Learn about Iowa’s personal injury laws, including where and how to file a personal injury lawsuit, deadlines to file your case, limits on the damages you can collect, and more.
If you've been hurt in an Iowa accident—maybe a car wreck, a slip and fall, or by a dangerous product—you might be thinking about filing a personal injury (PI) insurance claim or lawsuit. Chances are you don't know much about the Iowa laws and court rules that will control your case.
We'll walk you through some of the basics, including filing deadlines, where and how to file a lawsuit, limits on the compensation you can collect, and more.
Iowa's Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Lawsuits
Like every state, Iowa has deadlines—called "statutes of limitations"—that limit your time to file a personal injury lawsuit in court. Let's start with Iowa's general rule, then we'll turn to some special deadlines and exceptions that might apply in particular cases.
General Rule: Two Years From the Date of Injury
As a general rule, you must file a personal injury lawsuit within two years from the date of your injury. (Iowa Code § 614.1(2) (2024).) The same two-year limitation period applies when personal injuries cause death and the victim's survivors file a wrongful death lawsuit. This statute controls when injuries or death are caused by:
- an auto accident
- a dangerous product (called a "product liability" case)
- a dangerous property (called a "premises liability" case), or
- intentional misconduct like an assault or battery, defamation, or false imprisonment.
In short, unless there's a more specific statute of limitations, this is the filing deadline for Iowa personal injury and wrongful death cases.
What If You Don't Know You're Injured?
In some cases, you won't know right away that you've been injured. When that happens, Iowa's "discovery rule" might give you more time to sue. Under the discovery rule, the statute of limitations clock doesn't start running until you discover—or had you been reasonably careful, you should have discovered—your injury. (See Chrischilles v. Griswold, 260 Iowa 453, 463 (1967).
Be on the lookout for a "statute of repose," a law that's often enacted to put an outside limit on the time you have to file when you're relying on the discovery rule. For example, Iowa has enacted statutes of repose for:
- product liability cases (Iowa Code § 614.1(2A) (2024) (15 years), and
- premises liability cases (Iowa Code § 614.1(11) (2024) (usually 8-10 years, but can be longer).
Medical Malpractice Cases
The deadline to file a medical malpractice lawsuit is two years from the date you discover (or if sooner, the date you should have discovered) a malpractice-related injury or death. But under Iowa's medical malpractice statute of repose, the latest you can file is six years from the date of the malpractice. When injury or death results from a foreign object accidently left in a patient's body, the six-year statute of repose doesn't apply.
(Iowa Code § 614.1(9)(a) (2024).)
If a child younger than eight years old is injured by medical malpractice, the child's parent or guardian must sue by the later of:
- the child's 10th birthday, or
- the deadline specified in section 614.1(9)(a), discussed above.
Can Iowa's Statutes of Limitations Be Extended?
There are circumstances where Iowa law allows the statute of limitations deadline to be extended. Iowa's discovery rule, discussed above, is one example. Here are a couple more common examples.
Defendant leaves Iowa or can't be identified. The applicable statute of limitations clock doesn't run for the period of time that:
- the party you're suing (the "defendant") doesn't live in Iowa, or
- you can't identify the defendant, despite diligent efforts, and your injuries were caused by a felony or certain misdemeanors.
(Iowa Code § 614.6(1) (2024).)
Injured person is legally disabled. A person who's legally disabled can't manage their own affairs without help or supervision from a parent, guardian, or court. Under Iowa law, minors (those younger than 18 years old) and people who suffer from "mental illness" are considered to be legally disabled. (Iowa Code § 614.8 (2024).)
An injured person who's mentally ill has one year from the date their disability ends to file a PI lawsuit. (Iowa Code § 614.8(1) (2024).) A minor has one year from their 18th birthday to sue. (Iowa Code § 614.8(2) (2024).) These exceptions don't apply in all cases, so be sure to check the rules for your claim.
Suing the Government in Iowa
Can you sue if you've been injured by the State of Iowa or a state municipality? Yes. But suing the government isn't like suing a private person or a business. Special procedures and deadlines are involved, and the government (and its officers and employees) might be immune to—not liable for—certain kinds of claims. Give serious thought to hiring an experienced government claims attorney to handle your case.
Claims Against Iowa
Lawsuits against Iowa are subject to the terms of the Iowa Tort Claims Act. Before you can file a lawsuit against the state, you must first file your claim with the Iowa State Appeal Board, which is part of the state's Department of Management. Most claims must be filed within two years after the date of injury or death. (Iowa Code § 669.13(1) (2024).) You're required to use the Appeal Board's claim form.
Filing a claim isn't the same as filing a lawsuit in court. You can't sue in court until the state's Attorney General, acting through the Department of Management, has made a "final disposition" of your claim. If a final disposition hasn't been made within six months after you file your claim, you're allowed to sue.
Claims Against Municipalities
Claims against Iowa municipalities—cities, counties, townships, school boards, and other local units of government—are governed by Chapter 670 of the Iowa Statutes. As a general rule, a lawsuit must be filed within two years from the date of injury or death. (Iowa Code § 670.5 (2024).)
What If I'm Partly to Blame for an Accident?
To win a typical personal injury case, you've got to prove that the defendant was legally at fault, or negligent. Quite often, the defendant will claim that you were negligent, too. This defense, called "comparative negligence," can reduce or eliminate the compensation (what the law calls "damages") the defendant owes you. Iowa has a version of the comparative negligence rule. Here's how it works.
Iowa Is a "Modified Comparative Negligence" State
Iowa has adopted what's known as a "modified comparative negligence" rule. Under this rule, when your percentage share of the negligence isn't more than 50% of the total negligence, you can collect some damages for your injuries. Your share of the total negligence simply reduces the damages you can recover by that amount. But if you're found to be 51% or more at fault, you're not allowed to collect any damages.
(Iowa Code § 668.3(1) (2024).)
Example: Iowa Modified Comparative Negligence
Suppose you're hurt in an auto accident. The other driver was clearly at fault, but you were speeding at the time of the wreck. After a trial, the jury finds your total damages are $50,000 and assigns 80% of the blame to the other driver. Because you were speeding, the jury decides you were 20% at fault. How much of your total damages will you be able to collect?
You were 20% responsible for the accident, so under Iowa law you can collect 80% of your damages: $50,000 x 80% = $40,000. The other driver's insurance company will write you a check for that amount. What would be the result had the jury decided you were 51% (or more) to blame? You'd get zero damages under Iowa's modified comparative negligence rule.
Where and How to File an Iowa Personal Injury Lawsuit
Your personal injury case is a type of civil (non-criminal) lawsuit. Where and how you file your suit will be decided by Iowa statutes and court rules called the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure. These rules are complicated and can be difficult to understand and apply. If you aren't familiar with them—and chances are you're not—you should think about hiring an experienced Iowa lawyer to represent you.
Where to File Your Lawsuit
The entry-level Iowa trial court—where most criminal and civil cases begin—is called the district court. Every Iowa county has one district court. Iowa law instructs you to file your PI lawsuit in the county where:
- the defendant, or any one of the defendants, lives, or
- your injury happened.
(Iowa Code § 616.18 (2024).)
If the defendant doesn't live in Iowa, you can file suit in the county where you live or you were injured. (Iowa Code § 617.3(7) (2024).)
How to File Your Lawsuit
You start your PI lawsuit by filing a document called a "petition" in the district court. Your petition must be accompanied by a cover sheet, which you can get from the court clerk. You'll also need to pay the filing fee unless the court has waived it.
In separately numbered paragraphs, your petition should describe:
- the parties who are involved in the case
- when, where, and how your injuries happened
- your injuries
- what you think the defendant did wrong that caused your injuries, and
- the relief (usually money damages) you want the court to grant you.
When describing the relief you want, you're not allowed to demand a specific amount of damages. Be sure to include the information required by Iowa R. Civ. Proc. 1.411(1) (2024).
Once you've filed your petition and cover sheet, you must serve each defendant with a copy of the petition and a "notice" that meets the requirements of Iowa R. Civ. Proc. 1.302(1) (2024). The court rules describe, in some detail, when and how service must be accomplished. The court can dismiss any defendant who's not been properly served.
Does Iowa Limit Damages in Personal Injury Cases?
Iowa is one of many states that puts limits, sometimes called "caps," on PI damages. Specifically, Iowa caps "noneconomic" damages in medical malpractice cases.
What Are "Noneconomic" Damages?
In most PI cases, you can collect both "economic" and "noneconomic" damages. Economic damages reimburse you for medical bills, lost wages, amounts you pay for replacement household services, and other out-of-pocket expenses. Iowa law doesn't cap these damages.
Noneconomic damages are designed to make you whole for injuries like pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, and the like. Iowa caps these noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases.
Iowa's Noneconomic Damages Caps
Iowa law includes both a "soft" cap and a "hard" cap on noneconomic damages. Here's how it works.
In a medical malpractice case, noneconomic damages are capped at $250,000. It's called a "soft" cap because a jury can award more than $250,000 if it finds "a substantial or permanent loss or impairment of a bodily function, substantial disfigurement, loss of pregnancy, or death, [such that] a limitation would deprive the plaintiff of just compensation for the injuries sustained... ." (Iowa Code § 147.136A(2) (2024).)
In February 2023, Iowa's governor signed into law H.F. 161, putting a "hard" cap on top of the existing soft cap, which remains in the law. For malpractice cases arising after the effective date of the act, noneconomic damages greater than $250,000 can't exceed $1 million, or $2 million if a hospital is a defendant. (Learn more about Iowa's hard malpractice damages cap law.)
The law provides that on January 1 of each year, the $250,000 soft cap will be increased by 2.1%. Starting on January 1, 2028, the hard cap will also increase by 2.1% annually. Iowa's Insurance Commissioner must publish the adjusted cap figures each year on the insurance division's website.
Get Help With Your Iowa Personal Injury Claim
We've reviewed some of Iowa's personal injury law basics. If you've been injured through someone else's fault and you're considering an insurance claim or a lawsuit, there's much more you need to know. As a rule, you only get one opportunity to recover for your injuries. Your best chance at a fair result will come from having experienced legal counsel to guide you through the process.
When you're ready to move forward, here's how to find a personal injury lawyer near you.
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