Most Michigan personal injury lawsuits must be filed within 3 years of the injury (MCL 600.5805(2)). The deadlines that end cases are the shorter ones around it: 1 year to give your no-fault insurer written notice of a claim for PIP benefits (MCL 500.3145), 2 years for a dram shop claim against the bar that overserved the driver, with written notice to every defendant within 120 days of hiring a lawyer (MCL 436.1801), 2 years for medical malpractice with a 182-day notice of intent before suit (MCL 600.5805(8), 600.2912b), 120 days to notify a road agency or a public building's owner (MCL 691.1404, 691.1406) and 6 months to notify the Court of Claims of an injury caused by the State (MCL 600.6431). Enter the date you were hurt and the kind of claim to see the general deadlines that apply, each with the statute behind it.
Periods checked against the 2025 edition of the Michigan Compiled Laws and reviewed by Koussan Law on September 17, 2026. The results are general rules, not a calculation for your case: tolling, discovery rules, the age of the injured person, a death, a government defendant or an insurance contract can move every date shown.
Michigan injury deadlines at a glance
| Claim | Lawsuit deadline | Shortest notice or claim deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian or bicycle crash | 3 years (MCL 600.5805(2)) | 1 year: Written notice of injury or application to the no-fault insurer for PIP benefits (MCL 500.3145(1)) |
| No-fault PIP benefits only (medical bills, wage loss, attendant care, mileage) | see the section below | 1 year: Written notice of injury or application for benefits to the responsible insurer (MCL 500.3145(1)) |
| Slip, trip or fall, or another injury on someone's property | 3 years (MCL 600.5805(2)) | 120 days: Written notice to the city, village or township for a fall on a public sidewalk (MCL 691.1404(1); MCL 691.1402a) |
| Injury caused by a government body (pothole or road defect, city bus, police or state vehicle, public building) | 2 years (MCL 691.1411(2)) | 120 days: Written notice to the road agency for a highway defect (pothole, missing guardrail or sign, crumbling shoulder, public sidewalk) (MCL 691.1404(1)) |
| Dog bite or animal attack | 3 years (MCL 600.5805(2); MCL 287.351) | none required by statute |
| Dram shop: a bar, restaurant or store served the drunk driver or the attacker | 2 years (MCL 436.1801(3)) | written notice to every defendant within 120 days of hiring a lawyer (MCL 436.1801(3)) |
| Nursing home or assisted living neglect or abuse | 3 years (MCL 600.5805(2)) | none required by statute |
| Wrongful death | 3 years (MCL 600.2922; MCL 600.5805(2)) | 1 year: Survivor's loss and funeral benefits from the no-fault insurer after a fatal crash (MCL 500.3108; MCL 500.3145(1)) |
| Defective product (vehicle part, machine, medical device, consumer product) | 3 years (MCL 600.5805(12)) | none required by statute |
| Assault, battery or negligent security (attacked at a bar, apartment complex, parking lot, hotel) | 2 years (MCL 600.5805(3)) | none required by statute |
| Sexual assault or abuse (criminal sexual conduct), including claims against the institution | 10 years (MCL 600.5805(6)) | none required by statute |
| Medical malpractice (hospital, doctor, surgeon, nurse, clinic) | 2 years from the act or omission (MCL 600.5805(8)); 6-year outer limit | 182-day notice of intent before suit (MCL 600.2912b) |
Car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian or bicycle crash
A Michigan crash usually produces two separate claims with two different clocks. Your own no-fault insurer (or the insurer assigned to you) owes PIP benefits for medical bills, wage loss and replacement services, and that claim runs on a one-year clock. The driver who hurt you can be sued for pain and suffering and excess economic loss, and that claim runs on a three-year clock, but only if the injury crosses the serious impairment threshold in MCL 500.3135.
Lawsuit against the at-fault driver for pain and suffering and excess economic loss. 3 years after the injury. Three years after the injury. The claim also has to clear the serious impairment of body function threshold, so the medical record matters as much as the calendar. MCL 600.5805(2)
Written notice of injury or application to the no-fault insurer for PIP benefits. 1 year after the injury. If no written notice reaches the insurer within one year of the accident and the insurer has paid nothing, a PIP lawsuit is barred. The notice only needs the injured person's name and address, the time, place and nature of the injury, but it must be in writing. MCL 500.3145(1)
Lawsuit for unpaid PIP benefits. Once notice was given or a benefit was paid, suit may be filed within one year after the most recent expense or loss was incurred, and the court can only award losses incurred in the year before the suit was filed (the one-year-back rule). Since the 2019 amendments that clock stops from the day a specific claim for payment is submitted until the insurer formally denies it. Each unpaid bill has its own year. MCL 500.3145(2) and (3)
Claim to the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan when no insurer is responsible for your PIP benefits. 1 year after the injury. Pedestrians, passengers and drivers with no policy in the household often depend on the assigned claims plan. The application deadline mirrors the one-year PIP rule. MCL 500.3174
Mini tort claim against the at-fault driver for vehicle damage (up to $3,000). 3 years after the injury. A small claims or district court claim for the part of your vehicle damage that your own policy did not cover. MCL 600.5805(2); MCL 500.3135(3)(e)
Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. A contract claim under your own policy. The policy sets its own notice and suit deadlines and Michigan courts enforce them as written, sometimes as short as one year. Read the policy the week of the crash, and give the insurer written notice of a possible UM or UIM claim early. policy terms; Rory v Continental Insurance Co, 473 Mich 457 (2005)
Related: Car accident lawyers, Michigan no-fault PIP claims, Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims, The serious impairment threshold, explained.
No-fault PIP benefits only (medical bills, wage loss, attendant care, mileage)
Personal protection insurance benefits are paid by your own auto insurer, a relative's insurer, the insurer of the vehicle you occupied, or the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan, in the order MCL 500.3114 sets. The deadlines belong to the injured person and to every provider who treats them.
Written notice of injury or application for benefits to the responsible insurer. 1 year after the injury. The single most missed deadline in Michigan injury law. A phone call is not written notice. An application for benefits, a letter, or a provider's claim form that identifies the injured person, the time, place and nature of the injury all count. MCL 500.3145(1)
Lawsuit for a denied or unpaid benefit. Within one year after that expense or loss was incurred, and recovery is limited to losses incurred in the year before suit. The period is tolled from the date a specific claim for payment is submitted until the insurer formally denies it. A bill submitted and left in limbo is protected; a bill never submitted is not. MCL 500.3145(2) and (3)
Claim to the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan. 1 year after the injury. Same one-year window as the notice to an identified insurer. MCL 500.3174
Medical providers billing no-fault. A provider who holds an assignment from the patient stands in the patient's shoes: the same one-year notice rule, the same one-year-back rule and the same claim-to-denial tolling apply to each charge. MCL 500.3112; MCL 500.3145
Related: Michigan no-fault PIP claims, Provider no-fault collections, PIP insurance in Michigan: the guide.
Slip, trip or fall, or another injury on someone's property
Falls in stores, parking lots, apartment buildings and on private walks are ordinary negligence claims with a three-year clock. The same fall on a public sidewalk, in a public building or on a road becomes a claim against a government body, and those claims carry short written-notice deadlines that arrive long before the lawsuit deadline.
Lawsuit against the owner, tenant or contractor responsible for the property. 3 years after the injury. Three years after the injury. Surveillance video is usually overwritten in days or weeks, so the evidence clock is far shorter than the legal one. MCL 600.5805(2)
Written notice to the city, village or township for a fall on a public sidewalk. 120 days after the injury. A public sidewalk is part of the highway under the governmental immunity act, so the highway-defect notice applies: 120 days from the injury, stating the exact location and nature of the defect, the injury and the known witnesses. The suit deadline is then two years (MCL 691.1411(2)), and the municipality must have known of the defect at least 30 days before the fall (MCL 691.1402a(2)). MCL 691.1404(1); MCL 691.1402a
Written notice to the government agency for a dangerous condition of a public building. 120 days after the injury. Courthouses, schools, city halls, public housing. The notice must state the exact location and nature of the defect, the injury and the known witnesses. The lawsuit itself keeps the three-year period (MCL 691.1411(1)). MCL 691.1406
Related: Slip and fall lawyers, Premises liability, Sidewalk trip and fall, Sidewalk falls: the city versus the property owner.
Injury caused by a government body (pothole or road defect, city bus, police or state vehicle, public building)
Michigan governmental immunity is the rule and liability is the exception. The exceptions that matter for injury cases are defective highways, negligently operated government vehicles and dangerous public buildings, and two of them require written notice within months of the injury. Claims against the State of Michigan itself go to the Court of Claims on their own timetable.
Written notice to the road agency for a highway defect (pothole, missing guardrail or sign, crumbling shoulder, public sidewalk). 120 days after the injury. Served on a person who may receive civil process for that agency (for the state, filed with the Court of Claims). It must state the exact location and nature of the defect, the injury and the known witnesses. A person under 18 gets 180 days (MCL 691.1404(3)). MCL 691.1404(1)
Lawsuit for a highway-defect injury. 2 years after the injury. Two years, not the usual three, for claims under the highway exception. MCL 691.1411(2)
Written notice for a dangerous or defective public building. 120 days after the injury. Same content as the highway notice; the lawsuit period stays at three years (MCL 691.1411(1); MCL 600.5805(2)). MCL 691.1406
Lawsuit for a crash caused by a city, county, transit or school vehicle. 3 years after the injury. The motor vehicle exception has no special pre-suit notice for local agencies. No-fault PIP rules still apply to your own benefits, on the one-year clock. MCL 691.1405; MCL 600.5805(2)
Notice of intention or claim filed with the Court of Claims for personal injury caused by the State of Michigan (state police, MDOT, a state university or hospital). 6 months after the injury. Signed and verified, stating when and where the claim arose, its nature, the damages and the state agencies involved. Six months for personal injury and property damage; one year for other claims. MCL 600.6431(1) and (4)
Claim filed in the Court of Claims against the State. 3 years after the injury. Three years after the claim accrues, and only if the six-month notice was filed. MCL 600.6452(1)
Related: Government vehicle accidents, Public transit and bus accidents, Suing the government for bad roads.
Dog bite or animal attack
Michigan's dog bite statute makes the owner liable without proof of negligence when the bite happens in a public place or while the victim is lawfully on private property and did not provoke the dog. The claim follows the ordinary injury clock.
Lawsuit against the dog's owner (strict liability) or a negligent keeper or landlord. 3 years after the injury. Three years after the bite. Homeowner's or renter's insurance usually pays, so identify the owner and the policy early. MCL 600.5805(2); MCL 287.351
Related: Dog bite lawyers.
Dram shop: a bar, restaurant or store served the drunk driver or the attacker
When a licensee sells or serves alcohol to a minor or to a visibly intoxicated person who then injures or kills someone, the Liquor Control Code gives the victim a claim against the licensee. It is the exclusive remedy against the bar, it has the shortest combination of deadlines in Michigan injury law, and it has a procedural trap that ends cases: the intoxicated person must be named and kept in the lawsuit.
Lawsuit against the licensee that served the minor or visibly intoxicated person. 2 years after the injury. Two years after the injury or death, one year less than the claim against the drunk driver. MCL 436.1801(3)
Written notice to every defendant within 120 days after entering an attorney-client relationship. The 120 days run from the day you hire a lawyer, not from the crash. The only excuse is that the licensee's involvement was not known and could not reasonably have been known within those 120 days. Tell your lawyer about every bar, restaurant, party store and event on the first call. MCL 436.1801(3)
Name and retain the intoxicated person. The minor or the allegedly intoxicated person must be a named defendant and stay in the case until it ends. Settling with the driver and dismissing him can dismiss the claim against the bar with him. MCL 436.1801(4)
Companion lawsuit against the drunk driver. 3 years after the injury. The ordinary three-year clock, but in practice the two-year dram shop deadline controls the whole case. MCL 600.5805(2)
Related: Dram shop liability, Drunk driving accident claims in Michigan.
Nursing home or assisted living neglect or abuse
Falls, pressure sores, dehydration, medication errors and assaults in a facility can be pleaded as ordinary negligence or as medical malpractice, and the label decides the clock. Claims about staffing, supervision and safety are usually ordinary negligence on the three-year period; claims that question a professional medical judgment are treated as malpractice on the two-year period with a pre-suit notice of intent.
Ordinary negligence claim against the facility (supervision, staffing, safety, abuse by staff). 3 years after the injury. Three years after the injury. Michigan's Supreme Court draws the negligence versus malpractice line by asking whether the claim needs medical judgment to evaluate (Bryant v Oakpointe Villa Nursing Centre, 471 Mich 411 (2004)), so many facility cases carry both kinds of counts. MCL 600.5805(2)
Counts that challenge professional medical judgment. Two years from the act or omission, a 182-day notice of intent before filing, and the six-month discovery rule and six-year outer limit described under medical malpractice below. When a case could be pleaded either way, the safe course is to meet the malpractice deadlines. MCL 600.5805(8); MCL 600.2912b
If the resident died. See wrongful death: the personal representative gets two years after letters of authority are issued, never more than three years after the underlying period ran, and for malpractice counts the two years run from the letters issued to the first personal representative. MCL 600.5852
Related: Nursing home negligence, Wrongful death, Anatomy of a $1.5 million nursing home settlement.
Wrongful death
Michigan's wrongful death act does not carry its own limitations period. The estate's claim takes the period of the claim the person would have had, counted from the injury or the death, and the personal representative gets a saving period tied to the probate appointment.
Death caused by negligence (crash, fall, defective product, dog attack, assault by a third party). 3 years after the injury. Three years, measured from the injury or the death. MCL 600.2922; MCL 600.5805(2)
Death caused by a driver a licensee overserved (dram shop). 2 years after the injury. Two years after the injury or death, with the 120-day notice and the name-and-retain rule. MCL 436.1801(3)
Death caused by medical malpractice. Two years from the act or omission, the 182-day notice of intent, and the saving period below runs from the letters of authority issued to the first personal representative only. MCL 600.5805(8); MCL 600.5852(2)
Personal representative's saving period. If the person died before the period ran, or within 30 days after it ran, the personal representative may sue within two years after letters of authority are issued, but never later than three years after the period of limitations has run. Enter the date the probate court issued letters of authority to see both dates. MCL 600.5852(1) and (4)
Survivor's loss and funeral benefits from the no-fault insurer after a fatal crash. 1 year after the injury. Written notice within one year of the accident, the same rule as any other PIP claim. MCL 500.3108; MCL 500.3145(1)
Related: Wrongful death lawyers, Michigan's wrongful death framework, explained.
Defective product (vehicle part, machine, medical device, consumer product)
Product liability claims against the manufacturer or seller have their own three-year subsection, and the evidence rule is even more urgent: the product itself must be preserved unaltered.
Product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer or seller. 3 years after the injury. Three years after the death or injury. Keep the product, the packaging, the receipts and the manuals; do not let an insurer or a repair shop discard the part. MCL 600.5805(12)
Related: Product liability and defective products.
Assault, battery or negligent security (attacked at a bar, apartment complex, parking lot, hotel)
The attacker and the property owner are sued on different clocks. An intentional assault or battery claim against the attacker has two years; a negligent security claim against the owner or operator who failed to prevent a foreseeable attack has the ordinary three.
Assault, battery or false imprisonment claim against the attacker. 2 years after the injury. Two years. Five years when the attacker is a spouse, former spouse, co-parent or someone in a dating relationship with the victim (MCL 600.5805(4) and (5)). MCL 600.5805(3)
Negligent security claim against the property owner, manager or security company. 3 years after the injury. Three years. Incident reports, 911 records and prior-crime data for the property are the case; request them early. MCL 600.5805(2)
Dram shop claim if a licensee overserved the attacker. 2 years after the injury. Two years, with the 120-day notice and the name-and-retain rule. MCL 436.1801(3)
Related: Negligent security, Premises liability.
Sexual assault or abuse (criminal sexual conduct), including claims against the institution
Michigan extended the civil deadlines for criminal sexual conduct in 2018. A survivor has ten years, a survivor who was a minor has until age 28 or three years after discovering the injury and its cause, whichever is later, and no criminal conviction is required. Claims against a church, school, daycare, foster agency, employer or facility for enabling the abuse are pleaded alongside the claim against the abuser.
Civil action for damages because of criminal sexual conduct. 10 years after the injury. Ten years after the conduct. Whether a particular institutional defendant falls under this ten-year period or the ordinary three-year negligence period is fact-specific; do not assume the longer one applies to every defendant. MCL 600.5805(6)
Survivor who was under 18 at the time. The action may be filed until the survivor's 28th birthday or three years after the survivor discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, both the injury and its cause, whichever is later. A conviction is not required (MCL 600.5851b(2)). MCL 600.5851b(1)
Ordinary negligence claim against an institution (negligent hiring, supervision, retention, security). 3 years after the injury. Three years is the conservative planning date for institutional negligence counts; the longer criminal sexual conduct periods may reach some of them. MCL 600.5805(2)
Related: Sexual assault lawyers, Church and institutional abuse, Daycare injuries, Foster care abuse.
Medical malpractice (hospital, doctor, surgeon, nurse, clinic)
Malpractice has the most technical timetable in Michigan law: a two-year period from the act or omission, a six-month discovery rule, a six-year outer limit, a mandatory 182-day notice of intent before suit, and special rules for children and for wrongful death. Koussan Law refers medical malpractice matters to malpractice specialists and can make that introduction quickly; the dates below are why the introduction cannot wait.
Lawsuit for medical malpractice. 2 years after the act or omission. Two years from the act or omission that is the basis of the claim, whether or not you knew about it at the time. MCL 600.5805(8); MCL 600.5838a(1)
Latest date to mail the notice of intent (182 days before the suit deadline). 182 days before the 2 years deadline. Written notice must go to every health professional and facility at least 182 days before the complaint is filed. Notice given inside the last 182 days of the period tolls the period, but only for the days that were left in the notice period, so mailing early is the only safe plan. MCL 600.2912b(1); MCL 600.5856(c)
Six-month discovery rule. If the malpractice could not reasonably have been discovered in time, suit may be filed within six months after the patient discovers or should have discovered the claim. The patient carries the burden of proving that. MCL 600.5838a(2)
Outer limit (statute of repose). 6 years after the act or omission. No malpractice suit more than six years after the act or omission, except where fraudulent conduct prevented discovery or the injury is a permanent loss of the ability to have children. MCL 600.5838a(2)
Children. A child injured before age 8 may sue until the child's 10th birthday if that is later than the ordinary period; for an injury to the reproductive system before age 13, until the 15th birthday. The general one-year-after-18 rule for minors does not extend malpractice claims. MCL 600.5851(7) and (8)
If the patient died. The personal representative's two-year saving period runs only from the letters of authority issued to the first personal representative, and a later appointment does not restart it. MCL 600.5852(2)
Related: Medical malpractice referrals, The malpractice statute of limitations, explained.
If the injured person was a child
A person who is under 18 or legally insane when the claim accrues has one year after the disability ends (for a minor, one year after the 18th birthday) to sue, if that is later than the ordinary deadline (MCL 600.5851(1)). The disability must exist when the claim accrues (MCL 600.5851(3)). Highway-defect notice for a minor is 180 days rather than 120 (MCL 691.1404(3)); the Court of Claims notice has no extension; malpractice claims of children follow MCL 600.5851(7) and (8) instead.
How Michigan counts the days
Michigan counts a period by excluding the day of the injury and including the last day; if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the period runs to the end of the next court day (MCR 1.108(1)). The calculator shows the anniversary date and flags weekends. Treat the anniversary date as the deadline and file well before it.
Why the deadline in your case may differ
- Tolling. The period can pause while a defendant is out of state or concealed, while a malpractice notice of intent runs (MCL 600.5856), and, for PIP benefits, from a specific claim for payment until the insurer's formal denial.
- Contracts. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, some disability and life policies, and many releases set their own shorter deadlines, and Michigan courts enforce them as written.
- Defendants. Government bodies require notice within 120 days (highway, public building) or six months (the State), and the government's own vehicle claims skip notice; federal agencies require an administrative claim within two years under the Federal Tort Claims Act before suit, a different system entirely.
- Discovery. Malpractice has a six-month discovery rule and a six-year repose. Most other injury claims accrue when the wrong is done, whether or not you knew the extent of the harm.
- Death. The estate's personal representative has a saving period tied to the probate appointment (MCL 600.5852); a claim that was already time-barred at death is not revived.
- Benefits and liens. Medicare, Medicaid, ERISA plans and health insurers assert repayment rights on their own schedules, and no-fault providers have per-charge deadlines.
What to do this week
Write down the date and place of the injury, who was involved and every insurer that might owe something. Give your auto insurer written notice of any crash injury now, not at the one-year mark. If a government body, a bar or a hospital is involved, the notice clock is already running. Koussan Law reviews Michigan injury deadlines for free: call (313) 800-0000 or use the contact page, and bring the dates. For the statutes themselves, the complete statute of limitations guide and the Michigan No-Fault Act explorer quote the law in full.
Important: This is not legal advice
This article is general information about Michigan personal injury law. It is not legal advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for consultation with a licensed Michigan attorney about your specific situation. The laws, deadlines, procedures, and frameworks here are general guidelines that may or may not apply to your case.
Every personal injury case turns on its own unique facts. The timing, the parties, the evidence, the jurisdiction, the insurance available, and dozens of other variables can change the legal analysis. Do not rely on anything written on this website to make decisions about your case.
If you have been injured in Michigan, the only responsible step is to speak with a licensed Michigan attorney about your specific facts. Call Koussan Law at (313) 800-0000 for a free consultation, or contact a different Michigan personal injury attorney of your choosing.
Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship with Koussan Law. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
