How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Georgia?

If you were hurt in a car wreck, slip-and-fall, or any other accident in Georgia, one of the most important questions you can ask is also one of the easiest to ignore: how long do I actually have to file a personal injury claim? Under the Georgia statute of limitations for personal injury claims, you generally have two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit — and if you miss that deadline by even a single day, you lose your right to recover compensation forever. Georgia courts are strict about this rule, and insurance companies know it. They will happily run out the clock if you let them.

At My Lawyer Is My Buddy, we have handled more than 1,000 personal injury cases across Atlanta and recovered over $25 million for our clients. We have also seen what happens when good people wait too long. This guide breaks down Georgia’s deadlines in plain English so you know exactly where you stand — and what to do next.

Table of Contents

• The Two-Year Rule: O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33
• Different Claims, Different Deadlines
• Exceptions That Can Pause (or Shorten) the Clock
• Claims Against the Government: 6 Months or Less
• Did SB 68 Change the Deadline?
• What to Do Right Now
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Two-Year Rule: O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33

Georgia’s main personal injury deadline is set out in O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, which states that “actions for injuries to the person shall be brought within two years after the right of action accrues.” Translation: you have two years from the date you were injured to file a lawsuit in Georgia state court.

This covers the overwhelming majority of personal injury cases in Atlanta and across Georgia, including:

• Car, truck, and motorcycle accidents
• Rideshare crashes (Uber and Lyft)
• Pedestrian and bicycle accidents
• Slip-and-fall and other premises liability claims
• Dog bites
• Negligent security and assault claims
• Most product liability cases

Two years sounds like plenty of time. It isn’t. By the time you finish medical treatment, fight with the insurance adjuster, get the police report, gather medical records, and try to negotiate a fair settlement, those two years can disappear faster than a Friday afternoon on I-285.

Different Claims, Different Deadlines

The two-year rule is the starting point, not the whole story. Georgia has several different statutes of limitations depending on what kind of claim you are bringing. Here are the deadlines you need to know:

• Personal injury (bodily harm): 2 years from the date of injury (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).
• Property damage (for example, the damage to your car after a crash): 4 years from the date of injury (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-32).
• Loss of consortium (claim by an injured person’s spouse): 4 years (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).
• Defamation, libel, and slander: 1 year (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).
• Wrongful death: 2 years from the date of death (which may be later than the date of the injury).
• Medical malpractice: 2 years from the injury, with a 5-year absolute statute of repose (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71).
• Workers’ compensation: 1 year from the date of injury to file a claim with the State Board of Workers’ Compensation.
• Breach of contract: 6 years for written contracts, 4 years for oral.

This matters more than people realize. After a car crash in Atlanta, you might have a property damage claim for your totaled vehicle that runs for four years, but a bodily injury claim for your back and neck pain that runs for only two. Two separate clocks, two separate deadlines, one accident.

Exceptions That Can Pause (or Shorten) the Clock

Georgia law recognizes a handful of situations where the two-year clock can be paused — what lawyers call “tolling.” It can also start later than you might expect under the discovery rule. Here are the main exceptions:

Injuries to Minors

If the injured person is under 18 at the time of the accident, the statute of limitations is generally tolled until they turn 18. That means a child injured at age 10 in a Buckhead car wreck typically has until age 20 to file a personal injury lawsuit. (This rule does not apply to most wrongful death or medical malpractice cases, which have their own special timelines.)

The Defendant Is Hiding or Out of State

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-94, if the at-fault party leaves Georgia or cannot be located and served, the clock can be paused while they are out of reach. This comes up surprisingly often in hit-and-run cases.

The Defendant Is Facing Criminal Charges

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99, if the at-fault driver is being prosecuted for a crime arising from the same accident (DUI, vehicular homicide, reckless driving causing serious injury), the civil clock can be tolled — up to six years — while the criminal case is pending. This frequently extends deadlines in serious DUI crash cases here in Atlanta.

The Discovery Rule

For certain latent injuries — injuries you could not reasonably have discovered right away — Georgia courts may delay the start of the limitations period until you knew or should have known about the injury. This rule is narrow and applied carefully, but it can be a lifesaver in toxic exposure or medical device cases.

Mental Incapacity

If an accident leaves the victim mentally incompetent, the clock may be tolled until that incapacity ends. This is a fact-specific defense that requires medical proof.

Fraudulent Concealment

If the at-fault party actively conceals the wrong they committed, the clock is tolled until the fraud is discovered.

Important: these exceptions are defenses you have to prove. Never assume an exception applies to your case without talking to a Georgia personal injury lawyer first.

Claims Against the Government: 6 Months or Less

This is where injury victims get tripped up the most. If your accident involves a city employee, a county worker, a MARTA bus, a state-owned vehicle, or any other government entity in Georgia, the deadline to notify that entity can be as short as six months — long before the two-year lawsuit deadline ever expires.

• Cities and municipalities: Ante litem notice within 6 months (O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5).
• Counties: Ante litem notice within 12 months (O.C.G.A. § 36-11-1).
• The State of Georgia: Ante litem notice within 12 months under the Georgia Tort Claims Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26).

An “ante litem” notice is a formal written letter sent to the right official with very specific required content — the amount of the loss, the nature of the injury, the time and place of the incident, and the acts of negligence. Miss the deadline, send the letter to the wrong office, or leave out a required element, and the claim is barred. We have seen entire seven-figure cases die over a missed six-month notice.

Did SB 68 Change the Deadline?

Georgia’s SB 68 tort reform, signed by Governor Kemp in April 2025, was the biggest overhaul of Georgia’s civil justice system in two decades — but the good news is that SB 68 did not change the two-year personal injury statute of limitations. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 still controls.

What SB 68 did change is how cases get tried and what evidence juries see. The new law allows defendants to demand “bifurcated” trials (splitting liability and damages into two phases), limits which medical bills juries can hear about, raised the bar for negligent security claims, and tightened the rules on attorney fee awards. None of that extends your filing deadline — it just makes it more important than ever to have an experienced Georgia lawyer who knows how to litigate under the new framework.

What to Do Right Now

The longer you wait, the harder your case becomes — even when you are still inside the statute of limitations. Evidence disappears. Surveillance video gets recorded over. Witnesses move and forget. Skid marks fade. Treating doctors can’t remember which patient was which. Even when the deadline is two years away, the facts of your case start eroding within weeks.

Here is what we recommend if you have been injured in Georgia:

• See a doctor immediately and document every symptom — including the ones that “might” be related.
• Get the police report and any photos from the scene.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the at-fault driver’s insurance company before talking to a lawyer.
• Write down what happened while it’s fresh — date, time, weather, what you saw, who you spoke with.
• Call a Georgia personal injury lawyer for a free case review well before the two-year mark.

My Lawyer Is My Buddy works on a pure contingency basis. There is no fee unless we win, our attorney fees are 25% — well below the 33% industry standard — and your first consultation is always free.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I miss the two-year deadline in Georgia?

In almost every case, you lose the right to sue. Insurance companies will refuse to negotiate, and a court will dismiss your lawsuit on a motion to dismiss. There are very narrow exceptions (tolling for minors, fraud, incapacity, criminal prosecution), but they are defenses you have to prove and they apply only in specific circumstances.

Does the two-year clock start on the day of the accident or the day I knew I was hurt?

In most Georgia personal injury cases, the clock starts on the date of the injury — that is, the day of the accident. The “discovery rule” can delay the start of the clock in limited cases involving latent injuries (like toxic exposure or certain medical conditions), but Georgia courts apply it narrowly.

I was hit by a MARTA bus. Do I really only have six months?

You have a longer deadline to sue, but you have to give MARTA written ante litem notice within six months of the incident under O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5 and MARTA’s own enabling act.

What if the at-fault driver was charged with DUI?

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99, the statute of limitations can be tolled while the criminal case is pending.

My child was injured. How long do we really have?

For most personal injury claims involving a minor, Georgia law tolls the statute of limitations until the child turns 18.

Does the deadline change if the accident happened outside Georgia?

Possibly. Other states have different statutes of limitations, and Georgia courts apply complex borrowing rules in cross-border cases.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

Attorney W. Buddy Huntley III | My Lawyer Is My Buddy | Atlanta, Georgia