Idaho Personal Injury Filing Deadline: How Long Do You Have?

Most Idaho personal-injury and wrongful-death lawsuits have a two-year filing deadline under Idaho Code § 5-219. The period usually runs from the occurrence, act, or omission—not the end of treatment or insurance negotiations. Property-damage claims generally have three years. Government claims can also require notice within 180 days, and tolling exceptions are narrow. Because claims from the same event may have different dates, identify every defendant and deadline early.

Idaho filing deadlines at a glance

These are general rules, not a case-specific deadline calculation. The claim, defendant, accrual date, procedural history, and any applicable exception can change the result.

Most Idaho personal-injury actions have a two-year period

Idaho Code § 5-219(4) places actions to recover damages for personal injury or wrongful death in a two-year limitations period. It also states that, except for the foreign-object and fraudulent-concealment provisions described below, the cause of action is deemed to accrue at the time of the occurrence, act, or omission complained of. Continuing consequences or a continuing professional or commercial relationship do not extend that period.

The same general personal-injury statute applies to many injury claims arising from vehicle crashes, premises incidents, or intentional torts. The vehicle or setting does not itself create a longer period. But the parties and legal claims can create an earlier notice requirement, an additional statute, or a different limitations rule.

Wrongful-death claims need a careful accrual analysis

Section 5-219 expressly includes wrongful-death actions in its two-year category. For a straightforward wrongful-death claim, the period ordinarily runs from the death. Related personal-injury, survival, government, or professional-negligence claims may raise separate questions, so every cause of action should be analyzed rather than assigning one date to the entire matter.

In Bray v. Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, the parties agreed that the asserted claims accrued no later than the date of death, and the Idaho Supreme Court applied the two-year statutes at issue. The opinion also illustrates why federal and state filings, dismissals, parties, and tolling rules cannot be reduced to a single anniversary-date slogan. Our separate guide explains who may file an Idaho wrongful-death action.

Property-damage claims generally have three years

Idaho Code § 5-218(3) generally provides three years for an action involving injury to goods or chattels. A collision can create both a bodily-injury claim and a vehicle-damage claim. The three-year property period does not extend the two-year injury period. Identify and calendar each potential claim separately, then work from the earliest plausible deadline.

Narrow statutory exceptions can affect the calculation

Minority and another disability listed in § 5-230

Idaho Code § 5-230 can exclude time when the person entitled to sue was under the age of majority or within the statute’s other specified disability when the cause of action accrued. The section generally limits the resulting extension to six years. A minor’s deadline should not be simplified to “two years after turning 18,” and a government notice can have a different minor-specific rule.

Foreign objects and fraudulent concealment

Section 5-219(4) contains narrow exceptions for a foreign object left in a person’s body and for knowing or fraudulent concealment of damage in a professional or commercial relationship. For those specified circumstances, the statute provides an extended period tied to discovery and the occurrence, act, or omission. It is not a general discovery rule for all injuries and does not create an extension whenever evidence is difficult to find.

Government entities and employees

Claims against the State of Idaho or a state employee within the course or scope of employment are generally subject to Idaho Code § 6-905. Claims against a political subdivision or its employee are generally subject to Idaho Code § 6-906. Each section generally requires notice within 180 days after the claim arose or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever is later.

The notice requirement is additional to the two-year action period in Idaho Code § 6-911. Bray holds that the 90-day governmental consideration period does not shorten or extend that limitations period. The defendant-specific recipients, notice contents, immunities, and other steps are covered in our Idaho government injury-claim guide.

Insurance activity ordinarily does not file a lawsuit

An insurance claim, recorded statement, negotiation, or settlement demand is not the same as commencing a court action. Those activities ordinarily do not stop a statutory filing period by themselves. A written tolling agreement, a statute, a court order, or another legal rule can affect a particular case, but its text and scope must be confirmed. Do not assume an adjuster’s ongoing communications preserve the right to sue.

Protect both the deadline and the evidence

1. Identify every potential defendant. Determine whether any government entity, public employee, employer, product seller, property owner, or other party may be involved.
2. Separate the claims. Injury, death, property, contract, and statutory claims may not share a deadline.
3. Preserve the records. Keep incident reports, photographs, video, witness information, bills, wage records, insurance correspondence, and other relevant material. See the guide to common evidence in an Idaho injury case.
4. Build a written calendar. Record the incident, injury, discovery, death, notice, denial, and filing dates that might matter. Use the earliest plausible deadline until counsel confirms otherwise.
5. Confirm what must be filed. A notice or demand may be required, but it does not necessarily commence an action. Learn what a civil filing involves in the Idaho personal-injury lawsuit process.

Common deadline mistakes

• Waiting for treatment to end. Section 5-219 does not generally start the clock when treatment finishes.
• Using the three-year property period for bodily injury. The claims can arise together but remain subject to different statutes.
• Treating a demand letter as a lawsuit. A demand ordinarily does not commence a court action or stop the filing clock.
• Filing government notice but forgetting the action deadline. Timely notice does not add 90 days or replace the lawsuit period.
• Assuming every late-discovered injury receives more time. Idaho’s statutory exceptions are specific and narrow.

If an Idaho filing date is approaching or uncertain, contact Attorneys of Idaho to request a prompt, case-specific deadline review.

Sources and legal references

• Idaho Code § 5-218, including the three-year period for injury to goods or chattels.
• Idaho Code § 5-219, two-year personal-injury and wrongful-death period and specified exceptions.
• Idaho Code § 5-230, listed disabilities and general six-year limit on extension.
• Idaho Code § 6-905, state tort-claim notice.
• Idaho Code § 6-906, political-subdivision tort-claim notice.
• Idaho Code § 6-911, action period under the Idaho Tort Claims Act.
• Bray v. Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, Docket No. 50935 (Idaho 2025), accrual record and Tort Claims Act tolling analysis.

This article provides general information about Idaho law as reviewed on September 2, 2026. It is not legal advice. Do not use a general article to calculate the last day to file a specific claim.