The clock starts on the date of injury. The controlling statute is Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140. Filing one day late dismisses the case with prejudice.
In Kentucky, the personal-injury filing deadline is not a recommendation. It is a substantive bar. File one day late and the defendant's lawyer wins automatically, regardless of who actually caused the accident or how badly you were hurt.
Kentucky applies the same 1-year limitations period to personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful-death claims (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140). Property-damage claims run separately, with a 5-year deadline.
The statute itself, Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140, is the controlling authority. Interpretive decisions come from KY Sup. Ct., which has repeatedly enforced the deadline against late-filed plaintiffs.
The statute begins running on the date the injury occurred. Several Kentucky appellate decisions have emphasized that the clock is not tolled by ongoing medical treatment or by the plaintiff's subjective sense that the case can wait.
The discovery rule in Kentucky is narrowly applied. Courts generally require evidence that the injury was inherently undiscoverable, not merely that the plaintiff was unaware. Routine soft-tissue injuries from a car accident almost never qualify.
A late-filed complaint in Kentucky is dismissed on the pleadings. The court does not hear evidence, does not weigh fault, does not consider damages. The motion is purely procedural and almost never denied.
For minors, Kentucky pauses the SOL clock until the child reaches adulthood. Medical-malpractice claims involving minors often have separate, more restrictive tolling rules , see the statute citation below for the specific Kentucky provisions.
Kentucky courts have recognized tolling for plaintiffs whose mental condition prevents them from understanding or pursuing their legal rights. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff. Temporary impairment after the accident, such as pain medication or short hospitalizations, does not qualify in most Kentucky cases.
If the at-fault party leaves Kentucky after the injury, the SOL is typically tolled for the period of absence. Modern long-arm statutes and the increasing availability of service via the Kentucky insurance commissioner have narrowed this rule.
If the defendant actively concealed the cause of action, Kentucky courts can extend the SOL until the concealment is discovered or could have been discovered with reasonable diligence. Passive non-disclosure does not usually qualify.
If your injury was caused by a Kentucky state or local government entity , a city bus, a police officer, a public-school employee , you generally must file a separate "notice of claim" within a much shorter window (typically 60 to 180 days) BEFORE filing a civil suit. Missing the notice deadline bars the lawsuit even if the longer SOL has not yet expired.
Filing on time gets you into court. Winning at trial is a separate question, and Kentucky's comparative-fault rule is the next major hurdle.
Kentucky applies pure comparative negligence. Kentucky uses pure comparative negligence: recovery reduced by percentage of fault, even up to 99%. Authority: Ky. Rev. Stat. § 411.182.
| Claim type | Deadline | Statute | Clock starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal injury (negligence) | 1 year | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140 | Date of injury |
| Medical malpractice | 1 year | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140 | Discovery or treatment end |
| Wrongful death | 1 year | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140 | Date of death |
| Property damage | 5 years | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140 | Date of damage |
Kentucky is a choice_no_fault state for car-accident claims. That means PIP coverage pays for medical bills regardless of fault. To sue the at-fault driver beyond PIP, you generally must clear a tort threshold of serious injury defined by Ky. Rev. Stat. § 304.39.
Kentucky requires UM coverage at a minimum of 25/50 (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 304.20-020). Stacking treatment: limited.
Kentucky does not cap non-economic damages in medical-malpractice cases. Punitive damages are uncapped. Authority: Williams v. Wilson (1998).
Kentucky tolls the running of the SOL while the defendant is absent from the state. The defense bears the burden of proving the dates of absence, and tolling typically does not apply to defendants who can be served via long-arm statute or through their Kentucky insurer.
Insurance negotiations do not toll the statute. Kentucky courts have repeatedly held that an adjuster's willingness to talk settlement is not a waiver of the SOL defense. Plaintiffs' lawyers routinely file protective complaints in the final 30 days even if talks are ongoing.
No. A workers' compensation claim is a separate administrative remedy with its own deadlines. If a third party (not your employer) caused the injury, you must still file the civil personal-injury suit within the standard Kentucky SOL.
Tolling pauses the clock. Kentucky recognizes tolling for minority, mental incapacity, defendant absence, and (in narrow cases) fraudulent concealment of the cause of action by the defendant.
Choice-of-law principles generally apply the SOL of the state where the injury occurred (the lex loci delicti rule), but Kentucky courts also look at the borrowing statute and the parties' connections. Cross-state cases benefit from early counsel.
Yes, in limited circumstances. Kentucky permits tolling agreements between the parties that extend the deadline, but they must be in writing, signed by an authorized representative of each side, and entered before the original deadline expires.
No. Only proper filing of a civil complaint in a Kentucky court stops the SOL. Demand letters, pre-suit mediation, and adjuster negotiations have no legal effect on the statutory deadline.
In most states the personal-injury SOL applies uniformly to negligence-based claims regardless of accident type. Kentucky does have separate deadlines for medical-malpractice, wrongful-death, and certain intentional-tort claims, addressed on dedicated pages.
Last verified against primary sources on 2026-05-16.