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

The short version: in Kentucky you generally have one year from the date of injury to sue for a general personal injury (KRS 413.140(1)(a)) — but if the injury is from a motor vehicle accident, Kentucky's no-fault law extends that to two years from the accident date or from your last personal-injury-protection (PIP) payment, whichever is later (KRS 304.39-230). Miss the deadline and Kentucky courts have no discretion to hear your case, no matter how strong it is.

1. Kentucky's Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 413.140(1)(a) sets a one-year limitations period for "an action for an injury to the person of the plaintiff." That covers most ordinary negligence claims — slip-and-falls, dog bites, premises liability, assault/battery, and general injury lawsuits.

• Car, truck, and motorcycle accidents: Kentucky's Motor Vehicle Reparations Act carves out a separate two-year deadline under KRS 304.39-230. The clock runs from the date of the accident, or — if you or your insurer paid any "basic or added reparation benefits" (PIP) — from the date of the last PIP payment, whichever comes later.
• Wrongful death: generally one year from the date a personal representative is appointed, not the date of death — this is its own statute and worth confirming separately.
• Discovery rule: for injuries that aren't immediately obvious (some medical or product-related harms), Kentucky courts may start the clock when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury — not the date it happened.
• Minors: claims by a child injured before age 18 are generally tolled, giving the child roughly a year after turning 18 to file.

Because Kentucky has more than one deadline depending on how you were hurt, and courts apply these strictly, confirm the current text of KRS 413.140 and KRS 304.39-230, or ask a Kentucky attorney, as soon as possible after an injury — don't assume you have the "usual" amount of time.

2. Kentucky's Shared-Fault Rule: Pure Comparative Negligence

Kentucky is a pure comparative negligence state. This rule came from the Kentucky Supreme Court's 1984 decision in Hilen v. Hays, which abolished the old all-or-nothing contributory negligence doctrine, and was later codified at KRS 411.182.

Under pure comparative fault:

• A jury (or the parties) assigns a percentage of fault to everyone involved, including the injured person.
• Your compensation is reduced by your own percentage of fault — but you can still recover something even if you were mostly at fault. There is no cutoff point (unlike "modified" comparative states that bar recovery once you reach 50% or 51%).
• Example: $100,000 in damages, and you're found 30% at fault — you can still recover $70,000.

This rule applies broadly across Kentucky negligence cases, including car accidents, premises liability, and dog-bite claims (see below).

3. Damage Caps in Kentucky

Kentucky is one of the more protective states for injured plaintiffs on this point. Section 54 of the Kentucky Constitution provides that the General Assembly "shall have no power to limit the amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to person or property." Kentucky courts have relied on this provision to reject legislative attempts to cap damages.

• Economic damages (medical bills, lost wages): not capped.
• Non-economic damages (pain and suffering), including in medical malpractice cases: not capped under current Kentucky law, because of Section 54.
• Punitive damages: Kentucky imposes a substantive standard — you generally must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with oppression, fraud, or malice (KRS 411.184) — but there is no flat dollar cap comparable to the caps some other states impose.

Kentucky courts have also struck down other tort-reform measures on separate constitutional grounds — for example, the 2017 Medical Review Panel Act (which required claims to pass through a review panel before going to court) was held unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court in 2018 under the constitution's open-courts guarantee, in Commonwealth v. Claycomb. There have also been repeated legislative and ballot efforts to amend Section 54 to allow damage caps. Because this is a live political and legal issue, confirm the current status of Section 54 and any caps against the current KRS and constitutional text, or with a Kentucky attorney, before assuming the rule described above still applies.

4. Kentucky's Car Insurance System: Choice No-Fault (PIP)

Kentucky operates under the Motor Vehicle Reparations Act (KRS Chapter 304, Subtitle 39), a "choice" no-fault system:

• By default, every Kentucky auto policy must include Personal Injury Protection (PIP) — basic no-fault benefits of up to $10,000 per person for medical expenses, lost wages, and related out-of-pocket costs, paid by your own insurer (or the insurer of the vehicle you were in) regardless of who caused the crash.
• Kentucky drivers may formally reject or opt out of no-fault/PIP coverage in writing and instead keep full traditional tort (fault-based) rights — check your policy to see which you have.
• If you kept PIP, Kentucky law limits your right to sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering unless you meet a tort threshold under KRS 304.39-060 — generally medical expenses over $1,000, a broken bone, permanent injury, permanent disfigurement, or death.
• You can still pursue the at-fault driver (or your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage) for damages beyond what PIP covers, once the threshold is met.

Confirm your own policy's PIP election with your insurer or the Kentucky Department of Insurance, since your specific coverage choice affects your right to sue.

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

Kentucky imposes strict liability on dog owners under KRS 258.235(4). This means an injured person generally does not have to prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous (no "one-bite" free pass) — only that the defendant owned or kept the dog, the dog caused the injury or damage, and the injured person was lawfully present where the incident occurred.

• Comparative negligence (see above) can still reduce a bite victim's recovery — for example, if the person provoked the dog or was trespassing.
• Kentucky law recognizes that very young children generally cannot be found comparatively negligent.
• The one-year general personal injury statute of limitations (KRS 413.140) applies to dog-bite claims.

Claims Against the Government in Kentucky Are on a Shorter Clock

If your injury involves a Kentucky state agency, a state road, a state vehicle, or a state employee acting within their job, you generally cannot sue in ordinary circuit court first. Kentucky's Board of Claims Act (KRS Chapter 49, administered today by the Kentucky Claims Commission) gives that body jurisdiction over negligence claims against the Commonwealth, and claims are commonly required to be filed within about one year of the incident — often shorter, and with stricter notice requirements, than an ordinary lawsuit. Damages against the Commonwealth are also subject to statutory limits under this Act.

Claims against a city, county, or local government entity (a different unit than the state) may involve separate notice rules and deadlines set by other statutes or local charter provisions. Because these notice periods are short and unforgiving, contact the relevant Kentucky Claims Commission office or the specific city/county clerk immediately — do not wait to see if you recover before you look into notice deadlines.

What to Do in Kentucky

1. Get medical care and documentation immediately — records tie your injury to the incident date and matter for both PIP claims and any later lawsuit.
2. Identify what kind of claim you have — car accident (two-year clock, PIP first), general injury/dog bite (one-year clock), or a claim against a government entity (often one year or less, with mandatory notice).
3. Report a car accident to your own insurer promptly to start any PIP claim, and check whether your policy kept or rejected no-fault coverage.
4. If a government entity may be responsible, contact the Kentucky Claims Commission (successor to the Board of Claims) or the relevant city/county clerk right away to learn the exact notice deadline and required content.
5. Confirm current deadlines and rules directly against the current text of KRS 413.140, KRS 304.39-230, KRS 411.182, KRS 258.235, and KRS Chapter 49 (or with a Kentucky attorney), since legislatures and courts do amend these provisions.
6. File in the right court — most Kentucky personal injury lawsuits are filed in the Circuit Court of the county where the injury occurred or where the defendant lives; claims against the Commonwealth go through the Kentucky Claims Commission instead of ordinary circuit court.

This article is general information about Kentucky law as of mid-2026, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship — confirm current deadlines and rules with the Kentucky Revised Statutes or a licensed Kentucky attorney before acting.