Colorado Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

In Colorado, the deadline to sue over a motor-vehicle crash is generally three years. Most other personal-injury claims — a fall, a dog bite, ordinary negligence — are two years. A claim against a public entity also needs a written notice within 182 days. Miss the applicable clock and the claim is gone.^{[1]C.R.S. § 13-80-101(1)(n). Three-year limitation for torts for bodily injury or property damage arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle. https://c[2]C.R.S. § 13-80-102. Two-year limitation for most tort, wrongful-death, and public-entity actions, with a four-year wrongful-death exception in subsection (2). h[3]C.R.S. § 24-10-109. Colorado Governmental Immunity Act — written notice of claim within 182 days after discovery of the injury. https://content.leg.colorado.gov}

Key Takeaways

• Car, truck, and motorcycle injury or crash property-damage lawsuits: generally 3 years from accrual.^[1]
• General negligence and most wrongful-death lawsuits: generally 2 years.^[2]
• Claims against a government entity: written RTD 182-day notice / CGIA notice within 182 days of discovering the injury, then the lawsuit deadline still applies.^[3][2]
• The clock starts at accrual — usually when the injury and its cause are known or should have been known — not whenever you feel ready.^{[4]C.R.S. § 13-80-108. When a cause of action accrues, including the discovery rule for injury and motor-vehicle claims. https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/def}
• An insurance claim is not a lawsuit. Reporting to an insurer does not stop the clock, and claims on your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage have their own statute.^{[6]C.R.S. § 13-80-107.5. Limitation of actions for uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance — three years after accrual, with a two-year extension after the un}
• A timely filing can still be reduced or barred by Colorado's modified comparative negligence rule.^{[5]C.R.S. § 13-21-111. Comparative negligence — fault can still reduce or bar a timely claim. https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2}

How Colorado injury deadlines work

A statute of limitations is the deadline to start a lawsuit. It is not the deadline to call an insurer, finish treatment, or wait until you feel like it. Colorado splits injury claims by how you were hurt and who hurt you. Motor-vehicle torts get the longer three-year window.^[1] Ordinary negligence does not.^[2]

That split is the trap. People hear “personal injury is three years in Colorado” and apply it to a sidewalk fall. The three-year provision is for bodily injury or property damage “arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle.”^[1] A grocery-store fall is a two-year tort unless a more specific statute says otherwise.^[2]

The steps from crash to filing are laid out in the Colorado personal injury claim process. The deadline is the last day, not the plan.

Claim-type deadline table

Property damage uses the same split: damage from a vehicle crash generally follows the three-year motor-vehicle provision.^[1] Damage from other negligence is generally two years as a tort.^[2] A broken contract can be a different three-year clock under the contract subsection of § 13-80-101. The legal theory matters. Do not assume every property-damage claim gets three years.

When the clock starts (and the discovery-rule caution)

Colorado does not always start the deadline on the crash date. A cause of action for injury to person or property accrues on the date both the injury and its cause are known or should have been known by reasonable diligence.^[4] Motor-vehicle bodily injury and property damage have their own matching accrual rule.^[4] Wrongful death accrues on the date of death.^[4]

For a typical crash, you know the day it happened. The discovery rule is not a spare year because you hoped the pain would fade, and it is not extra time because you later learned the injury was worse than you first thought. Hidden injuries (a delayed diagnosis, a cause that was not reasonably knowable) can shift accrual. Insurers and courts still ask what a reasonably diligent person would have known, and when.

Worked example

Hypothetical. A crash on I-25 on March 1, 2024, injures you. You know you were hurt that day. The motor-vehicle lawsuit deadline is generally March 1, 2027.^[1][4] Settling talks in 2026 do not stop the clock. If no case is filed by the deadline, a later lawsuit is subject to dismissal even if liability was clear.

Change the facts. Same injuries, but a City of Denver snowplow — or an RTD bus — is involved. You still have the lawsuit limitation — and you also have a 182-day written-notice deadline under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, running from discovery of the injury.^[3] Missing that notice can bar the claim even if the two-year (or three-year) lawsuit statute has not run. The notice teardown is in our RTD 182-day notice guide. Transit-vehicle facts live on the Denver bus accident lawyer page.

Video: Colorado's 182-day government claim notice

This existing Conduit Law video covers the same 182-day written notice that applies when a city plow, RTD bus, or other public entity is in the claim. The notice is a condition of suit, not optional paperwork.

Prefer the standalone watch page? Watch Colorado's 182-Day Government Claim Dead Video

Watch the companion at conduit.law/videos/colorado-notice-of-claim-government-entity. The contents, addressee, and late-notice cost are in the RTD 182-day notice guide. General information only, not legal advice.

Insurance claim deadlines vs. the lawsuit deadline

People search for an “insurance claim statute of limitations” in Colorado because the insurer is the one they are actually dealing with. The deadlines in this article are for lawsuits. Opening a claim with the other driver's insurer, giving a recorded statement, or trading offers with an adjuster does not file anything in court, and it does not pause the three-year or two-year clock.^[1][2] Your policy also sets its own prompt-notice duties; those are covered in how long you have to report an accident to insurance.

A claim on your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage has a separate statute. An action or arbitration demand on a UM or UIM claim generally must be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrues.^[6] If the underlying injury claim against the at-fault driver was preserved within its own deadline, the window can run later:

• Underinsured motorist (UIM): within two years after you receive payment of the settlement or judgment on the underlying bodily-injury claim, if that claim was preserved by a lawsuit or by payment within the time limit.^[6]
• Uninsured motorist (UM): within two years after you know the at-fault driver is not covered by any applicable insurance, if the claim against that driver was preserved by a timely lawsuit.^[6]

Either way, the statute says you never get less than three years from accrual.^[6] UM/UIM accrual uses the same known-or-should-have-known test as other injury claims.^[6] How the coverage itself works is on the underinsured motorist and uninsured motorist pages.

What people get wrong

The myth: “Personal injury in Colorado is always three years.” The three-year statute is the motor-vehicle exception.^[1] The default injury/tort deadline is two years.^[2] The other myth is that an adjuster's “we're still reviewing” pauses the statute. Only a legally recognized toll — or actually filing — stops the clock. A public-entity claim has a separate 182-day notice that people treat as optional paperwork. It is a condition of suit.^[3]

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in Colorado?

Generally three years after the claim accrues for bodily injury or property damage from a motor vehicle.^[1] Accrual is usually the crash date, subject to the discovery rule.^[4]

Is a slip-and-fall also three years?

No. Ordinary negligence, including most premises claims, is generally two years.^[2] Do not borrow the motor-vehicle deadline unless the injury arose from use or operation of a motor vehicle.^[1]

What is the 182-day government deadline?

Under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, you must file a written notice of claim within 182 days after discovering the injury.^[3] That notice is separate from, and earlier than, the lawsuit limitation. See the RTD 182-day notice guide for contents, addressee, and what a late letter costs.

Does the discovery rule give me extra years on a crash I remember?

Usually no. Accrual is when the injury and its cause are known or should have been known.^[4] A crash you lived through is typically known that day. Later learning the injury is more serious is not the same as not knowing you were hurt.

Is there a statute of limitations on an insurance claim in Colorado?

The injury lawsuit deadlines above do not pause while an insurance claim is open.^[1][2] A claim on your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage generally must be filed or demanded in arbitration within three years after it accrues, with a possible later deadline if the claim against the at-fault driver was preserved in time.^[6] Policy notice requirements are a separate contract issue.

Does settling or partial fault change the deadline?

A final settlement usually ends the right to sue, so the statute no longer matters. Partial fault is a separate issue under comparative negligence: you can still be on time and recover nothing if you are 50% or more at fault.^[5]

Bottom Line

Match the deadline to the claim: 3 years for most motor-vehicle injury and crash property-damage suits, 2 years for most other injury and wrongful-death suits, and 182 days to notice a public entity.^[1][2][3] File early enough to build the case, not on the last morning. Colorado is an at-fault state, so the deadline and the fault question run together. For a free consult on which deadline applies, call (720) 432-7032.

Article Sources

1. C.R.S. § 13-80-101(1)(n). Three-year limitation for torts for bodily injury or property damage arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle. https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-13.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2026. ↩
2. C.R.S. § 13-80-102. Two-year limitation for most tort, wrongful-death, and public-entity actions, with a four-year wrongful-death exception in subsection (2). https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-13.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2026. ↩
3. C.R.S. § 24-10-109. Colorado Governmental Immunity Act — written notice of claim within 182 days after discovery of the injury. https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-24.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2026. ↩
4. C.R.S. § 13-80-108. When a cause of action accrues, including the discovery rule for injury and motor-vehicle claims. https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-13.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2026. ↩
5. C.R.S. § 13-21-111. Comparative negligence — fault can still reduce or bar a timely claim. https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-13.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2026. ↩
6. C.R.S. § 13-80-107.5. Limitation of actions for uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance — three years after accrual, with a two-year extension after the underlying claim is preserved, and “in no event” less than three years. https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-13.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2026. ↩

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The law is complex and every case is unique. You should consult a qualified attorney to discuss the specifics of your situation, including which limitation period applies.