Days after a Tennessee car accident, your injuries may still hurt while the insurance adjuster requests more information. While you focus on medical care, the deadline to file a car accident claim continues to approach. Tennessee generally gives injured people one year to file certain personal injury lawsuits.
An insurance claim follows a different process from a civil lawsuit, even when both arise from the same collision. Reporting the crash or negotiating with an insurer does not preserve the court deadline for filing that lawsuit. Property damage can also have a different filing period, so the type of claim matters when calculating the deadline.
Tennessee provides a two-year period when specific criminal-charge and prosecution requirements connected to the injury are satisfied. That additional time does not apply automatically, so a traffic citation should not be assumed to provide two years. A Murfreesboro car accident lawyer can review the collision date, related proceedings, and any applicable filing period.
Key Takeaways
- Tennessee generally gives injured people one year to file a lawsuit seeking compensation for bodily injuries.
- Lawsuits seeking compensation for vehicle damage generally have a three-year filing period, separate from the shorter bodily injury deadline.
- Insurance claims and settlement discussions do not automatically pause, extend, or preserve the deadline for filing suit.
- Certain qualifying criminal prosecutions may extend the filing period to two years, but traffic tickets alone should not be assumed to qualify.
How Long Do You Have to File an Injury Claim in Tennessee?
When Does the One-Year Car Accident Deadline Begin?
The one-year period generally begins when the personal injury claim accrues. In an ordinary collision involving immediate or apparent injuries, that is usually the crash date. Continuing treatment, receiving a later diagnosis, or continuing insurance negotiations does not automatically restart that period.
Can You Safely Wait Until the One-Year Deadline Nears?
The one-year period serves as an outside filing limit in an ordinary case, rather than a recommended waiting period. Earlier preparation allows time to identify possible defendants, collect essential records, and determine whether court action is necessary. Waiting until the final days leaves less time to resolve uncertainty about parties, filing details, or which deadline applies.
Do Injury and Vehicle Damage Claims Have Different Deadlines?
Tennessee treats bodily injuries and property damage differently, so the same collision can create separate filing deadlines.
How Long Do You Have to File for Vehicle Damage?
Tennessee allows more time to sue for vehicle damage than it generally allows for bodily injury. Tennessee law provides three years for actions involving injury to personal or real property. A damaged vehicle can therefore have a different filing deadline than bodily injuries from the same crash.
Why Must You Track Injury and Property Deadlines Separately?
The three-year property period does not extend the one-year period for bodily injuries from the same collision. One crash can therefore produce separate legal claims with different filing periods, even though both claims arise from one event. This distinction matters during medical treatment because unresolved vehicle damage does not extend the bodily injury deadline.
Does an Insurance Claim Change Your Lawsuit Deadline?
An insurance claim and civil lawsuit follow separate processes, so opening a claim does not automatically preserve the court deadline.
Does Opening an Insurance Claim Protect Your Right to Sue?
Reporting the collision to an insurer does not commence a civil lawsuit. Several common insurance activities can continue without commencing a civil lawsuit, including:
- Reporting the collision to an insurance company
- Receiving an insurance claim number
- Sending medical records or other requested documents
- Speaking with an adjuster about the accident
- Discussing a possible settlement with the insurer
Because these steps occur outside court, the lawsuit deadline continues separately while the insurance claim remains open.
Can Settlement Talks Continue While Your Deadline Runs?
Settlement discussions can continue for months without automatically suspending or extending the deadline to file a lawsuit. A driver might continue medical treatment while an adjuster requests records and discusses settlement over several months. If the first anniversary of the crash approaches, those discussions do not, by themselves, establish that the lawsuit deadline has changed.
Can You Ever Have More Than One Year to File?
When Can Criminal Prosecution Give You More Time?
The two-year period requires criminal charges against a person alleged to have caused or contributed to the injury. The prosecution must begin within one year through a qualifying prosecuting authority. The injured person must then bring the civil action against the person prosecuted for the conduct that caused or contributed to the injury.
Does Every Traffic Ticket Give You Two Years to File?
No, receiving a traffic ticket does not automatically give an injured person two years to file a civil lawsuit. A municipal ordinance citation does not qualify as the criminal prosecution required for Tennessee’s two-year provision. In Glover v. Duckhorn, the Tennessee Court of Appeals rejected the two-year period for a municipal traffic ordinance citation.
What Happens If the Tennessee Filing Deadline Expires?
Filing after the applicable period can allow the defendant to seek dismissal before the court reaches the underlying accident dispute.
What Can Happen If You File Your Injury Case Too Late?
A defendant may raise the statute of limitations when a personal injury lawsuit is filed after the applicable period expires. If no valid exception or different limitations period applies, a court may dismiss an untimely lawsuit before resolving the underlying dispute. Strong evidence of who caused the collision does not, by itself, eliminate a limitations problem created by late filing.
What Should Murfreesboro Drivers Check Before Filing?
Rutherford County has both Circuit Civil and General Sessions Civil proceedings administered through its court system. Circuit Civil handles matters that include personal injury, property damage, and other tort cases, while General Sessions Civil also hears noncriminal civil matters. Identifying the proper court matters because handling an insurance claim does not substitute for timely filing a lawsuit in a court with jurisdiction.
Contact a Murfreesboro Car Accident Lawyer
A Murfreesboro collision can create separate filing periods for bodily injury and vehicle damage under Tennessee law. An open insurance claim does not automatically preserve the deadline to file suit, so identify the applicable filing period before it expires.
Murfreesboro Car Accident Lawyer helps people in Murfreesboro and surrounding communities pursue compensation after car accidents. If you have questions about a filing deadline, our attorneys can review your circumstances, explain the applicable time limits, and help you understand your legal options. Contact us today or call us at (864) 335-9991 to discuss your case.
