Washington Personal Injury Laws and Statutes of Limitations

Washington's Statutes of Limitations for Personal Injury Lawsuits

A "statute of limitations" is a law that limits your time to file a lawsuit in court. Washington has several of them that apply to personal injury claims. Here's a quick overview.

Washington's General Rule: Three Years to File a Personal Injury Case

The statute of limitations for many Washington PI lawsuits is Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.080(2) (2024). It gives you three years, usually beginning on the date you were injured, to file your case in court. Miss the deadline and, barring an exception to the rule (including those discussed below), you lose the right to sue for your injuries, forever. This statute covers a range of personal injury lawsuits, including those involving:

• car accidents
• dangerous and poorly maintained real estate (a "premises liability" case)
• dog bites, and
• injuries resulting in death (called a "wrongful death" suit).

Other Statutes of Limitations for Specific Personal Injury Cases

Washington's three-year general rule doesn't apply to all PI cases. When a more specific statute of limitations is a better fit, that's probably the applicable deadline. Here are some examples.

Intentional injuries. The lawsuit deadline for certain intentional torts—purposeful misconduct that causes you an injury—is two years. The deadline usually begins running on the date you were hurt. (Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.100(1) (2024).) This limitation period applies to lawsuits for:

• assault and battery
• defamation (libel and slander), and
• false imprisonment.

Medical malpractice. Most often, you know right away when you've been injured. That's why typically, the statute of limitations runs from the date an injury occurs. But what if you don't immediately discover an injury when it happens? Washington's medical malpractice statute of limitations accounts for this possibility by incorporating a special provision, called the "discovery rule."

Under Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.350(3) (2024), you must file a medical malpractice lawsuit by the later of:

• three years from the date of the malpractice, or
• one year from the date you discovered or reasonably should have discovered an injury that was caused by malpractice.

(Learn more about Washington's medical malpractice statute of limitations.)

Dangerous products. When you're injured by a dangerous or defective product, you have three years to sue the product seller. (Wash. Rev. Code § 7.72.060(3) (2024).) Here, too, Washington's discovery rule might give you more time to file your case in court. The limitation clock starts running on the earlier of the date:

• you actually discover your injury and what caused it, or
• you should have discovered your injury and what caused it, had you been reasonably diligent to look for signs and symptoms.

There's a second deadline, called a "statute of repose," that limits the time you have to discover a product-related injury. The latest you can sue—in most cases—is 12 years from the date the product was first put to use. (Wash. Rev. Code § 7.72.060(2) (2024).)

You'll need the advice of an experienced Washington lawyer to sort out the specifics of the filing deadline.

Can the Filing Deadline Be Extended?

Sometimes, yes, it can. Keep in mind that the examples we discuss here are exceptions to the statute of limitations rules. It's up to you to convince the court that an exception applies in your case. Most often, you'll face strong opposition from the defendant (the party you're suing). That's not a battle you want to fight alone. Once again, consider hiring legal counsel to make your arguments to the court.

Defendant is outside of Washington or goes into hiding. The statute of limitations might not run if the defendant:

• doesn't live in Washington
• lives in Washington but leaves the state, or
• goes into hiding in Washington.

(Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.180 (2024).)

In Summerrise v. Stephens, 75 Wash. 2d 808, 811 (1969), the Washington Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations only gets paused when the absence from Washington or hiding inside the state prevents the plaintiff (the party who filed the case) from serving the defendant with the lawsuit.

The discovery rule. While it doesn't apply in every PI case, the discovery rule (discussed above in connection with medical malpractice and dangerous product suits) might give you more time to file your case. The filing deadline runs from the date you discovered or should have discovered your injury, rather than from the date of the injury itself, when:

• you didn't discover your injury when it happened, and
• you couldn't have discovered it in time to file before the statute of limitations ran out, even if you'd been reasonably careful.

Ask your lawyer for specifics.

Injured person is legally disabled. Under Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.190 (2024), the statute of limitations is tolled (temporarily paused) when a person who's legally disabled suffers an injury. The statute remains tolled until the disability ends. For the purpose of this rule, a person is legally disabled when they're:

• younger than 18 years old,
• "incompetent or disabled to such a degree that [they] cannot understand the nature of the proceedings," or
• imprisoned prior to sentencing.