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After a crash, a fall, or an accident at work, the first weeks are a scramble. The steadying part is that New York law is specific about how long you have to sue, how shared fault is handled, and when a government defendant changes the rules. You will find the deadlines first, then fault and insurance, then claims against government bodies, the courts, and the most common claim types, citing the statute each time. The facts of your injury decide which rule controls, and an attorney who practices in New York courts can sort that out quickly.
The Short Answers: Deadlines, Fault, and Insurance
- How long do I have to sue? Usually 3 years (CPLR 214(5)). A wrongful death action has its own two-year clock (EPTL 5-4.1).
- Claims against a city, county, town, or village: notice of claim within 90 days (General Municipal Law 50-e), and suit within one year and 90 days (General Municipal Law 50-i).
- New York’s comparative fault rule: damages are diminished in proportion to the culpable conduct attributable to you (CPLR 1411(a)), with a bar in motor vehicle cases filed on or after May 26, 2026 when you are more at fault than the defendant (CPLR 1411(b)).
- The serious injury threshold in Insurance Law 5102(d) decides whether a crash victim can seek non-economic damages, and it is often disputed.
- If a loved one died: a wrongful death action has a two-year limit (EPTL 5-4.1), and the injured person’s own claim is not lost because of the death (EPTL 11-3.2(b)).
Filing Deadlines for Injury and Wrongful Death Claims in New York
Start with the three-year limit in CPLR 214(5), which covers actions to recover damages for a personal injury, then check whether a listed exception, such as a claim against a government body, changes the count.
For an injured child, CPLR 208(a) extends the three-year period to three years after the disability of infancy ceases. Outside medical, dental, or podiatric malpractice, the ten-year outer limit in that section is not applied to infancy.
A death caused by another’s negligence can lead to a wrongful death action, which EPTL 5-4.1 limits to two years after the death (longer, in a stated case, when a criminal action is pending), together with the surviving injury claim under EPTL 11-3.2(b).
A government defendant changes the calendar. General Municipal Law 50-e(1)(a) requires a notice of claim within ninety days after the claim arises, and General Municipal Law 50-i(1) requires suit within one year and ninety days after the event, with two years for wrongful death.
There is some room for late notice: on application, a court may extend the time to serve a notice of claim, but not beyond the time limited for the injured person to commence an action against the public body (General Municipal Law 50-e(5)). The complaint must also allege the thirty-day wait (General Municipal Law 50-i(1)).
State defendants have their own rule. Court of Claims Act 10(3) requires a claim to be filed and served on the Attorney General within ninety days after accrual, unless a notice of intention is served within that time, and then the claim is due within two years.
The Court of Claims may permit a late claim, but only before an action asserting a like claim against a citizen of the state would be barred under CPLR article 2 (Court of Claims Act 10(6)).
Medical malpractice is a different category. An action for medical, dental, or podiatric malpractice must be commenced within two years and six months, with an extension for continuous treatment for the same illness, injury, or condition, and a one-year period from discovery for a foreign object left in the body (CPLR 214-a).
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What Happens When You Are Partly to Blame
Under CPLR 1411(a), a claim survives even if you share the blame, and the damages are reduced in proportion to your share of the culpable conduct. Motor vehicle cases now have an added rule, described below.
In a case outside the motor vehicle rule, the reduction is proportional. A person found 20% at fault recovers 80% of the damages, a person found 50% at fault recovers half, and a person found 70% at fault recovers 30%. Insurers know this, and arguing about percentages is a common way they try to reduce a claim.
Insurance Law article 51 cases have a threshold that other injury cases do not: under CPLR 1411(b), a claimant more at fault than the defendant, or than the defendants combined, cannot recover. The rule took effect May 26, 2026 for actions and proceedings commenced on or after that date (Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026).
If a crash or fall involves several responsible parties, a defendant found 50 percent or less at fault pays non-economic damages only in proportion to its own culpability (CPLR 1601(1)). CPLR 1602 lists exceptions, so a lawyer should review who the defendants are.
Basic Economic Loss, Serious Injury, and Crash Lawsuits
No-fault benefits are available without proving fault, up to the limit of fifty thousand dollars per person in Insurance Law 5102(a). The definition includes medical and related expenses, lost earnings, and other reasonable and necessary expenses.
Read the caps before assuming no-fault covers everything: lost earnings are limited to two thousand dollars a month for three years, other expenses to twenty-five dollars a day for one year, and optional extra coverage of twenty-five thousand dollars may apply after the first fifty thousand (Insurance Law 5102(a)).
A lawsuit for pain and suffering after a crash is limited. There is no right of recovery for non-economic loss except in the case of a serious injury, or for basic economic loss (Insurance Law 5104(a)). The statute defines a serious injury as one that results in death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, a fracture, loss of a fetus, permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system, permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member, or significant limitation of use of a body function or system (Insurance Law 5102(d)).
Do not overlook the no-fault paperwork. The regulation at 11 NYCRR 65-1.1 requires written notice of the accident within 30 days at the latest, and written proof of claim no later than 45 days after services are rendered.
The serious injury definition is narrower than it was. For lawsuits commenced on or after May 26, 2026, the category based on 90 days of inability during the 180 days after the accident is gone, and non-economic liability cannot be fixed until a serious injury is found after fault has been determined (Insurance Law 5102(d), 5104(a), as amended in 2026).
Injuries on Public Property or Involving Public Vehicles
General Municipal Law 50-i(1) applies to claims against cities, counties, towns, villages, fire districts, and school districts. It requires a notice of claim served under section 50-e, an allegation that thirty days have passed without adjustment or payment, and a lawsuit commenced within one year and ninety days after the event (two years for wrongful death).
Defective sidewalks and streets have a further requirement in many places. Under Town Law 65-a(2), no action can be maintained against a town for injury from a defect in its sidewalks, or from snow or ice on them, unless written notice specifying the particular place was actually given to the town clerk or the town superintendent of highways and the defect was not remedied within a reasonable time. Village Law 6-628 sets a similar written notice rule for villages.
The State of New York cannot be sued in the same way as a private party. The Court of Claims Act, section 10(3), sets a ninety-day filing rule (or a notice of intention followed by a two-year filing period), with late claims allowed only by the court’s permission (section 10(6)).
Since the notice period is far shorter than the general three years, government cases should be checked first for who owns the road, sidewalk, or vehicle.
Where an Injury Case From Buffalo Is Filed
Injury lawsuits above the local courts’ dollar limits belong in the Supreme Court, New York’s court of general jurisdiction. A claim against the State goes to the Court of Claims, and within New York City the Civil Court can hear money actions up to $50,000 (New York City Civil Court Act 202).
Under Judiciary Law 140, the counties are grouped into thirteen judicial districts. The trial court for a case from Buffalo is the Supreme Court in Erie County, in the Eighth Judicial District. The county seat of Erie County is Buffalo.
What Kinds of Injury Cases Do We See in Buffalo?
Collisions and Crash Injuries
A vehicle crash can involve the at-fault driver, the injured person’s own no-fault coverage, and sometimes a government body if the road or a public vehicle was involved (General Municipal Law 50-e). Each layer has its own rules and deadlines.
If a defendant’s liability is 50 percent or less, its share of non-economic loss is limited to its equitable share (CPLR 1601(1)).
Premises Liability Claims
A fall claim asks whether the property owner or occupier was negligent, for example by failing to fix or warn about a hazard. Whatever the location, the fault rule in CPLR 1411 applies, so an argument that the injured person was not watching where they were going can reduce the award, and the three-year deadline in CPLR 214(5) applies.
Claims involving government-owned property carry a ninety-day notice requirement (General Municipal Law 50-e(1)(a)), and snow and ice on a town sidewalk brings in Town Law 65-a(2).
Wrongful Death and Survival Claims
When a person dies, no cause of action for injury to person or property is lost because of the death (EPTL 11-3.2(b)). The personal representative may bring or continue the action, alongside the wrongful death action limited by EPTL 5-4.1.
A criminal action for the death can extend the deadline to at least one year after that action ends (EPTL 5-4.1).
Workplace and Construction Injuries
Workplace injuries have a special rule: the employer’s liability is exclusive (Workers’ Compensation Law 11), and the right to pursue another party whose negligence or wrong caused the injury is preserved by Workers’ Compensation Law 29(1).
Labor Law 240(1) addresses scaffolding, hoists, stays, and ladders for work such as erecting, demolishing, repairing, altering, or cleaning a building or structure, and it exempts owners of one and two-family dwellings who do not direct or control the work.
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Local Court Details for Buffalo
The rules on this page are statewide, but the practical details are local. For a Buffalo claim that means Erie County and the Supreme Court in Erie County. Asking a local attorney how long cases usually take there helps put the deadlines in context.
You can browse every New York city we cover in our New York personal injury attorney directory. Injuries in the surrounding area are covered on our pages for Niagara Falls, Houghton, and Salamanca. Protecting an invention, brand, or creative work rather than recovering for an injury? Read our Buffalo intellectual property page.
Where Injury Care Is Available in Buffalo
Hospitals located in Buffalo include Buffalo General Medical Center at 100 High Street and Erie County Medical Center at 462 Grider Street.
Records from the hospital or hospitals that treated an injury, including dates, diagnoses, and bills, are the basis for the medical side of a claim. This section describes where facilities are located and says nothing about any provider’s care.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much time do I have to sue for an injury in New York?
Generally three years (CPLR 214(5)). Different rules apply to minors, whose time is extended to three years after the disability of infancy ceases (CPLR 208(a)), and to government defendants (General Municipal Law 50-e, 50-i).
What if a government body caused my injury?
A notice of claim must be served within ninety days after the claim arises (General Municipal Law 50-e(1)(a)), and the action must be commenced within one year and ninety days after the event (General Municipal Law 50-i(1)).
How does shared fault reduce my compensation in New York?
Damages are diminished in the proportion which your culpable conduct bears to the culpable conduct which caused them (CPLR 1411(a)). If you are found 30% at fault, for example, a $100,000 award becomes $70,000 outside the motor vehicle rule.
What changed in New York car accident law in 2026?
Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 added CPLR 1411(b), removed the 90/180-day category from the serious injury definition, and changed the order of proof in Insurance Law 5104(a). The changes took effect May 26, 2026 and apply to actions and proceedings commenced on or after that date.
Is my medical bill covered no matter who caused the crash?
Yes. No-fault benefits for basic economic loss are available up to $50,000 per person regardless of fault (Insurance Law 5102(a)), subject to the timing rules in the regulations.
Why do insurers dispute the serious injury threshold?
Because the definition in Insurance Law 5102(d) controls whether pain and suffering can be recovered (Insurance Law 5104(a)), a lot can turn on it, and medical records and expert opinions carry most of the weight.
Can a criminal case affect the wrongful death deadline?
It can. Under EPTL 5-4.1, where a criminal action is pending, the personal representative has at least one year from the termination of the criminal action to file, even if the usual two years has passed.
Is there a court for smaller injury claims?
Yes. Smaller claims can go to local courts with their own dollar limits, and in New York City the Civil Court has jurisdiction of money actions up to $50,000 (New York City Civil Court Act 202).
What if someone other than my employer caused my work injury?
Then you may have a third-party claim against that party, separate from workers’ compensation against the employer (Workers’ Compensation Law 29(1)).
Does the deadline pause for an injured child?
Yes. Under CPLR 208(a), a disability of infancy extends the time to three years after the disability ceases, and the ten-year outer limit does not apply to infancy outside medical, dental, or podiatric malpractice.
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