case:
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Your policy may set its own shorter limit. The contract limitation period applies "in the absence of any provision in the insurance policy coverage terms." Read the policy.
-
A denial can come early. If your insurer denies coverage two months after the crash, your three years starts then, and it can expire before the tort deadline against the driver does.
-
Settling with the at-fault driver without your insurer's consent can end the coverage entirely, no matter how much time is left. New Hampshire has required that consent since Kirouac v. Healey, 104 N.H. 157 (1962), described in Walker at 597 to 598. Get consent in writing before you accept anything.
A Second Deadline That Is Easy to Miss: the Declaratory Judgment Statute
When you and your insurer disagree about whether a policy covers something, the dispute is usually resolved by a petition for declaratory judgment under RSA 491:22. That statute carries a filing deadline of its own, and it is much shorter than three years.
RSA 491:22, III says that no petition to determine coverage of an insurance policy may be maintained "unless it is filed within 6 months after the filing of the writ, complaint, or other pleading initiating the action which gives rise to the question."
Two things about that six months are worth understanding.
It is measured from a court filing, not from your accident and not from the denial. The clock starts when the underlying lawsuit is filed. If there is no underlying lawsuit, which is often the situation in a claim against your own insurer, the statute's text does not say how the six months runs, or whether it runs at all. That is an unsettled question and not one to guess at from either side.
The statute contains its own exceptions. The six-month bar does not apply where the facts behind the coverage dispute were "not known to, or reasonably discoverable by, the insurer" until after the six months ran. Separately, the superior court may allow a late petition on a finding that the delay was "the result of accident, mistake or misfortune and not due to neglect."
The practical point is that a coverage fight has its own calendar. If your insurer has denied coverage, or a lawsuit connected to your claim has been filed, do not assume the three-year injury deadline is the only one that matters.
If you were hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver, do not assume the three-year anniversary of the crash is your deadline in either direction. It is usually not the right date for the claim against your own carrier, and it is not a safe date to rely on. Have the policy and the correspondence reviewed.
Why Early Action Matters Beyond the Deadline
Even if you have three years to file, waiting to begin the legal process can seriously damage your case. The statute of limitations is the outer boundary — not a recommended timeline. There are several practical reasons to act quickly:
Evidence Disappears
Physical evidence from the accident scene degrades over time. Skid marks fade, damaged property gets repaired or scrapped, and surveillance footage is overwritten. The sooner your attorney can investigate, the more evidence they can preserve.
Witnesses Forget
Eyewitness memories deteriorate rapidly. Studies consistently show that memory of events becomes less reliable within weeks or months. Witnesses also move, change phone numbers, or become difficult to locate. Early witness statements are far more powerful than testimony given years after the fact.
Medical Records Build Your Case
A gap between the accident and medical treatment gives the insurance company an opening to argue that your injuries were caused by something else or aren’t as serious as you claim. Seeking medical care promptly and following through with treatment creates a continuous medical record that directly supports your claim.
Insurance Companies Use Delay Against You
Delay works in the insurance company's favor, and adjusters know it. The longer you wait, the weaker the evidence becomes, the more desperate you may become for a settlement, and the closer you get to the deadline. All three reduce your leverage. An early start signals to the insurer that you are prepared to litigate if the claim is not resolved fairly.
Common Mistakes That Put Your Claim at Risk
Over the years, we have seen injured individuals lose their right to compensation due to avoidable mistakes related to the statute of limitations. Here are the most common errors and how to avoid them:
Assuming the Insurance Company Will Handle Everything
Many people believe that because they filed an insurance claim and are negotiating with an adjuster, they are protected. They are not. Insurance negotiations do not pause or extend the statute of limitations. We have seen cases where people negotiated with an insurance company in good faith for over two years, only to have the insurer deny the claim shortly before the three-year deadline, leaving almost no time to file a lawsuit.
Not Realizing You Have a Claim
Some injuries develop slowly, and some people don’t realize the full extent of their harm until months or years after the incident. While the discovery rule may help in limited circumstances, it is always safer to consult with an attorney sooner rather than later if you suspect your injury may have been caused by someone else’s negligence.
Misidentifying the Responsible Party
In complex cases — particularly those involving commercial vehicles, government entities, product manufacturers, or multiple potentially liable parties — identifying the correct defendant can take time. If you file suit against the wrong party and the statute of limitations expires before you identify the correct one, you may lose your claim against the responsible party entirely.
Waiting Until the Last Minute
Even experienced attorneys need time to investigate a claim, gather evidence, consult with experts, and prepare the complaint. Filing a lawsuit at the last minute increases the risk of procedural errors, missed defendants, and inadequate preparation — all of which can compromise the value of your case or result in dismissal.
We’re Here to Help — From Day One
A personal injury can upend your life in an instant. You’re dealing with pain, medical bills, a damaged vehicle, time away from work, and the stress of navigating an insurance system that is not designed to help you. You shouldn’t have to figure this out alone.
At Apis Law, we represent personal injury victims throughout southern New Hampshire, including Goffstown, Manchester, Bedford, Nashua, Concord, Merrimack, Londonderry, Derry, and the surrounding communities. We understand New Hampshire’s unique legal landscape, from the absence of mandatory auto insurance to the comparative fault rules that insurance companies use to reduce your claim.
We handle every aspect of your case from the initial investigation through settlement or trial, so you can focus on your recovery. And because we work on a contingency fee basis, you pay nothing unless we win.
Protecting Your Claim: A Timeline Checklist
While every case is different, here is a general guide to the steps you should take to protect your claim and ensure you meet all applicable deadlines:
Immediately After the Accident
✅ Seek medical attention, even if you feel fine — some injuries take hours or days to produce symptoms
✅ Document the scene with photographs and collect contact information from witnesses
✅ Report the accident to the police and obtain a copy of the accident report
✅ Notify your own insurance company, but do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer
Within the First Few Weeks
✅ Consult with a personal injury attorney to evaluate your claim and identify the correct filing deadline
✅ Follow up on all medical appointments and follow your doctor’s treatment plan
✅ Keep a journal documenting your pain, limitations, and how the injury is affecting your daily life
✅ Preserve all evidence: do not repair or dispose of damaged property, and save all medical bills and records
Ongoing
✅ Continue medical treatment and document your recovery (or lack thereof)
✅ Stay in communication with your attorney about developments in your case
✅ Avoid posting about the accident, your injuries, or your legal case on social media
✅ Do not sign any releases or accept any settlement offers without attorney review
Time Is Not on Your Side — But We Are
The statute of limitations exists to ensure fairness in the legal system, but insurance companies use it as a weapon. They delay, they stall, and they count on you running out of time. Every day that passes after your accident is a day that evidence fades, witnesses forget, and your leverage decreases.
At Apis Law, Attorney Diaz understands the urgency that personal injury cases demand. We evaluate every case with an eye toward the relevant deadlines, and we take immediate steps to investigate, preserve evidence, and build the strongest possible claim on your behalf. We know the New Hampshire statute of limitations rules inside and out, including the exceptions, the tolling provisions, and the special requirements for claims against government entities.
Free Consultation — Contact Us Today
If you have been injured in an accident, do not wait to find out whether you still have time to file a claim. Contact Apis Law today for a free, no-obligation consultation. We will review the facts of your case, confirm the applicable filing deadline, and explain your options going forward. We work on a contingency fee basis — you pay nothing unless we win your case.
About the Author
Keith F. Diaz, Esq. | New Hampshire Bar No. 15831
Attorney Keith F. Diaz has practiced law in New Hampshire since 2003. He began his career as a criminal prosecutor in Rockingham County before transitioning to civil litigation in 2005. Today he represents individuals in personal injury and employment law matters throughout Southern New Hampshire. He is admitted to practice before the New Hampshire Supreme Court, the New Hampshire Superior and Circuit Courts, and the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. He founded Apis Law in 2022.
Frequently Asked Questions about Statute of Limitations
What is the statute of limitations for personal injury in New Hampshire?
New Hampshire gives you three years. RSA 508:4, I provides that all personal actions, except actions for slander or libel, "may be brought only within 3 years of the act or omission complained of." That deadline covers car crashes, truck and motorcycle crashes, slip and fall injuries, dog bites, and other negligence claims. File after three years and the court will dismiss the case once the defendant raises the statute as a defense. A few claims run on their own clocks, including wrongful death and claims against a city or town.
When does the three-year clock start in New Hampshire?
It starts on the date of the act or omission, not the date the claim accrues. The Legislature deleted the word "accrued" from RSA 508:4 in 1986, and the Supreme Court gave that change effect in Conrad v. Hazen, 140 N.H. 249, 252 (1995), describing a bright line rule governed by the time when the act occurred. In most crash cases the act and the injury fall on the same day, so the two dates match. They separate only where the injury could not reasonably have been discovered at the time.
What happens if I miss the statute of limitations in New Hampshire?
The claim is barred. The statute of limitations is an affirmative defense, so it operates when the defendant raises it, and courts dismiss on that basis. Insurers track the date and deny once it passes. How serious your injuries are, and how obvious the other driver's fault was, do not change the result. The exceptions on this page are narrow, and each one has to be established with facts rather than assumed.
Does filing an insurance claim stop the statute of limitations in New Hampshire?
No. RSA 508:4 is satisfied by bringing an action, which means filing suit in court. Reporting the crash, opening a claim, sending medical records, and negotiating with an adjuster do none of that. Negotiations can run past the three-year mark without preserving anything at all. If the deadline passes while you are still talking with an adjuster, the carrier's position becomes that it owes nothing, and on those facts it is correct.
What is the discovery rule for personal injury cases in New Hampshire?
RSA 508:4, I extends the three years where "the injury and its causal relationship to the act or omission were not discovered and could not reasonably have been discovered at the time of the act or omission." The period then runs from when the plaintiff discovers, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered, both the injury and its cause. The statute requires reasonable diligence and does not define it. Conrad v. Hazen, 140 N.H. 249, 252 (1995).
How long does a minor have to file a personal injury lawsuit in New Hampshire?
RSA 508:8 provides that "[a]n infant or mentally incompetent person may bring a personal action within 2 years after such disability is removed." Majority is 18 in New Hampshire, so an injured child generally has until the 20th birthday. There is a trap here that costs families money: a parent's own claim, for the child's medical bills, is not tolled by the child's minority and runs on the ordinary three-year schedule. Paju v. Ricker, 110 N.H. 310 (1970); Norton v. Patten, 125 N.H. 413 (1984).
What is the statute of limitations for wrongful death in New Hampshire?
Three years, although the statute reads six. RSA 556:11 allows an action "at any time within 6 years after the death of the deceased party, subject to the provisions of RSA 508." The Supreme Court held that the phrase "subject to" makes the six-year period subservient to RSA 508:4, so the applicable period is three years. Cheever v. Southern New Hampshire Regional Medical Center, 141 N.H. 589, 591, 688 A.2d 565 (1997). The clock starts on the date of death, and the claim must also not have been time-barred at the moment the person died. Anderson v. Estate of Wood, 171 N.H. 524, 198 A.3d 926 (2018). Reading six years off the face of the statute is a costly mistake.
What is the deadline to sue a city, town, or school district in New Hampshire?
Three years, with a 60-day notice that comes first. RSA 507-B:7, I requires the action within three years of the injury and, "[a]s a condition precedent to commencement of the action," notice to the clerk of the governmental unit by registered mail within 60 days, giving the date, time, and location. Missing the notice is not automatically fatal. Where the unit alleges lack of notice, the statute puts the burden on the unit to show it was substantially prejudiced.
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