If you were injured due to someone else’s negligence, you may have the right to pursue compensation for your losses. However, Massachusetts’s personal injury statute of limitations sets a strict deadline on taking legal action.
Under this law, you generally have three years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you miss the deadline, you may lose your right to seek compensation. Harding Mazzotti, LLP, has spent more than 30 years protecting the rights of injured individuals throughout Massachusetts. Our team can explain how long you have to file and help you take timely action to protect your right to a fair recovery.
Important Exceptions to the Three-Year Personal Injury Filing Deadline in Massachusetts
Massachusetts law includes several exceptions that may extend or shorten the three-year filing deadline:
- Delayed discovery: You may have more time to file if you did not know about your injury right away. Under the discovery rule, the three-year clock starts when you knew or reasonably should have known that someone else’s actions caused you harm. But this exception normally appears in cases such as toxic exposure or medial malpractice.
- Injured minors: If you were injured when you were under 18, the clock does not beginto run until after your 18th birthday. Then you will have three years from the date of the injury, (after you turn 18) in which to file your claim in Court or be barred. There are exceptions for medical malpractice claims for minors which would need to be discusseed with an attorney.
- Claims against the government: Before you can sue a city or state agency, you must send written notice of your lawsuit within two years of the accident. The agency then has up to six months to respond. However, you still must file your lawsuit within three years of being injured.
- Fraudulent concealment: If the person who harmed you used fraud to hide important facts about the cause of your injury, the filing deadline may pause until you discover the truth.
These exceptions are narrow and rarely extend the deadline as long as people expect. An attorney can help you understand whether an exception applies.
What Happens if You Miss the Filing Deadline?
Not filing your personal injury claim before the statute of limitations runs out can have significant consequences:
- The insurance company will refuse to negotiate. Insurers know you no longer have the ability to sue once the deadline passes, so they have no incentive to discuss a settlement.
- Your case will almost certainly be dismissed. Massachusetts courts rarely grant exceptions after the deadline has passed, even if the evidence is strong.
- You’ll lose your right to compensation forever. When the deadline passes, you lose the chance to recover compensation for your medical expenses, lost income, and other damages. Those financial burdens fall on you alone.
When Does the Clock Start Ticking After an Injury?
The statute of limitations often applies differently to various types of personal injury lawsuits.
Car Accidents
The three-year period usually starts on the date of the crash. While the cause of the incident is usually apparent right away in these cases, the discovery rule may extend the filing deadline after a car accident in certain circumstances. For example, you may not immediately realize that a vehicle defect contributed to the crash.
Slip and Fall Accidents
If you slipped and fell on someone else’s property, the clock typically begins on the day you were injured. If the dangerous condition that caused the incident was not immediately obvious, the discovery rule may extend your filing time. Exceptions include falls due to defects in state, city, or county sidewalks or roadways. Then you are required to provide the notice to the government entity of the defect within thirty (30) days of the fall and your recovery is limited.
Medical Malpractice
Most medical malpractice cases in Massachusetts have a three-year statute of limitations or within three years of when the injured person knew or should have discovered the negligence that caused the injury. However, these injuries can unfold in different ways, making the filing deadline particularly complex in these cases.
Symptoms may appear immediately—such as after a surgical error—but you might not realize medical negligence caused them until later. In other cases, the harm develops gradually, such as when a provider repeatedly dismisses symptoms over several months.
The statute of limitations works slightly differently for medical malpractice cases involving young children. If your child was injured through medical negligence under the age of six, you have until their ninth birthday to file.
No matter the victim’s age, there is often a deadline of more than seven years from the date the malpractice occurred, no matter when you discovered the injury—except in cases involving a foreign object left in the body.
Wrongful Death
If you lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, you have three years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Delayed discovery of the cause of death may extend this deadline.
Why You Should Not Wait Until the Deadline To Start Building Your Personal Injury Claim
Three years may sound like plenty of time to start taking legal action. However, waiting until the last moment to file a lawsuit can make it harder to get the compensation you deserve.
It is best to contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible—ideally within a month or two—after you suffer an injury or discover its cause. Evidence can disappear, medical records can become harder to obtain, and witnesses’ memories can become less reliable. Involving an attorney in your case quickly allows them to preserve key evidence and witness statements while they are fresh.
Additionally, an early start gives your lawyer ample time to investigate the incident and build a strong case. It also allows more time for settlement negotiations. These discussions can take several months—and if the insurer refuses to settle for what you deserve, your attorney will need time to prepare and file a lawsuit before the deadline.
Contact Our Firm for a Free Personal Injury Consultation
Massachusetts’s personal injury statute of limitations can have significant implications on your ability to recover fair compensation after an accident. The way the deadline applies to your case depends on your unique circumstances, and missing your unique deadline can jeopardize your recovery.
Harding Mazzotti, LLP, can help you understand the timeframe for filing a personal injury claim in Massachusetts and take action before the deadline passes. Our firm has advocated for injured individuals and their families for over 30 years. We are ready to put that experience to work for you, starting with a case evaluation from our Tewksbury office or one of our other convenient appointment locations.
Contact us online or call 844-446-1044 to learn about your legal options and start pursuing the results you deserve. The consultation is always free, and we only get paid if you win.
