If you were hurt in Maryland by someone else''s conduct, you generally have three years from the date of the injury to file a personal-injury lawsuit. The deadline comes from Md. Code, Cts. and Jud. Proc. section 5-101, 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 three-year number is the rule most Maryland injury searches return. The biggest traps are the pure contributory-negligence bar, the one-year Local Government Tort Claims Act (MGTCA) notice, and the one-year Maryland Tort Claims Act (MTCA) notice for State defendants. Either contributory negligence or a missed notice can end a Maryland PI case before the three-year SOL even matters. This post walks through what the three-year SOL really means in 2026, where the exceptions are, and the fact patterns we see trip people up most.
The default Maryland PI window: three years under Cts. and Jud. Proc. 5-101
Md. Code, Cts. and Jud. Proc. section 5-101 sets a three-year statute of limitations for civil actions, including personal-injury claims, that are not otherwise specified. It is the catch-all for the vast majority of Maryland PI cases: car crashes, slip-and-falls, dog bites, premises liability, and most negligence claims.
The clock starts on the date the injury occurred. Maryland recognizes a discovery rule for cases where the injury was not reasonably knowable at the time.
Maryland 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.
Exception one: the MGTCA one-year notice trap
If your injury involves a Maryland local government entity (county, municipality, or local agency), the Local Government Tort Claims Act under Cts. and Jud. Proc. section 5-304 requires written notice within one year of the injury. The notice must describe the time, place, and cause of the injury.
For State defendants, the Maryland Tort Claims Act under State Gov''t section 12-106 requires a written claim to the State Treasurer within one year of the injury. Damage caps under State Gov''t section 12-104 limit State liability to $400,000 per individual claim.
Substantial compliance is NOT sufficient. Maryland courts have repeatedly held that the MGTCA and MTCA notice requirements are strict. A defective or late notice is usually fatal, though the Court of Appeals has occasionally recognized a good-cause exception under section 5-304(d).
The single most common Maryland PI trap: a claimant injured by a county vehicle assumes the three-year SOL applies, contacts an attorney 13 months after the incident, and learns the one-year MGTCA notice has already run. The three-year general SOL never matters; the MGTCA notice was the live deadline.
Exception two: medical malpractice and the five-year repose
Medical-malpractice cases run under Cts. and Jud. Proc. section 5-109: a five-year repose from the date of the act or three years from discovery, whichever is earlier. Maryland also requires a certificate of qualified expert under Cts. and Jud. Proc. section 3-2A-04 as a prerequisite to filing in the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office. Failure to file the certificate is grounds for dismissal.
Exception three: minors
Md. Code, Cts. and Jud. Proc. section 5-201 tolls the SOL during minority for general PI claims. The toll does NOT apply to MGTCA or MTCA notice deadlines, which generally run from accrual regardless of the claimant''s age, subject to limited statutory exceptions for claimants under 18.
What Maryland''s pure contributory-negligence rule means
Maryland is one of only a handful of states that still follow pure contributory negligence. Under Coleman v. Soccer Ass''n of Columbia, 432 Md. 679 (2013), if the plaintiff is found even 1% at fault, the plaintiff recovers nothing. There is no comparative reduction; the case ends.
That contributory-negligence bar is where Maryland defense lawyers focus. A jaywalking pedestrian, a driver who glanced at a phone, or a customer who ignored a posted warning can lose the entire case on a sliver of fault.
A common Maryland fact pattern that ends cases early
A pedestrian is struck by a county snowplow at a crosswalk. The pedestrian is treated and released, calls the county for damages, gets a noncommittal response, and assumes the case is being processed. Fourteen months later, no resolution; the pedestrian retains an attorney; the attorney discovers the county was never given the one-year section 5-304 MGTCA notice. The case is dismissed.
The takeaway: if any Maryland government entity is potentially involved (state, county, municipality, school board), treat the one-year notice as the operative deadline and act within it, not the three-year general SOL.
Other Maryland-specific PI rules worth knowing
Dog bites. Md. Code, Cts. and Jud. Proc. section 3-1901 creates a presumption that a dog owner knew or should have known of vicious propensities, effectively imposing strict liability. Three-year SOL under 5-101.
Wrongful death. Md. Code, Cts. and Jud. Proc. section 3-904 sets a three-year SOL from the date of death. Standing under section 3-904.
Premises liability and slip-and-fall. Three-year SOL under 5-101. Contributory negligence applies and is a powerful defense. Constructive notice doctrine governs.
Product liability. Three-year SOL under 5-101. No general statute of repose for products in Maryland.
How the LawSensai Personal Injury Recovery Center helps with Maryland matters
We built the Recovery Center to handle the day-one organizational work in a Maryland PI case so that nothing falls through the cracks during the three-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 one-year MGTCA notice, the one-year MTCA notice, the five-year medmal repose, the expert-certificate requirement, and the underlying 5-101 three-year window. When the matter is well-documented and ready, we route it to a verified personal-injury attorney licensed in Maryland. Start your Maryland 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 full LawSensai PI Recovery Center routes 50-state coverage at /personal-injury.
- Virginia (Va. Code 8.01-243, contributory negligence)
- North Carolina (Pure contributory negligence)
- Pennsylvania (MVFRL limited tort, MCARE 7-year repose)
- New Jersey (90-day NJTCA notice)
- Delaware (10 Del. C. 8119, 30-day 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 Maryland before relying on any window described here.
Last verified: 2026-06-03.