If you were hurt in Georgia 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 OCGA section 9-3-33, and the clock starts on the date the harm occurred. Miss the window and the courthouse door closes, even if the underlying case is strong.
The two-year number is the rule most Georgia injury searches return. The biggest traps are the ante-litem notice deadlines for claims against government entities. A six-month notice to a Georgia city, a 12-month notice to the State, and a 12-month notice to a county all run from accrual, and substantial compliance is not sufficient. Miss the ante-litem and the case ends regardless of the two-year SOL. 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 Georgia PI window: two years under OCGA 9-3-33
OCGA section 9-3-33 sets a two-year statute of limitations for actions for injuries to the person. It is the catch-all for the vast majority of Georgia PI cases: car crashes, slip-and-falls, dog bites, premises liability, and most negligence claims.
The clock starts on the date the injury occurred. Georgia recognizes a discovery rule in narrow categories where the injury was not reasonably knowable at the time.
Georgia is a fault-based auto-insurance state. The injured party's recovery generally runs through the at-fault driver's insurer or your own uninsured-motorist coverage.
OCGA section 9-3-99 also provides for criminal-case tolling of up to six years where the injury was caused by criminal conduct and a criminal prosecution is pending.
Exception one: the ante-litem notice trap
If your injury involves a Georgia government entity, the ante-litem notice is the operative pre-suit hard deadline. The deadlines are tiered:
- State of Georgia: 12 months from accrual under OCGA section 50-21-26
- Municipalities (cities): 6 months from accrual under OCGA section 36-33-5
- Counties: 12 months from accrual under OCGA section 36-11-1
Substantial compliance is NOT sufficient. The Georgia courts have repeatedly held that ante-litem notice requires strict adherence to the statutory content and timing. A defective or late notice is fatal.
The Georgia Tort Claims Act (OCGA chapter 50-21) governs State claims. Damage caps under OCGA section 50-21-29: $1 million per person and $3 million per occurrence.
The single most common Georgia PI trap: a claimant injured by a city vehicle or on city property assumes the two-year SOL applies, contacts an attorney seven or eight months after the incident, and learns the six-month municipal ante-litem has already run. The two-year general SOL never matters; the ante-litem was the live deadline.
Exception two: medical malpractice and the 5-year repose
Medical-malpractice cases run under OCGA section 9-3-71(a): a two-year SOL from the date the negligent or wrongful act occurred. OCGA section 9-3-71(b) sets a five-year statute of repose: no medmal claim may be commenced more than five years after the date of the negligent act, regardless of discovery.
OCGA section 9-11-9.1 requires an expert affidavit with the complaint: an affidavit of an expert competent to testify, stating at least one negligent act and the factual basis. Failure to file the affidavit is grounds for dismissal.
Exception three: minors
OCGA section 9-3-90 tolls the SOL during minority for general PI claims. A child injured at age 10 has until age 20 to file. The toll does NOT apply to the ante-litem notice deadlines, which run from accrual regardless of the claimant's age.
What Georgia's modified 50% comparative-fault rule means
Georgia follows a modified comparative-fault rule with a 50% bar under OCGA section 51-12-33. A plaintiff less than 50% at fault recovers, reduced by the percentage of plaintiff fault. A plaintiff 50% or more at fault recovers nothing. (Note: 50%, not 51% as in many neighboring states.)
That 50% threshold is where Georgia defense lawyers focus. Pushing fault from 49% to 50% ends the case.
A common Georgia fact pattern that ends cases early
A pedestrian is struck by a city sanitation truck. The pedestrian is treated and released, calls the city for damages, gets a "we'll look into it," and assumes the case is being processed. Eight months later, no resolution; the pedestrian retains an attorney; the attorney discovers the city was never given the six-month ante-litem. The case is dismissed for failure of a prerequisite condition.
The takeaway: if any Georgia government entity is potentially involved (state, city, county, school district, MARTA), treat the ante-litem deadline as the operative limit and act within it, not the two-year general SOL.
Other Georgia-specific PI rules worth knowing
Dog bites. Georgia follows the one-bite rule under OCGA section 51-2-7 unless the owner carelessly managed the dog or violated a leash law or other local ordinance. A leash-law violation can convert a dog-bite case into something closer to a strict-liability claim. Two-year SOL.
Wrongful death. Two-year SOL under OCGA section 9-3-33. Standing under OCGA section 51-4-2. Criminal-case tolling under OCGA section 9-3-99 may apply.
Premises liability and slip-and-fall. Two-year SOL. Robinson v. Kroger Co., 268 Ga. 735 (1997), requires the plaintiff to show the proprietor had superior knowledge of the hazard. The 50% modified-comparative bar applies.
How the LawSensai Personal Injury Recovery Center helps with Georgia matters
We built the Recovery Center to handle the day-one organizational work in a Georgia 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 six-month municipal ante-litem, the 12-month State and county ante-litem, the five-year medmal repose, the expert-affidavit requirement, and the underlying OCGA 9-3-33 two-year window. When the matter is well-documented and ready, we route it to a verified personal-injury attorney licensed in Georgia. Start your Georgia 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 the ten highest-volume jurisdictions. The full LawSensai PI Recovery Center routes 50-state coverage at /personal-injury.
- California (CCP 335.1, MICRA, pure comparative)
- Texas (CPRC 16.003, TTCA 6-month notice, 51% bar)
- Florida (HB 837 2-year SOL, no-fault PIP)
- New York (CPLR 214(5), 90-day GML notice, serious-injury threshold)
- Illinois (1-year SOL for local public entities under the Tort Immunity Act)
- Pennsylvania (MVFRL limited tort, MCARE 7-year repose)
- Ohio (1-year medmal SOL, 180-day letter)
- North Carolina (Pure contributory negligence)
- Michigan (No-fault threshold, 1-year PIP)
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 Georgia before relying on any window described here.
Last verified: 2026-06-03.