Minnesota Personal Injury Laws: Deadlines to Sue, Fault Rules and Damage Caps

Generally six years for injury to the person not arising on contract (which covers negligence claims). Two years for libel, slander, assault, battery, false imprisonment or "other tort resulting in personal injury." Four years for strict product liability claims.

Six years for taking, detaining or injuring personal property.

Four years from the date the cause of action accrued for a malpractice action against a physician, surgeon, dentist, other health care professional, hospital or treatment facility. A wrongful death action based on medical negligence must be filed within three years of the death, but not later than the four-year malpractice limit.

Within three years after the date of death, but no more than six years after the wrongful act or omission. Exceptions: deaths from medical professional negligence (three years from death, within the four-year malpractice limit), and deaths caused by murder (no time limit).

The action is brought by a trustee appointed by the court on the written petition of the surviving spouse or one of the next of kin. The recovery is for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse and next of kin, divided by the court in proportion to each person's financial (pecuniary) loss, after funeral expenses are paid.

Modified comparative fault (51% bar). The injured person's own fault does not bar recovery if it was not greater than the fault of the person being sued, but damages are reduced in proportion to the injured person's share of fault. The doctrine of last clear chance is abolished.

No general cap on damages in personal injury cases was found in the statutes reviewed. Claims against the state and local governments are capped ($500,000 per claimant and $1,500,000 per occurrence for claims arising on or after July 1, 2009). In auto accident cases, noneconomic damages require meeting the no-fault threshold.

Allowed only on clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with deliberate disregard for the rights or safety of others. A complaint may not ask for punitive damages at the start; the plaintiff must later move to amend and show prima facie evidence. Employers are liable for an employee's act only in limited circumstances (for example, authorization, ratification or a managerial agent). The jury weighs factors such as the seriousness of the hazard, profitability, duration and concealment. No fixed dollar cap. Punitive damages may also be awarded in wrongful death cases; the state will not pay punitive damages.

A written notice stating the time, place and circumstances of the loss, the employees involved and the amount demanded must be given within 180 days after the loss or injury is discovered: to the Attorney General (and any state employee being sued) for claims against the state, or to the governing body of a city, county or other municipality. For wrongful death claims, notice may be given within one year. Time while the injured person is incapacitated does not count. Liability is capped at $500,000 per claimant and $1,500,000 for all claims from a single occurrence (for claims arising on or after July 1, 2009), and the state will not pay punitive damages.

Strict liability. If a dog, without provocation, attacks or injures a person who is acting peaceably in a place where the person may lawfully be, the owner (including anyone harboring or keeping the dog) is liable for the full amount of the injury.

Minnesota is a no-fault state. Required residual liability coverage is at least $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident for bodily injury and $10,000 for property damage. Basic economic loss (PIP) benefits must be at least $40,000 per person: $20,000 for medical expenses and $20,000 for income loss, replacement services, funeral and survivor's loss. A person may recover noneconomic damages in an auto case only if medical expenses exceed $4,000 or the injury results in permanent disfigurement, permanent injury, death, or disability for 60 days or more.

A driver in a collision that causes bodily injury or death must, after stopping and giving information, notify police by the quickest means available: the local police department if inside a city, a State Patrol officer if on a trunk highway, or the county sheriff. Hitting an unattended vehicle or roadside fixtures also requires either leaving the information with the owner or reporting it to a peace officer (for fixtures, the report to an officer is required).

The former rule requiring drivers to file their own written crash report (subdivision 7) was repealed in 2021. Now the peace officer who investigates a reportable crash must submit an electronic or written report to the Commissioner of Public Safety within 10 days. Reportable crashes on public rights-of-way include those with a death, an injury treated with immediate medical care, a vehicle towed away because of disabling damage, or damage to roadside property or infrastructure.

A driver in any collision must stop at or near the scene and reasonably investigate what was struck. If the driver knows or has reason to know someone was hurt or killed, or an attended vehicle was damaged, the driver must stay and give name, date of birth, mailing or email address and plate number, show a license to an officer on request, and give reasonable help to anyone injured. Insurer and agent information must be given on request within 72 hours if not given at the scene. For an unattended vehicle, the driver must notify the owner, report to a peace officer, or leave a written note. Leaving a crash involving death can be a felony of up to 3 years and $5,000; great bodily harm, a felony of up to 2 years and $4,000; substantial or other bodily harm, up to 364 days and $3,000. Leaving after damaging an attended or unattended vehicle is a misdemeanor.

Minnesota cities and other municipalities are immune from claims based on snow or ice conditions on a highway or public sidewalk, unless the sidewalk abuts a publicly owned building or publicly owned parking lot or the municipality's own negligent acts affirmatively caused the condition. A municipality that owns or leases a building or parking lot in another municipality is not immune for snow or ice on the public sidewalk next to it. Snow and ice rules for private property owners are court-made and were not read on an official court site.

Claims against a city or other municipality for a sidewalk injury fall under the Municipal Tort Claims Act: notice of claim within 180 days and damage caps apply. Municipalities are immune from claims based on snow or ice on a public sidewalk, except a sidewalk abutting a publicly owned building or parking lot or where the municipality affirmatively caused the condition. The statutes read do not say whether the owner of property next to a public sidewalk is liable for defects in it.

Anyone claiming damages from a Minnesota municipality (city, county, town, school district or other political subdivision) or its employee must present a notice to the municipality's governing body within 180 days after the loss or injury is discovered, stating the time, place and circumstances, the employees involved, and the amount demanded; actual notice of enough facts to alert the municipality or its insurer counts. For wrongful death, notice may be presented within one year, and time while the injured person is incapacitated does not count. For claims arising on or after July 1, 2009, liability is capped at $500,000 per claimant and $1,500,000 for all claims from one occurrence.

A landowner who gives written or oral permission for free recreational use of the land owes no duty to keep it safe or to warn of dangers, patent or latent, owes only the duty to refrain from willfully causing injury, and does not make the visitor an invitee or licensee. The protection does not limit liability for conduct that would entitle a trespasser to sue, or where the owner charges a fee for recreational entry (payments from the state or a political subdivision for a lease or dedication are not a charge).

Only motorcycle operators and passengers under 18 must wear a helmet meeting state standards; every operator must wear eye protection. Parade participants with a permit and riders in an enclosed-cab autocycle are exempt. The statute does not say that not wearing a helmet reduces damages in a lawsuit.

Minnesota bans riding between lanes of moving or stationary vehicles headed the same way, riding abreast of other vehicles in the same lane, and passing within the same lane, except as allowed by the lane-filtering rule. Under that rule, a motorcyclist may overtake and pass another vehicle in the same direction within the same traffic lane only when riding no faster than 25 mph and no more than 15 mph faster than traffic. Filtering is not allowed in roundabouts, school zones, single-lane work zones, or freeway on-ramps with queued traffic.

Where traffic signals are not in place or working, a driver must stop for a pedestrian crossing in a marked crosswalk or at an intersection without a marked crosswalk, and stay stopped until the pedestrian has passed the driver's lane; drivers may not pass a vehicle stopped for a crossing pedestrian. Violations are a misdemeanor (a gross misdemeanor for a repeat within one year). A pedestrian crossing anywhere else must yield to vehicles, may cross between adjacent signalized intersections only in a marked crosswalk, and may not suddenly step into the path of a vehicle too close to yield; drivers must always use due care to avoid pedestrians.

A bicyclist has the rights and duties of other drivers, including on the shoulder, and has a pedestrian's rights and duties when lawfully on a sidewalk or crosswalk. Drivers passing a bicycle must leave a safe distance of at least 3 feet and keep it until safely past. Bicyclists may ride on sidewalks except in business districts (unless locally permitted) and where local authorities prohibit it, and must yield to pedestrians there. The sections read do not set a bicycle helmet requirement.

While an Uber/Lyft-type (transportation network company) driver is logged in but has not accepted a ride (P1), coverage must be at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for death or bodily injury and $30,000 for property damage, plus no-fault (basic economic loss) benefits and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage where required. From accepting a ride through drop-off (P2 and P3), liability coverage must be at least $1,500,000 for death, injury or property damage, plus no-fault and uninsured/underinsured coverage where required. During P2 and P3 the company must also carry at least $1,000,000 per incident of injury coverage for the driver at no cost to the driver.

Minnesota requires intrastate motor carriers to comply with the federal motor carrier safety regulations incorporated by state law, including driver qualifications (49 CFR 391, with listed exceptions), hours of service (49 CFR 395), and inspection, repair and maintenance (49 CFR 396); private carriers must comply to the extent state law requires. Federal minimum insurance for interstate carriers is in 49 CFR 387.9.

Minnesota's workers' compensation law sets the general rule for construction injuries. An insured employer's liability for workers' compensation is exclusive and replaces any other liability to the worker or family. The worker may also pursue a third party (someone other than the employer) whose fault caused the injury, subject to the employer's reimbursement rights; a co-employee is liable only for gross negligence or an intentional injury.