New Hampshire Personal Injury Laws and Statutes of Limitations

Filing Deadlines for New Hampshire Personal Injury Lawsuits

New Hampshire has several deadlines, called "statutes of limitations," that limit your time to file a PI lawsuit. The rule for most cases is three years, but the law puts different limits on some claims. We'll look at a few examples.

New Hampshire's General Rule: Three Years to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit

You'll find New Hampshire's general PI statute of limitations at N.H. Rev. Stat. § 508:4(I) (2024). Typically, you have three years from the date you were injured to file your lawsuit in court. But what happens if you didn't know right away that you were injured? It seems unfair that your time to file a case might run out before you even know you're hurt.

In that situation, New Hampshire's "discovery rule" gives you more time to file. Under the discovery rule, when you don't know you've been injured at the time it happens, the statute of limitations clock doesn't start running until the earlier of:

• the date you discover your injury and its cause, or
• the date you should have discovered your injury and its cause, had you been reasonably diligent.

The discovery rule doesn't apply to lawsuits for defamation. (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 508:4(II) (2024).) A defamation lawsuit must be filed within three years from the date the defamatory statement was made.

Finally, note that this three-year limitation period also applies to New Hampshire wrongful death lawsuits. (See Cheever v. Southern New Hampshire Med. Ctr., 141 N.H. 589, 591 (1997).)

Other Statutes of Limitations for Specific Cases

New Hampshire's general rule covers most, but not all, PI cases. Here are some statutes of limitations that apply in particular cases.

Lawsuits against a local government. When you're suing a local government for a personal injury, the filing deadline is three years from the date you're injured. The discovery rule applies here, too. If your injury wasn't discoverable when it happened, the limitation clock begins running on the date you discovered or should have discovered it. (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 507-B:7(I) (2024).)

Lawsuits against New Hampshire. The deadline to file a personal injury suit against the state is three years from the date of injury or death. (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 541-B:14(IV) (2024).)

Medical malpractice lawsuits. You have two years from the date of the malpractice to file a lawsuit. Two exceptions to this rule might allow more time.

• Foreign objects. When the doctor leaves a foreign object inside your body that you couldn't have known about, the discovery rule applies. The two-year clock runs not from the date of the malpractice, but from the date you discovered or should have discovered the presence of the foreign object.
• Child injured by malpractice. A child younger than eight years old has until their 10th birthday to sue.

(N.H. Rev. Stat. § 507-C:4 (2024).)

Lawsuits over dangerous products. If you're suing because you were injured by a dangerous product, your lawsuit must be filed within three years from the date you discovered or should have discovered your injury. (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 507-D:2(I) (2024).)

Can the Filing Deadline Be Extended?

Sometimes, yes. In addition to the discovery rule (discussed above), there are circumstances when New Hampshire law extends the statute of limitations deadline. Here are a couple of examples.

Legal disability. A person who's legally disabled has two years from the date their disability ends to file a personal injury lawsuit. For purposes of this law, "legally disabled" means a person who's:

• a minor (younger than 18 years old), or
• "mentally incompetent."

(N.H. Rev. Stat. § 508:8 (2024).)

Person who injured you leaves New Hampshire. When the person who caused your injury leaves New Hampshire, before or after you're injured, the limitation clock doesn't run for the period they're out of the state. (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 508:9 (2024).)