After a crash near Rittenhouse, the first weeks are about treatment, the police report and the insurance claim. The lawsuit deadline feels far off. In Pennsylvania it is not as far as many people think, and a different clock starts even sooner if a city or state vehicle was involved.
Section 5524 of Title 42 is the ordinary rule for a crash case. The following actions must be commenced within two years. That list includes a damages action for personal injury, or for a death caused by someone else’s wrongful act, neglect, unlawful violence or negligence. It also includes any other action or proceeding to recover damages for injury to person or property which is founded on negligent, intentional or otherwise tortious conduct.
A typical claim against a careless driver is an action founded on negligence. The two-year period in section 5524 is the one that usually applies.
What “commenced” means
The deadline is about starting the civil action, not about finishing a settlement. Talking with an adjuster, treating with a doctor or cashing a property-damage check does not, by itself, start a lawsuit. If the complaint is filed after the period runs, the other side can ask the court to throw the filing out as untimely.
In Philadelphia County, a crash case above the Municipal Court limit is filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Trial Division-Civil. The Civil Filing Center is in Room 296 of City Hall. Our courthouse guide explains which court hears which case, and where compulsory arbitration fits.
Death claims use the same two-year statute
Section 5524(2) expressly covers a death action based on neglect or negligence. Pennsylvania splits that kind of case into a wrongful death action and a survival action, under section 8301 and section 8302. The filing period in section 5524 is still two years. Families should not assume they have extra time because the claim is brought by an estate. Our wrongful death guide covers who may recover and what each action is for.
Government claims have a much earlier written notice
If the crash involved a vehicle in the possession or control of the City of Philadelphia, a Commonwealth agency or another government unit, section 5522 adds a six-month written-statement requirement. It does not replace the two-year filing rule. It is a condition that comes first.
Within six months from the date that any injury was sustained or any cause of action accrued, a person about to commence a civil action against a government unit for damages on account of injury to person or property must file a signed written statement in the office of that government unit. If the action is against a Commonwealth agency for damages, the statement must also be filed in the office of the Attorney General.
The statement has to set forth the name and residence address of the person to whom the cause of action has accrued, the name and residence address of the person injured, the date and hour of the accident, the approximate location, and the name and residence or office address of any attending physician. If that statement is not filed, a civil action commenced against the government unit more than six months after the date of injury shall be dismissed, and the person cannot proceed further. The court shall excuse a failure upon a showing of reasonable excuse.
For a government unit other than the Commonwealth government, the six-month period does not include time, not exceeding 90 days, during which the injured individual is unable to give notice due to incapacitation or disability from the injury. If the injuries result in death, the time for giving notice commences with the death. Failure to comply does not end the claim if the government unit had actual or constructive notice of the incident or condition. Those softening rules are in the statute. They are not a reason to wait.
Our government notice guide walks through the immunity caps that apply after the notice is given.
Insurance claims are not the same clock
First-party medical benefits and uninsured motorist claims have their own policy terms and their own statutes. Paying or being paid under a first-party benefit does not extend the two years to sue the other driver. Section 1722 actually works in the other direction for certain amounts. A person eligible to receive first-party benefits is precluded from recovering the amount of benefits paid or payable in an action against a tortfeasor or in a UM or UIM proceeding. Our benefits guide explains that overlap.
Do not treat a drawn-out negotiation as a pause button on section 5524. If the two-year mark is getting close and the claim is not resolved, a Pennsylvania lawyer can tell you whether a complaint needs to be filed to protect the claim.
Other clocks and exceptions
Some other limitation periods exist for other kinds of actions, and some facts can change when a claim accrues. A page cannot set a date for a particular case. If you were hurt in a Philadelphia crash, count two years from the crash as the ordinary outer limit for a negligence suit, put the six-month government statement on the calendar immediately if a public vehicle was involved, and get a lawyer to apply the statute to your facts. Room 296 in City Hall is the Civil Filing Center for a Common Pleas case in Philadelphia County. A late arrival at that desk does not revive a period that has already run.