The impact of an accident isn’t always immediately apparent. Obviously, some injuries — like cuts, bruises, and broken bones — are visible right away, but others can take longer to develop. In some cases, injuries may be hidden entirely until years later.
But why is this important?
It matters because you can recover compensation if your injuries happen because of someone else’s negligence, but that doesn’t mean you can start the process whenever you’re ready.
Every state has a time limit for bringing legal action. This deadline is called the statute of limitations. When it expires, there’s normally not much you can do about it. But what if you don’t discover your injuries until long after the time is up?
Surely, it’s not fair that you don’t have any right to claim if you genuinely had no way of knowing that your injuries existed? That’s why there are exceptions to the statute of limitations.
We explain what they are.
What Is the Statute of Limitations in Texas?
16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code outlines how long injury victims have to file a personal injury lawsuit. The legislation states that the statute of limitations for personal injury is two years from when you sustained your injuries.
This deadline exists for several reasons:
Preserving Evidence
Over time, evidence deteriorates or disappears. Skid marks fade, vehicles are repaired or scrapped, and surveillance footage is deleted. The two-year limit ensures claims are filed while crucial evidence remains available.
Protecting Defendants
Without a deadline, people could face lawsuits decades after an incident when memories have faded and witnesses have moved away or passed on. The statute of limitations provides closure and prevents individuals from being sued out of the blue over an event that happened years ago.
Encouraging Fast and Fair Resolution
A shorter timeline encourages a resolution while the evidence is fresh and all parties can clearly recall what happened. It also helps uphold a basic function of the law — to provide justice. The burden of proof for personal injury claims is much lower. Attorneys do not have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt; only more likely than not — even if the scales are tipped 51% in one party’s favor. The more time that has passed since the event that caused your injury, the more likely evidence has deteriorated or is missing entirely, making it easier to challenge. This can cause an unfair result for either side.
However, Texas courts acknowledge that there are scenarios when applying the two-year statute of limitations would not be fair, which is why exceptions exist that give you more time.
Exceptions to the Two-Year Statute of Limitations
The Discovery Rule
The discovery rule is one of the most common exceptions to Texas’s statute of limitations. However, just because you discover an injury later does not automatically entitle you to additional time on the clock.
The discovery rule only applies in very specific circumstances, as cited on page 12 of this Supreme Court judgment:
- The injury was “inherently undiscoverable” when it occurred, and
- The evidence of the injury is objectively verifiable.
What does this mean? Let’s break it down with some examples.
You might go to the hospital for surgery, and your doctor is negligent. Some cases of medical malpractice are immediately apparent — if you need an operation on your right leg, you’ll realize fairly soon after you’ve woken up if the surgeon has operated on your left knee instead.
But other cases of medical malpractice aren’t that obvious. A doctor might leave a surgical instrument or piece of gauze in your body, and it might be months or years before you develop compilations or an X-ray or scan for an unrelated condition shows something is wrong.
Or, exposure to toxic chemicals released from a defective product might cause damage over time. It could be years before you develop a cough or begin to have trouble breathing, only to visit a doctor and discover you have severe lung damage.
In these scenarios, you couldn’t have reasonably discovered the injury when it happened (satisfying the first part of the discovery rule), and there’s clear physical evidence of the negligence (satisfying the second part).
It’s important to emphasize that the discovery rule rarely applies to typical accident cases. If you’re in a car crash and develop back pain six months later, you likely won’t qualify for this exception, as the courts will generally consider that you should have reasonably sought medical treatment after the accident and that any injuries would have been discoverable through proper medical examination.
In this case, you could still pursue compensation within the standard two-year limit, but you’ll unlikely be eligible for an extension under discovery rules. Instead, the clock will start ticking from when you had your crash.
Wrongful Death Claims
Wrongful death claims are subject to a two-year time limit in Texas — just like most other types of claim. However, there is one slight difference in how it applies. The statute of limitations runs from the date of death rather than the date of the accident that caused it.
For example, if an individual sustains a severe traumatic brain injury in a car accident and lives for several years before passing away because of complications from their injury, their family can still pursue legal action to hold the at-fault party responsible. This distinction is crucial, as the standard statute of limitation would prevent many victims from securing justice for their loved one if the accident that caused their injuries happened over two years ago.
The Liable Party is Out of State or Missing
If the person responsible for your injuries leaves Texas or cannot be located, the statute of limitations may be “tolled” or paused until they can be located. However, this exception typically doesn’t apply if the defendant can still be served with legal papers, such as through their insurance company or registered agent.
Maritime Claims
Maritime law operates under different rules than state personal injury claims, having a massive impact on the many Texans who spend most of the year at sea. The Port of Houston is the fifth-largest port across the globe and a major employer in the state — and that’s not to mention the many more who work on offshore drilling rigs or seamen on cargo ships.
If you’re injured while working at sea, you cannot recover workers’ compensation benefits. Your only option for recovering compensation is to file an “unseaworthiness” claim under the Jones Act — a federal law that allows qualified maritime workers to sue their employer for injuries sustained on the job. The Jones Act is contained within U.S. Code 46 § 30106, which also explains the statute of limitations. The time limit on an unseaworthiness claim is typically three years from when the injury or accident occurred.
Claims Against Government Entities
If your injury involves a government entity — for example, you’re hurt in a city bus accident or suffer a fall at a government building — different rules apply. Under the Texas Tort Claims Act, you must provide formal notice within six months of the incident by sending a “notice of claim” to the government defendant, whether you are suing the state or a local government entity (such as a city).
If you are suing the government at a local level (rather than the Texas state government), it’s vital to consult a personal injury attorney and understand the filing requirements, as local laws differ across jurisdictions, and you might have less than six month to give notice. Failing to comply with these laws typically prevents you from suing the government, even if you’re within the regular two-year statute of limitations.
You Are a Minor or Have a Mental Disability
A missing defendant isn’t the only scenario resulting in the statute of limitations being tolled. The clock will also pause in the following situations:
- You were a minor when you were injured: The statute of limitations will not start running until you turn 18. On your 18th birthday, the standard two-year clock will start ticking, giving you until your 20th birthday to file a lawsuit.
- You are mentally incapacitated: If you are legally ruled as lacking the mental capacity to understand your legal rights, the statute of limitations can be paused. The deadline will resume when you are deemed mentally competent.
As with most laws and exceptions, there is a caveat. The statute of limitations is not tolled indefinitely — all personal injury claims are subject to an absolute deadline, called the statute of repose.
Why You Might Not Be Able to Claim If You Discover Your Injuries Years Later: Understanding the Statute of Repose
We began this blog post with an explanation of why the statute of limitations exists to begin with — it prevents individuals from facing a major compensation payout based on thin evidence spun by an attorney to suggest negligence, despite the accident happening years ago.
But when an exception applies, does that logic go out the window?
If a surgeon leaves forceps in your body during an operation and you don’t discover it until 15 years later, can you file a medical malpractice lawsuit under the discovery rule?
Not quite. Just because an exception applies does not mean an individual can pursue legal action decades later.
The statute of repose creates an absolute deadline for specific claims — even if the statute of limitations kicks in later. In Texas, the statute of repose for medical malpractice claims is 10 years. For product liability claims, the time limit is slightly longer at 15 years.
The statute of repose also applies when the statute of limitations is tolled because of mental incapacity or because you were a minor. If you suffered a personal injury at seven years old due to medical malpractice, you cannot claim once you are 18 — when the statute of limitations would traditionally kick in — as the 10-year statute of repose would have expired.
No exceptions apply to the statute of repose — once the deadline passes, you cannot file a lawsuit.
Why You Shouldn’t Count on an Exception to the Statute of Limitations
Exceptions to the standard statute of limitations exist for important reasons, but that doesn’t mean they are commonly granted. If you try to sue when the two-year deadline has been and gone, the defendant will fight the lawsuit, arguing that it should be immediately dismissed.
Even if you think an exception might apply to your case, waiting to take legal action is extremely risky.
Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Contact an Attorney
The laws dictating the statute of limitations in Texas are complex, so you should contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after discovering your injury to understand your legal rights.
However, even if you’re well within the standard two-year time limit, there are benefits to seeking legal advice early on. Here’s why:
- Evidence disappears quickly after an accident. Surveillance footage gets deleted, witnesses move away or forget crucial details, and physical evidence at the scene vanishes. The more evidence you can gather, the stronger your case will be and the more likely you will receive fair compensation.
- Insurance company tactics cause delays. The statute of limitations only applies to filing a lawsuit, but the first stage is typically to negotiate a settlement with the at-fault party’s insurer. Only when negotiations fail or your losses exceed the insurance policy limits should the conversation turn toward filing a lawsuit and pursuing compensation in court. However, insurers often employ delay tactics during negotiations, hoping to run out the clock on your claim. If talks break down close to the deadline, you might not have time to file a lawsuit.
- Complex cases take time to build. Two years might seem like plenty of time. But it takes time to gather evidence and build a strong case. Most claims are settled without going to court, but that can only happen if your attorney has the time to investigate the accident and your injuries, identify who is at fault, and collect evidence to back it up.
If your case is complex, such as if multiple parties share fault for your accident, and you leave it too close to the deadline to begin the process, your attorney may not have enough time to investigate your accident thoroughly and negotiate a settlement, let alone have enough information to determine whether a lawsuit is worth pursuing.
The statute of limitations can be complex and intimidating, but our personal injury lawyer in San Antonio and McAllen is here to explain where you stand. If you have only recently discovered your injuries, contact us as soon as possible to see if an exception applies and whether you might still be able to recover compensation. We offer a free, no-obligation case review, and you won’t pay fees until we win. Call 855-LAW-NINJA today to speak to Patino Law Firm about your accident. We’re available 24/7.
