You generally have one to six years to sue after a defective-product injury. Most states require suit within two to three years of injury or discovery.
A statute of limitations is the state-law deadline to file a lawsuit. FindLaw's state-by-state filing limits puts the national range at one to six years, with two to three years most common. Your filing state controls your deadline, so confirm that rule first.
Table of Contents
- What deadline does your state set?
- When does the filing clock start?
- Can a claim expire before you are hurt?
- What should you do now to protect your claim?
What deadline does your state set?
California requires actions for injury caused by another's wrongful act or neglect to be filed within two years. The California Legislative Information entry for Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 covers this rule, which includes defective-product injury claims. New York requires actions to recover damages for personal injury to be started within three years.
The New York State Senate Open Legislation entry for CPLR section 214 governs most defective-product personal-injury suits there. Texas requires personal-injury suits to be brought no later than two years after the cause of action accrues. The Justia summary of Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003 applies that rule to injury from a defective product.
When does the filing clock start?
Many states use the discovery rule for hidden injuries. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute's statute of limitations explainer says the clock starts when the injured person discovered or reasonably should have discovered the injury and its cause.
That rule helps people with latent harm, such as a medical implant or chemical exposure that causes symptoms months later. The start date is tied to discovery, not only to the purchase date. Write down when symptoms began and when a doctor linked them to the product.
Can a claim expire before you are hurt?
Yes. A separate statute of repose sets an absolute cutoff measured from the defendant's act, such as manufacture or first sale. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute explains that repose can bar a claim even if injury had not yet occurred.
Texas shows how strict that second cutoff can be. LawServer's Texas products-liability cutoff bars most products-liability actions against a manufacturer or seller after 15 years from the product's sale. That bar can apply even if the two-year injury deadline has not yet run.
What should you do now to protect your claim?
Missing the limitations deadline can cause dismissal even for severe or ongoing injuries. FindLaw warns injured consumers to identify their state's deadline and preserve purchase, medical, and discovery-date records immediately. Act while dates and papers are fresh: Bring those records to a local attorney quickly if the deadline may be near.
- Confirm your state's filing deadline for product-liability injury.
- Save receipts, packaging, serial numbers, and repair records.
- Keep medical visits, diagnoses, and work absences in one file.
- Record when symptoms began and when you first linked them to the product.