If you were hurt in Delaware by someone else's conduct, you generally have two years from the date of the injury to file a personal-injury lawsuit. The deadline comes from 10 Del. C. section 8119, and the clock starts on the date the injury was sustained. Miss the window and the courthouse door closes, even if the underlying case is strong.
The two-year number is the rule most Delaware injury searches return. The biggest traps are the government-claim notice deadlines under the Delaware Tort Claims Act and the modified 51% comparative-fault bar, which is more forgiving than Maryland or Virginia next door but still ends cases at the midline. This post walks through what the two-year SOL really means in 2026, where the exceptions are, and the fact patterns we see trip people up most.
The default Delaware PI window: two years under 10 Del. C. 8119
10 Del. C. section 8119 sets a two-year statute of limitations for actions for the recovery of damages for personal injuries. It is the catch-all for the vast majority of Delaware PI cases: car crashes on I-95, slip-and-falls, premises liability, dog bites, and most negligence claims.
The clock starts on the date the injury was sustained. Delaware recognizes a discovery rule in narrow categories where the injury was inherently unknowable. Otherwise the date-of-injury rule controls.
Delaware is a PIP no-fault state by structure: 21 Del. C. section 2118 requires every motor-vehicle policy to carry $15,000/$30,000 PIP. PIP pays medical and lost wages regardless of fault, but Delaware does not impose a tort threshold. A claimant who has been paid PIP can still sue the at-fault driver for pain-and-suffering and excess medicals.
Exception one: the Delaware Tort Claims Act
If your injury involves the State of Delaware, a state agency, or a state employee acting in the scope of employment, the Delaware Tort Claims Act (10 Del. C. chapter 40) governs and immunity is the default. Immunity is waived only where the act was performed in bad faith, with gross or wanton negligence, or outside the discretion of the employee, and liability insurance has been procured.
The operative procedural hard deadline against the State is the 1-year claim presentation under 10 Del. C. section 4013, requiring written notice to the State within one year of the cause of action. Substantial compliance is not enough; the statute requires strict adherence to content and timing.
The 2-year general SOL still runs, and a complaint must be filed within that window even if notice is properly given.
The single most common Delaware government-claim trap: a claimant injured by a DelDOT vehicle or on state property assumes the two-year SOL applies, contacts an attorney 14 months later, and learns the 1-year DTCA notice has already run.
Exception two: modified 51% comparative-fault bar
Delaware follows a modified comparative-fault rule with a 51% bar under 10 Del. C. section 8132. A plaintiff whose negligence was not greater than the combined negligence of the defendants recovers, reduced by the plaintiff's percentage of fault. A plaintiff whose negligence was greater than that of the defendants recovers nothing.
The practical line is 50%. At 50% the plaintiff still recovers (halved). At 51% the case ends.
Exception three: medical malpractice
Delaware medical malpractice runs under 18 Del. C. section 6856: two-year SOL from the date of the alleged injury, with a three-year discovery extension in narrow circumstances. 18 Del. C. section 6853 requires an affidavit of merit signed by an expert witness, attached to the complaint at filing or filed within 60 days.
Failure to file the affidavit of merit is grounds for dismissal. Delaware judges enforce the requirement strictly.
Exception four: minors
10 Del. C. section 8116 tolls the general SOL during minority. A child injured at age 10 has until two years after reaching majority to file. The toll does not apply to the DTCA notice deadline, which runs from accrual regardless of age.
A common Delaware fact pattern that ends cases early
A driver is rear-ended on Route 1 by a state-owned vehicle, treated at Christiana, and assumes Delaware PIP plus the 2-year SOL covers everything. Fifteen months later, with ongoing physical therapy and a soft-tissue claim that has outgrown the PIP limit, the driver calls an attorney. The 1-year DTCA notice to the State has already run. The 2-year general SOL still has nine months, but the only deep-pocket defendant was the state, and notice was the predicate. The claim against the State is barred.
The takeaway: if any Delaware state actor is potentially involved, treat the 1-year DTCA notice as the operative deadline and act inside it, not the two-year general SOL.
Exception five: wrongful death
Delaware wrongful death runs under 10 Del. C. section 8107: two years from the date of death. Standing is limited to the personal representative of the estate and certain statutorily-enumerated relatives. The DTCA notice still controls if a state actor is the alleged tortfeasor.
Other Delaware-specific PI rules worth knowing
Dog bites. 16 Del. C. section 3053F imposes strict liability on the dog owner for injuries caused by the dog, with limited defenses for trespassers and provocateurs. Two-year SOL.
Premises liability and slip-and-fall. Two-year SOL. Delaware applies traditional invitee/licensee/trespasser distinctions. The 51% modified-comparative bar applies.
Auto: stacked PIP/UM. Delaware PIP is primary and pays without fault. UM coverage stacks across vehicles on the same policy unless explicitly rejected in writing. Underinsured-motorist claims have their own contractual notice provisions that often run shorter than two years.
How the LawSensai Personal Injury Recovery Center helps with Delaware matters
We built the Recovery Center to handle the day-one organizational work in a Delaware PI case so that nothing falls through the cracks during the two-year window. We document the incident through a calm, save-and-resume intake, build a medical-and-evidence timeline, and surface every applicable deadline, including the 1-year Delaware Tort Claims Act notice, the affidavit-of-merit requirement in medmal cases, the UM/UIM contractual notice provisions in your auto policy, and the underlying 10 Del. C. 8119 two-year window. When the matter is well-documented and ready, we route it to a verified personal-injury attorney licensed in Delaware. Start your Delaware intake here.
We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice. We are the file-organization and deadline-surfacing layer that sits in front of a real attorney.
Personal injury statute of limitations in other states
Each state has its own SOL window, government-notice deadline, comparative-fault regime, and case-type quirks. The deep-dive posts here cover several other jurisdictions. The full LawSensai PI Recovery Center routes 50-state coverage at /personal-injury.
- Maryland (Cts. & Jud. Proc. 5-101 3-year SOL, contributory negligence, 1-year MGTCA)
- New Jersey (NJSA 2A:14-2 2-year SOL, 90-day NJTCA)
- Pennsylvania (42 Pa.C.S. 5524 2-year SOL, MVFRL limited tort)
- Virginia (Va. Code 8.01-243 2-year SOL, contributory negligence)
- Connecticut (CGS 52-584 2-year SOL, highway defect notice)
Informational only
LawSensai is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The information in this post is general and does not account for your specific facts. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this post or by using the Personal Injury Recovery Center. Deadlines, exceptions, and procedural rules vary by case type and by the parties involved; verify your specific situation with a licensed attorney in Delaware before relying on any window described here.
Last verified: 2026-06-03.