Most Georgia personal injury claims share a single filing deadline: two years from when the claim accrues, fixed by O.C.G.A. 9-3-33. Whether the injury came from a fall, a defective product, or an assault, that two-year window usually governs, though several categories run on a different clock.
Two years is the baseline. The statute directs that an action for injury to the person be filed within two years, generally measured from when the injury occurred. Pinning down the accrual date is the first task, since that is where the count begins. A fall on a slick floor, for instance, generally starts the two-year clock on the day of the fall.
A missed deadline usually ends the matter. Courts apply the period strictly, so a complaint filed even shortly after it closes is generally dismissed without reaching the facts. That hard edge is why the date receives early attention.
Some categories sit outside it. Medical malpractice carries its own outer limit, claims against government bodies add notice prerequisites, and a minor’s claim can be affected by age. Recognizing when a claim leaves the standard track is part of evaluating it.
A two-year baseline, the steep cost of missing it, and the categories that run on a different clock define the general limitations period. Because a late filing generally ends a claim regardless of its strength, identifying the accrual date and any rule that might extend it is among the first things to settle when a claim is evaluated.