Overview

Maryland’s general statute of limitations for personal injury and negligence claims is 3 years. That default rule applies under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-106, and no claim-type-specific sub-rule was provided for this reference page.

For most people, that means the clock starts running when the claim accrues, and the filing deadline is three years later. Miss the deadline, and the court can dismiss the case as time-barred.

Use this page as a fast reference for the default deadline, then confirm the exact filing date with the facts of the event, the injury date, and any tolling or discovery issues that may apply.

Limitation period

Maryland gives you 3 years to file a general personal injury or negligence claim.

That is the standard deadline for ordinary negligence-based injury claims in Maryland unless a different statute applies. In practical terms:

• If the claim accrued on April 8, 2026, the ordinary deadline would be April 8, 2029
• If the claim accrued on January 15, 2025, the ordinary deadline would be January 15, 2028

The key issue is not just the injury itself, but the date the claim accrued. For many negligence claims, accrual usually lines up with the injury date or the date the plaintiff knew or should have known of the injury and its cause.

What DocketMath uses as inputs

When you use the /tools/statute-of-limitations calculator, the main inputs generally include:

• Jurisdiction: Maryland
• Claim type: General personal injury / negligence
• Accrual date: The date the claim started running
• Filing date or today’s date: To test whether the deadline has passed

How the output changes

The calculator applies the 3-year Maryland period to the accrual date and then shows whether the claim is:

• Still open
• Close to expiring
• Expired

That makes it useful both for quick screening and for deadline tracking.

Practical example

If you are calculating by hand, count three calendar years from the accrual date and watch for leap-year edge cases only if the calendar date itself changes. The calculator handles the date math for you.

Key exceptions

Maryland’s general 3-year period is the default, but the deadline can change when a separate rule applies or when tolling affects the running of the clock.

Here are the main exception categories to check:

A few common questions come up often:

• Does the injury date always control? Not always. Accrual can be fact-specific.
• Does filing with an insurer stop the clock? Usually not by itself.
• Can settlement talks extend the deadline? Not unless a legal tolling rule or agreement applies.

Maryland’s general limitations rule does not mean every negligence-related claim is automatically the same. It means that, absent another statute, 3 years is the baseline. That is why the claim type and accrual date matter so much in the calculator.

Quick checklist before you rely on the deadline

Statute citation

Maryland’s general limitations period for this category is found at Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-106.

That citation is the controlling reference for the default 3-year period used on this page. For a reference-first review, the key point is straightforward: general personal injury / negligence claims in Maryland are subject to a 3-year statute of limitations under § 5-106.

If you are building a deadline workflow, store the statute citation along with the claim date and the computed deadline. That makes it easier to audit why a case was marked open or expired.

Use the calculator

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator helps you turn the Maryland rule into a concrete filing deadline in seconds.

Start here: /tools/statute-of-limitations

What to enter

Use the most accurate dates you have:

1. Jurisdiction: Maryland
2. Claim type: General personal injury / negligence
3. Accrual date: The date the claim began
4. Current date or target filing date: To test timeliness

What you get back

The calculator returns a deadline based on the 3-year Maryland period and tells you whether the claim is:

• Within time
• Near the cutoff
• Outside the deadline

Why the output matters

For case intake, the calculator can help you:

• Screen a claim before drafting
• Flag urgent matters first
• Track approaching deadlines
• Reduce avoidable timing errors

Best practices for using it

• Enter the earliest plausible accrual date if the timing is uncertain
• Re-run the calculation if new facts change the accrual analysis
• Save the result with the matter notes so the deadline is easy to verify later

If the case may involve a special rule or tolling issue, use the calculator as a starting point and then review the controlling statute before relying on the result.

Related reading

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Related reading

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