Deadlines to File an Injury Lawsuit in Virginia

Two years after the cause of action accrues for every action for personal injuries, whatever the legal theory.

Five years after the cause of action accrues for every action for injury to property.

The general two-year personal injury deadline applies, with extensions: one year from discovery for a foreign object with no therapeutic purpose left in the body; one year from discovery when fraud, concealment or intentional misrepresentation prevented discovery; and one year from when a diagnosis is communicated in claims for negligent failure to diagnose cancer, a malignant tumor, or certain schwannomas. These extensions generally cannot stretch the period beyond 10 years from when the cause of action accrues.

Two years after the death. If an earlier timely wrongful death action is dismissed without a decision on the merits, the time it was pending does not count (special rules apply to voluntary nonsuits).

Commonwealth (state): a written statement of the claim (nature of the claim, time and place of injury, and agency involved) must be filed with the Director of the Division of Risk Management or the Attorney General within one year after the claim accrues, unless those officials had actual knowledge of it within that time. Recovery is capped at $100,000 (for claims accruing on or after July 1, 1993) or the limits of any applicable liability insurance policy, whichever is greater, with no punitive damages or prejudgment interest. Counties, cities and towns: a written statement of a negligence claim, including the time and place of the injury, must be filed with the locality's attorney, chief executive or mayor within six months after the claim accrues, unless they or the locality's insurer had actual knowledge within that time.