Personal Injury Laws in California: Deadlines, Fault Rules & Damages

Short answer: In California, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a personal-injury lawsuit for ordinary negligence (car crashes, slip-and-falls, most injury claims), under California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1. Medical malpractice claims have a different, shorter-in-some-ways deadline. If a government agency is involved, you have only six months to file an administrative claim first. Miss these windows and courts almost always dismiss the case, regardless of how strong it is. Confirm current deadlines with the statute itself or a California-licensed attorney before relying on any date below — legislatures and courts do amend these rules.

1. California's Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

For most personal-injury claims — car accidents, pedestrian and bicycle crashes, slip-and-fall and premises-liability cases, product injuries, and general negligence — California law sets a two-year deadline from the date of injury to file suit. This comes from California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, which covers "assault, battery, or injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another." You can read the current text of the statute directly on the California Legislative Information website (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov).

Two important variations:

• Medical malpractice: Under Code of Civil Procedure § 340.5, claims against health care providers must generally be filed within three years of the injury or one year after you discovered (or reasonably should have discovered) the injury, whichever comes first. This is a distinct, more technical deadline — verify it against the current statute if malpractice is involved.
• Discovery rule: If an injury isn't immediately obvious (for example, a latent injury from a defective product or a delayed-onset condition), courts may allow the clock to start when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the harm — but do not assume this applies to your situation without confirming it with the statute or a court.

Because filing deadlines are jurisdictional and unforgiving in practice, treat the two-year mark as a hard stop unless you have specifically confirmed an exception applies to your case.

2. California's Fault Rule: Pure Comparative Negligence

California follows pure comparative negligence, adopted by the California Supreme Court in Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 13 Cal. 3d 804 (1975). Under this rule:

• Your compensation is reduced by your own percentage of fault, but you can still recover damages even if you were up to 99% at fault for the incident.
• There is no cutoff percentage that bars recovery entirely (unlike "modified comparative negligence" states that cut off recovery at 50% or 51% fault, or "contributory negligence" states that bar recovery for any fault at all).
• Example: if a jury finds your damages total $100,000 but assigns you 30% of the fault, your recoverable damages are reduced to $70,000.

This is one of the more injured-person-friendly fault rules in the country, but insurance adjusters routinely try to shift fault percentages onto the injured person during negotiations, since every point of assigned fault directly reduces the payout.

3. Damage Caps in California

Non-economic damages (pain and suffering)

California generally does not cap non-economic damages in ordinary personal-injury cases such as car accidents or slip-and-falls.

The major exception is medical malpractice, governed by the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). After a 2022 legislative overhaul (Assembly Bill 35), the non-economic damages cap in med-mal cases now rises on a set annual schedule rather than staying frozen at the long-standing $250,000 figure. As of 2026, the cap stands at roughly $470,000 for cases involving injury and roughly $650,000 for cases involving death, with scheduled annual increases toward $750,000 (injury) and $1,000,000 (death) and inflation adjustments afterward. Because this figure moves each January and can involve separate caps for single-provider versus multi-provider situations, confirm the exact current dollar amount against the statute (Civil Code § 3333.2) or with a California attorney before relying on it — do not treat the number above as fixed.

Economic damages

California does not cap economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, future earning capacity) in personal-injury or medical malpractice cases — these are recoverable in full to the extent proven.

Punitive damages

California does not impose a specific statutory dollar cap on punitive damages in ordinary personal-injury cases. Punitive damages are allowed under Civil Code § 3294 where a defendant acted with oppression, fraud, or malice, and are typically assessed relative to the defendant's conduct and financial condition. Very large punitive awards can still be reduced by courts under federal constitutional due-process limits recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court, but California itself has not enacted a flat statutory ceiling for most cases. Confirm current law before assuming any specific multiplier or ceiling applies.

4. California's Car Insurance System: At-Fault (Tort)

California is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state. There is no state-mandated Personal Injury Protection (PIP) requirement. In practice this means:

• The driver who caused the crash — and their insurer — is financially responsible for the other driver's injuries and losses.
• An injured person can pursue a claim directly against the at-fault driver's liability insurance, or file a lawsuit, rather than being limited to their own no-fault coverage first.
• As of January 1, 2025, California's minimum liability insurance requirements increased to $30,000 per person / $60,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $15,000 for property damage (commonly written as 30/60/15), up from the prior 15/30/5 limits that had been in place since 1967. These minimums are scheduled to rise again in 2035.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage must be offered to California drivers, though a driver may reject it in writing.

Because minimum liability limits are often lower than the cost of serious injuries, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is worth understanding before you need it. Confirm current limits with the California Department of Insurance (insurance.ca.gov).

5. California's Dog-Bite Rule: Strict Liability

California imposes strict liability on dog owners under Civil Code § 3342. This means:

• An owner is liable for injuries caused by their dog's bite if the victim was bitten in a public place, or was lawfully on private property (including the owner's own property).
• Liability applies regardless of the dog's prior history — the owner does not have to have known the dog was dangerous ("one bite" knowledge is not required, unlike some other states).
• There is a statutory exception for police and military dogs acting in the course of official duties under a qualifying written policy.
• The bite must occur while the victim is lawfully present; a trespasser generally cannot use this strict-liability statute (though other negligence theories may still apply).

Ordinary dog-bite claims fall under the same two-year personal-injury statute of limitations described above (CCP § 335.1), unless a government-owned animal is involved.

Claims Against the Government: A Much Shorter Deadline

If your injury involves a government entity in California — a city, county, state agency, public school, transit authority, or government employee acting within the scope of employment — ordinary deadlines do not apply. Instead:

• Under the California Government Claims Act, you must present a written administrative claim to the public entity within six months of the injury (Government Code § 911.2) for personal injury, wrongful death, or personal-property damage claims.
• If you miss the six-month window, you may apply for leave to file a late claim, but that application generally must be submitted within one year of the injury — and the entity or a court can still deny it.
• Only after the claim is presented and either denied (or the statutory response period passes) can you file a lawsuit — and that lawsuit itself is subject to its own follow-on deadline once the claim is rejected.

Because this six-month window is dramatically shorter than the standard two-year deadline, and because the rules for what counts as a "public entity" can be technical, treat any potential government involvement as an emergency requiring prompt action.

What to Do in California

1. Get medical care and document the injury. Medical records anchor both your treatment and any injury-discovery date that could affect deadlines.
2. Identify whether a government entity might be involved. A government vehicle, a public roadway defect, a government building, or a public employee can trigger the six-month claim deadline instead of two years. If in doubt, treat it as government-related and act immediately.
3. Calendar your deadline conservatively. Use the earliest plausible date and the shortest plausible deadline that could apply to your facts, then confirm the correct date against the current statute or with a California attorney.
4. Preserve evidence early. Photos, witness contact information, incident reports, and insurance information can be lost or destroyed quickly.
5. Understand how fault will be allocated. Under California's pure comparative negligence rule, expect insurers to argue you share some fault — keep records that support your account of events.
6. File in California state court (typically superior court in the county where the injury occurred) for most personal-injury lawsuits, unless the case qualifies for federal jurisdiction.
7. Confirm current numbers before relying on them. Statutes of limitations, MICRA caps, and insurance minimums all change by legislative action — verify against the official California Legislative Information website (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov) or California Department of Insurance (insurance.ca.gov) before making decisions.

Where to Start

Personal-injury lawsuits in California are filed in the California Superior Court for the county where the injury occurred or where the defendant resides. You can find the current text of the statutes referenced here directly at the California Legislative Information site (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov), and auto-insurance requirements at the California Department of Insurance (insurance.ca.gov).

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice; confirm current California deadlines and rules with the official statute or a California-licensed attorney before acting.