In most Connecticut personal injury cases, you have two years from the date you were injured to file your lawsuit. That deadline comes from Connecticut General Statutes § 52-584.
If you miss it, the court will dismiss your case. It does not matter how badly you were hurt, how clearly the other driver was at fault, or how sympathetic your situation is. The deadline is the deadline.
But two years is not the whole answer, and the firms that stop there are doing you a disservice. Connecticut has deadlines as short as 90 days for some claims, a three-year hard stop that can expire before your two years is even up, and different rules depending on who hurt you. Here is the complete picture.
The Two-Year Rule, Stated Precisely
Section 52-584 gives you two years to bring a claim for negligence, reckless conduct, or malpractice causing injury to a person or property.
The clock starts on the date the injury was sustained or discovered, or the date it reasonably should have been discovered.
That last phrase matters. In a car accident, you know you are hurt the day it happens, so the two years runs from the crash. But in a case where the harm shows up later, the clock may start later. The test is not when you knew everything. It is when you knew, or a reasonable person would have known, that you had been harmed.
The Three-Year Hard Stop Most People Never Hear About
This is the part that catches people, and it is the reason “you have two years” is a dangerous half-truth.
Section 52-584 also says no action may be brought more than three years from the date of the act or omission complained of. That is a statute of repose, and it works differently from a statute of limitations. It does not care when you discovered your injury. It runs from the defendant’s conduct, and when it expires, your claim is gone even if you only learned about the harm last week.
So both clocks run at once:
- Two years from when you discovered the injury, and
- Three years from when the defendant did the thing that hurt you
Whichever expires first ends your case. In a slow-developing injury, the three-year repose can run out before you have any idea you were injured at all.
Deadlines That Are Not Two Years
| Type of claim | Deadline | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Most negligence and personal injury | 2 years from injury, 3-year repose | § 52-584 |
| Wrongful death | 2 years from date of death, 5-year repose from the act | § 52-555 |
| Injury from a defective road or sidewalk (municipal) | Written notice within 90 days | § 13a-149 |
| Claims against the State of Connecticut | Notice to the Claims Commissioner | § 4-148 |
| Product liability | 3 years | § 52-577a |
| Intentional torts (assault, battery) | 3 years from the act | § 52-577 |
| Uninsured / underinsured motorist | Governed by statute and your policy | § 38a-336 |
| Childhood sexual abuse | Substantially longer | § 52-577d |
Three of those deserve their own paragraph.
Municipal Highway Defect: 90 Days
If you were hurt by a defective road, sidewalk, or bridge maintained by a Connecticut town or city, § 13a-149 requires written notice to the municipality within 90 days of the injury. The notice has to describe the injury, the cause, and the time and place with enough precision that the town can investigate.
Ninety days. Not two years. Miss it and the claim is over before most people have finished physical therapy.
The notice requirements are technical and Connecticut courts enforce them strictly. This is not a form to fill out casually.
Wrongful Death: The Clock Starts at Death, Not Injury
Under § 52-555, the two years runs from the date of death, with an outer limit of five years from the act that caused it. If your family member was injured in March and died in September, the clock starts in September.
Claims Against the State
Suing the State of Connecticut means going through the Office of the Claims Commissioner first, on its own timeline, which is shorter than two years.
Serious Injury. Serious Results. Start Your Risk-Free Case Evaluation Here.
If the Defendant Leaves Connecticut
Section 52-590 tolls the limitation period for any time the defendant is out of state, so their absence does not run out your clock for up to seven years.
Two Years Sounds Like a Long Time. It Is Not.
Filing is the deadline, not the goal. Everything that makes a case worth something has to happen before you file:
- Physical evidence disappears. Skid marks are gone in weeks. Vehicles get repaired or scrapped.
- Surveillance video overwrites itself, often within 30 days.
- Witnesses move, forget, and stop returning calls.
- Your medical treatment has to be complete enough to know what your injuries actually are, because you cannot come back for more later.
- Insurers negotiate seriously only when they believe you are prepared to try the case.
A lawyer brought in at month 22 inherits whatever is left. A lawyer brought in at week two can preserve evidence, send spoliation letters, and lock down testimony while it still exists.
Protect Your Future. Review Your Accident Case With Nate Baber.
What to Do Now
If you were hurt in Connecticut and you are not certain which deadline applies to you, the answer is not to guess. The deadline depends on who hurt you, how, and when you knew. Getting it wrong is not a setback. It is the end of the claim.
Baber Law handles Connecticut personal injury cases on a contingency basis. There is no fee unless we recover for you, and the consultation costs nothing.
Contact us for a free case evaluation or call 1-855-285-3425.
