If you were hurt in New Hampshire by someone else''s conduct, you generally have three years from the date the injury was, or reasonably should have been, discovered to file a personal-injury lawsuit. The deadline comes from RSA 508:4, and the discovery-rule overlay can shift the start date in narrow cases. Miss the window and the courthouse door closes, even if the underlying case is strong.
The three-year number is the rule most New Hampshire injury searches return. The biggest traps are the 180-day notice to the New Hampshire Board of Risk Management for state-level claims and the modified 51% comparative-negligence bar under RSA 507:7-d. Miss the BRM notice and a claim against the state ends regardless of the three-year SOL. 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 New Hampshire PI window: three years under RSA 508:4
RSA 508:4 sets a three-year statute of limitations for personal-injury actions. It is the catch-all for the vast majority of New Hampshire PI cases: car crashes, slip-and-falls, dog bites, premises liability, and most negligence claims.
The clock starts on the date the injury was, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been, discovered. New Hampshire''s formulation of the discovery rule is more generous than some New England neighbors but still requires diligence by the claimant.
New Hampshire 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. New Hampshire is also the only state that does not require most drivers to carry liability insurance, which creates an unusually large UM/UIM-coverage role.
Exception one: the BRM 180-day notice trap
If your injury involves the State of New Hampshire (state agencies, state employees acting in their official capacities), you must file a written claim with the New Hampshire Board of Risk Management within 180 days of the injury under RSA 541-B:14. The Board administers state tort claims and the procedure is jurisdictional: a late or defective notice ends the claim against the state.
For municipalities, RSA 507-B addresses municipal liability for actions arising out of operation of motor vehicles and premises. The statutes do not impose a uniform pre-suit notice for municipal claims, but local charters and ordinances may impose their own short-fuse deadlines.
Damage caps under RSA 541-B:14 limit state liability to $475,000 per claimant and $3.75 million per incident.
The single most common New Hampshire PI trap: a claimant injured by a state vehicle assumes the three-year SOL applies, contacts an attorney seven or eight months after the incident, and learns the 180-day BRM notice has already run. The three-year general SOL never matters; the BRM notice was the live deadline.
Exception two: medical malpractice and the SOL formulation
Medical-malpractice cases also run under RSA 508:4 with the same three-year SOL measured from discovery, but with a hard cap that no action may be brought more than ten years from the date of the act or omission for cases involving foreign objects or fraud. New Hampshire previously experimented with non-economic damage caps that were struck down by the state supreme court, so caps do not currently apply to medmal claims under state law.
Exception three: minors
RSA 508:8 tolls the SOL during minority for general PI claims. A child injured at age 10 has until age 21 to file (age of majority plus three years). The toll does NOT extend the BRM 180-day notice, which runs from accrual regardless of the claimant''s age.
What New Hampshire''s modified 51% comparative-negligence rule means
New Hampshire follows a modified comparative-negligence rule with a 51% bar under RSA 507:7-d. A plaintiff more than 50% at fault recovers nothing. A plaintiff 50% or less at fault recovers, reduced by the percentage of plaintiff fault.
That 51% threshold is where New Hampshire defense lawyers focus. Pushing fault from 50% to 51% ends the case.
A common New Hampshire fact pattern that ends cases early
A driver is rear-ended by a state DOT plow on Interstate 93. The driver is treated for neck strain, files an insurance claim, and assumes the three-year SOL gives plenty of time. Seven months later, the carrier denies coverage citing a state-vehicle exclusion; the driver retains an attorney; the attorney discovers the BRM was never given the 180-day RSA 541-B:14 notice. The case against the state is dismissed.
The takeaway: if any New Hampshire state entity is potentially involved, treat the BRM 180-day notice as the operative deadline and act within it, not the three-year general SOL.
Other New Hampshire-specific PI rules worth knowing
Dog bites. RSA 466:19 imposes strict liability on the owner or keeper of a dog for damages caused by the dog. Three-year SOL under 508:4.
Wrongful death. RSA 556:11 governs wrongful-death actions, with a SOL running from the date of death under the general RSA 508:4 framework.
Premises liability and slip-and-fall. Three-year SOL under 508:4. The 51% modified-comparative bar applies.
Product liability. Three-year SOL under 508:4. New Hampshire does not impose a general products-liability statute of repose.
How the LawSensai Personal Injury Recovery Center helps with New Hampshire matters
We built the Recovery Center to handle the day-one organizational work in a New Hampshire 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 180-day BRM notice, any municipal-charter short fuses, the 10-year medmal repose for foreign-object cases, and the underlying RSA 508:4 three-year window. When the matter is well-documented and ready, we route it to a verified personal-injury attorney licensed in New Hampshire. Start your New Hampshire 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.
- Vermont (12 V.S.A. 512, VTCA notice)
- Maine (Long 6-year SOL, MTCA notice)
- Massachusetts (3-year SOL, MTCA notice)
- Rhode Island (3-year SOL, pure comparative)
- Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-584, highway defect)
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 New Hampshire before relying on any window described here.
Last verified: 2026-06-03.