If someone else’s negligence hurts you in Texas, the clock on your right to sue starts running the same day — and for most personal injury claims, it runs for exactly two years. Miss that window and the courthouse door closes no matter how strong your case is. Here is what the statute actually says, when the two years begin, the narrow exceptions that can change the math, and the traps that catch injured people every week.
The Two-Year Rule: CPRC § 16.003
The rule lives in the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Section 16.003(a) says a person must bring suit for “personal injury” “not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues.” The same subsection sweeps in trespass, conversion, and forcible entry claims, but for injured people the part that matters is simple: two years.
That two-year deadline covers the ordinary injury cases — car wrecks, slip-and-falls and other premises claims, dog bites, assault and battery, defective-product injuries, and injury claims that end in a death. You do not need to settle or try your case within two years. You need to file it: “bring suit” means commencing a lawsuit in a proper court. Reporting the crash, opening an insurance claim, sending medical records, or haggling with an adjuster for eighteen months does none of that. Only a filed petition stops the clock.
When the Clock Starts: What “Accrues” Means
For a typical injury, the cause of action accrues the day the wrongful act produces a legal injury — which, in practice, is the day of the wreck, the fall, or the bite. It is not the day you finish physical therapy. It is not the day you stop hurting. It is not the day your doctor finally tells you the full extent of the damage. A collision on a Houston freeway starts the limitations clock that afternoon, even if you are still treating two years later.
That is the misconception that costs people their claims most often: they treat, they hurt, they assume the deadline moves with their recovery. It does not. For the ordinary, knew-you-were-hurt-on-day-one case, accrual and the accident are the same date.
A Worked Example: Counting the Two Years
Say you are rear-ended in Austin on Friday, October 23, 2026. Your cause of action accrues that day. Two years after accrual is October 23, 2028 — a Monday.
Texas counts this under Tex. Gov’t Code § 311.014: the day of the event is excluded, the last day is included, and months are counted to the same numerical day in the concluding month. If the last day lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period rolls to the end of the next day that is none of those (the same rollover sits in Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 4). In this example the anniversary falls on a Monday, so no rollover is needed: your petition must be filed and file-stamped by October 23, 2028. Filing at the courthouse with five minutes of counter time left is gambling; e-filing glitches, clerk queues, and server outages are real things. Build margin, not drama.
If you are unsure about your own dates, run them through our free legal deadline calculator the day you calendar the injury — then calendar it again one month early.
The Discovery Rule: A Narrow Exception
Sometimes an injury is, by its nature, one the victim could not have found within two years no matter how diligent they were. Texas courts call these “inherently undiscoverable” injuries, and they must also be objectively verifiable. For that narrow category, accrual waits until the injury is discovered or, through due diligence, should have been discovered — not when it was actually caused.
The classic examples are latent: a surgical instrument left inside a patient, or a disease that surfaces years after exposure to a toxic substance. Asbestos and silica claims even have their own accrual statute (CPRC § 16.0031) for exactly this reason.
What the discovery rule does not cover is the ordinary delayed-learning story. Still hurting after the deadline runs? Not covered. Treatment revealed the injury is worse than first thought? Not covered — accrual turns on knowledge of the wrongfully caused injury, not the full extent of damages. A visible wreck or an immediate fall does not become “inherently undiscoverable” because a later diagnosis was more serious than expected. Courts apply the rule by category of injury, not by how sympathetic the individual facts are, so treat it as a lifeline for genuinely hidden injuries — not a general extension.
Other Personal-Injury Deadlines in Texas
The two-year rule is the default, but several related claims carry their own statutes, and mixing them up is dangerous:
- Medical malpractice: two years under CPRC § 74.251(a), running from the date of the malpractice or the end of the course of treatment that included it — whichever is later. A child injured under age 12 has until their 14th birthday, and an absolute 10-year statute of repose (§ 74.251(b)) caps the outer limit. Our medical malpractice statute of limitations guide walks through the pre-suit notice rules too.
- Wrongful death: two years under § 16.003(b), accruing on the date of the injured person’s death — not the date of the original injury.
- Sexual assault: five years under § 16.0045(b) for conduct violating specified Penal Code provisions.
- Defamation: only one year under § 16.002(a), usually from first publication.
- Claims against a government entity: the Texas Tort Claims Act demands formal notice of the claim within six months of the incident (CPRC § 101.101) — a much shorter trap that some cities and counties shorten further by charter. Hurt by a city bus or a county vehicle? The notice clock, not the two-year clock, is the one that will get you.
What Tolls the Clock (and What Doesn’t)
A few circumstances pause or delay limitations:
- Minority and unsound mind toll the clock under § 16.001. A child injured at 16 gets until age 20 — the two years start running at 18.
- The defendant’s absence from Texas pauses the period under § 16.063.
- Fraudulent concealment can defer accrual where the defendant actually knew of the wrong and concealed it to deceive — a separate, fact-heavy doctrine, not a catch-all.
- Written tolling agreements between parties can change the limitations math for a defined claim and period — but a friendly adjuster saying your claim is “under review” is not a tolling agreement.
And the list of things that do not toll it is the list that actually matters to most people: continuing pain, ongoing treatment, mounting medical bills, not yet knowing the full extent of your damages, and active insurance negotiations. None of them move the date.
Filing Suit Is Not Filing a Claim — and Once You File, New Clocks Start
Worth repeating because it ends cases: the two-year deadline is about the lawsuit, not the insurance claim. If you are still “working it out” with the insurer at month 23, you are one month from losing everything. File, then keep negotiating — lawsuits settle constantly after filing.
And filing your petition flips you into a different set of deadlines. Once a defendant is served in Texas, their answer clock starts under TRCP 99, and the case moves into discovery deadlines that are every bit as unforgiving. See how the Texas answer deadline works so you know what the other side’s calendar looks like too.
FAQs: Texas Personal Injury Statute of Limitations
Does the two years start on the accident date or when I finish treatment?
The accident date. For a typical injury your cause of action accrues when the injury happens, and ongoing treatment does not toll or pause the clock. Courts have been explicit about this: continuing pain and continuing care change nothing.
What if I was under 18 when I was injured?
The clock is tolled during minority under CPRC § 16.001, so the two years begin running on your 18th birthday — effectively giving you until age 20 to file. Medical malpractice has its own twist for young children (until the 14th birthday if injured under 12), so confirm which statute controls your claim.
I didn’t know I was injured until a year later. Do I get extra time?
Maybe, but only if the discovery rule applies: the injury must be inherently undiscoverable despite due diligence and objectively verifiable — think latent disease from toxic exposure, not a sore back that got worse. Accrual runs from when you discovered or should have discovered the injury, not from full knowledge of the damage.
What happens if I file one day late?
Your case will almost certainly be dismissed. Limitations is an affirmative defense the defendant raises (TRCP 94), and Texas courts enforce it strictly — one day is the same as one year. Read what happens when you miss a court deadline before you let this one get close.
Does sending a demand letter to the insurance company pause the clock?
No. Demands, negotiations, adjuster calls, and settlement talks have no effect on the statute of limitations. The only thing that stops it is filing suit in court — or, in limited cases, a signed written tolling agreement.
Can I still settle after the deadline passes?
Practically speaking, no. Once limitations has run, the defendant knows your claim is time-barred, and no insurer will pay real money for a lawsuit you can no longer file. The two-year deadline is the leverage everything else depends on.
This article is general information about Texas filing deadlines, not legal advice. Statutes and court interpretations change; talk to a licensed Texas attorney about your specific facts before you rely on any deadline discussed here.