If you were hurt in Tennessee by someone else's conduct, you generally have one year from the date of the injury to file a personal-injury lawsuit. The deadline comes from Tenn. Code Ann. section 28-3-104, 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 one-year number is the rule most Tennessee injury searches return, and it is among the shortest in the United States. This post walks through what the one-year SOL really means in 2026, where the exceptions are, and the fact patterns we see trip people up most.
The default Tennessee PI window: one year under Tenn. Code Ann. 28-3-104
Tenn. Code Ann. section 28-3-104(a)(1)(A) sets a one-year statute of limitations for actions for injuries to the person. It is the catch-all for the vast majority of Tennessee PI cases: car crashes, slip-and-falls, dog bites, premises liability, and most negligence claims.
The clock starts on the date the injury occurred. Tennessee recognizes a discovery rule in latent-injury categories where the plaintiff could not reasonably have discovered the injury at the time it occurred.
Tennessee 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.
A notable Tennessee twist: under Tenn. Code Ann. section 28-3-104(a)(2), if the cause of action arises from criminal conduct, the SOL is extended to two years if a criminal prosecution is commenced within one year (and certain other conditions are met).
Exception one: the one-year SOL trap
The single most common Tennessee PI trap is the one-year window itself. Claimants used to two-year or three-year windows in neighboring states (Mississippi, Kentucky's edge cases, Arkansas) miss the SOL almost routinely. The clock starts on the date of the accident, not the date the medical bills come in, not the date the insurance dispute hardens, not the date counsel is retained.
Exception two: Governmental Tort Liability Act (GTLA)
Claims against Tennessee counties, cities, school districts, and other local government entities are governed by the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, Tenn. Code Ann. sections 29-20-101 through 29-20-408. The SOL for GTLA claims is one year from the date the cause of action accrues under Tenn. Code Ann. section 29-20-305(b).
Damage caps under Tenn. Code Ann. section 29-20-403: $300,000 per person and $700,000 per accident for most local-government claims.
Claims against the State of Tennessee proceed through the Tennessee Claims Commission under Tenn. Code Ann. section 9-8-301 et seq. The Claims Commission SOL is also generally one year from accrual.
Exception three: medical malpractice (Tennessee Health Care Liability Act)
Medical-malpractice cases run under Tenn. Code Ann. section 29-26-116 (renamed the Tennessee Health Care Liability Act): a one-year SOL from the date the injured party knew or should have known of the injury, with a three-year statute of repose (no claim more than three years after the act, regardless of discovery), except in cases of fraudulent concealment or foreign-object retention.
A pre-suit notice requirement under Tenn. Code Ann. section 29-26-121 must be served at least 60 days before filing suit, and a certificate of good faith with an expert opinion must accompany the complaint under section 29-26-122.
Exception four: minors
Tenn. Code Ann. section 28-1-106 tolls the SOL during minority for general PI claims. A minor under age 18 generally has the SOL begin to run on reaching majority. The toll does NOT apply to GTLA notice deadlines, which run from accrual.
What Tennessee's modified 50% comparative-fault rule means
Tennessee follows a modified comparative-fault rule with a 50% bar under McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992). A plaintiff less than 50% at fault recovers, reduced by the percentage of plaintiff fault. A plaintiff 50% or more at fault recovers nothing.
The 50% threshold (not 51% as in some neighboring states) is where Tennessee defense lawyers focus. Pushing fault from 49% to 50% ends the case.
A common Tennessee fact pattern that ends cases early
A motorist is hit by another driver in Nashville. The motorist is treated, released, and assumes the insurer will resolve the claim. Negotiations drag through month 10. The insurer's last-minute offer is rejected. Counsel is retained at month 13. The SOL ran at month 12. The case is over.
The takeaway: in Tennessee, do not wait for the insurance negotiation to mature. File suit well inside the one-year window or use a tolling agreement, properly drafted, to preserve the claim.
Other Tennessee-specific PI rules worth knowing
Dog bites. Tennessee applies a hybrid rule under Tenn. Code Ann. section 44-8-413: strict liability if the owner knew or should have known of the dog's dangerous propensities, with limited "residential exclusion" for dog-on-owner-property bites unless the owner was negligent. One-year SOL.
Wrongful death. Wrongful-death claims are governed by Tenn. Code Ann. sections 20-5-106 through 20-5-115, with a one-year SOL under Tenn. Code Ann. section 28-3-104.
Premises liability and slip-and-fall. One-year SOL. Tennessee applies the invitee/licensee/trespasser duty framework. The 50% modified-comparative bar applies.
How the LawSensai Personal Injury Recovery Center helps with Tennessee matters
We built the Recovery Center to handle the day-one organizational work in a Tennessee PI case so that nothing falls through the cracks during the one-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 GTLA one-year SOL, the Claims Commission window, the medmal three-year repose, the 60-day pre-suit notice + certificate of good faith requirements, the $300K/$700K GTLA caps, and the underlying Tenn. Code 28-3-104 one-year window. When the matter is well-documented and ready, we route it to a verified personal-injury attorney licensed in Tennessee. Start your Tennessee 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 highest-volume jurisdictions. The full LawSensai PI Recovery Center routes 50-state coverage at /personal-injury.
- Kentucky (1-year SOL, no-fault PIP)
- Louisiana (1-year prescription)
- Mississippi (3-year SOL, MTCA 90-day notice)
- Alabama (2-year SOL, contributory negligence)
- Georgia (2-year SOL, ante-litem traps)
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 Tennessee before relying on any window described here.
Last verified: 2026-06-03.