Car accident statute of limitations in New Hampshire

If a car crash in New Hampshire is headed toward a lawsuit, the deadline is shorter than a lot of people assume: three years. That number drives most of the strategic decisions an injured driver or passenger has to make, from when to see a doctor to when to call a lawyer. New Hampshire also breaks from the national playbook on fault and insurance, and those differences change what a three-year deadline is actually worth.

The three-year deadline, and what it covers

New Hampshire sets a single filing deadline for personal injury claims arising from a car crash: three years from the date of the crash. RSA 508:4, I states that "all personal actions, except actions for slander or libel, may be brought only within 3 years of the act or omission complained of."¹ Miss that date and the case gets dismissed regardless of how strong the underlying claim is. The one narrow exception covers injuries that couldn't reasonably have been discovered at the time, which restart the three years from the date of discovery rather than the crash itself.¹

The same statute covers property damage. A driver whose vehicle was wrecked in someone else's fault crash has three years to sue for repair costs or diminished value, since RSA 508:4 applies broadly to "all personal actions" and property damage claims are tort claims under that language.¹ Both an injury claim and a property claim from the same crash run on the identical three-year track, measured from the crash date, not from when repairs finished or an insurer denied a claim.

Fault over 50 percent cuts off recovery entirely

New Hampshire uses a modified comparative negligence rule under RSA 507:7-d. A driver can still recover damages as long as their own share of fault is not greater than the other driver's; cross that line and the claim is barred outright.² In practice, a driver found 50 percent at fault still recovers, just with damages cut in half, while a driver found 51 percent at fault recovers nothing. That single percentage point is where a lot of New Hampshire crash disputes actually get fought, since crossing it doesn't just shrink a claim, it ends it.

Insurance works backward from what most states require

New Hampshire doesn't require drivers to carry auto insurance at all. Instead, the state relies on a financial responsibility system: a driver has to be able to cover an at-fault crash through insurance or other proof of assets, and the DMV's Financial Responsibility Unit only forces the issue, often through an SR-22 filing, after a conviction, an at-fault accident, or another administrative trigger.³⁴ Anyone who does carry insurance, voluntarily or by DMV order, has to meet the same minimums under RSA 264:20: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage.³

Because a real share of New Hampshire drivers carry no insurance or only the state minimum, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage matters more here than in states that mandate liability insurance for everyone. RSA 264:15 requires every auto policy to include UM/UIM coverage matched to the driver's own liability limits by default.⁵ A named insured can turn it down, but only in writing, and that rejection binds every vehicle and driver on the policy until it's revoked in writing.⁵ Anyone unsure whether they signed such a rejection should ask their carrier to check before assuming no UM/UIM coverage exists.

Medical payments coverage moves faster than a lawsuit

New Hampshire isn't a no-fault state, so there's no PIP election deadline like Florida's. But RSA 264:16 requires every private passenger auto policy to carry at least $1,000 per person in medical payments (MedPay) coverage, payable regardless of fault, for costs incurred within three years of the crash.⁶ MedPay typically pays out long before a liability claim resolves, and it isn't reduced for the injured person's own fault. Those payments also can't be clawed back: RSA 264:17 bars the insurer from asserting subrogation rights against a third party for amounts it pays under this coverage.⁷

What damages look like, and what's off the table

Ordinary car crash cases in New Hampshire carry no cap on economic or noneconomic damages. The state did once cap noneconomic damages at $250,000 in medical malpractice cases specifically, but the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck that cap down as unconstitutional in Carson v. Maurer, 120 N.H. 925 (1980), and the legislature never replaced it. Punitive damages are a separate matter. RSA 507:16 states that "no punitive damages shall be awarded in any action, unless otherwise provided by statute," and no such exception exists for car crash cases, even ones involving a drunk driver.⁸

Distracted driving and the fault fight

RSA 265:79-c bans holding a phone to call, text, or browse while driving, and it's a primary offense, meaning an officer can stop a driver for it alone. Drivers under 18 face a stricter version: the law states "no person less than 18 years of age shall use a cellular or mobile telephone or other mobile electronic device, whether hands-free or not, while driving a motor vehicle in motion," with an exception only for reporting an emergency.⁹ A citation under this statute after a crash is often the first document an insurance adjuster asks for, because it feeds directly into the comparative negligence math described above.

Winter roads don't excuse a driver

New Hampshire gets real winter, and it shows in the data: 30-year climate normals for Concord show snowfall stacking up across most of the cold season.¹⁰ That matters for fault allocation because New Hampshire courts don't treat snow or ice as an excuse by itself. A driver still has to adjust speed and following distance to conditions, and "the road was icy" rarely moves a comparative negligence fight in the other driver's favor if that driver was following too closely or driving too fast for conditions.

Motorcycle crashes and the helmet law

New Hampshire has no universal helmet law. RSA 265:122 requires DOT-approved headgear with a chin or neck strap only for riders and passengers under 18, stating that "no person less than 18 years of age may drive or ride upon a motorcycle or autocycle unless he or she wears protective headgear of a type approved by the director."¹¹ Adult riders can legally ride bare-headed. That distinction matters after a crash, since defense counsel sometimes argues a rider's bare head contributed to injuries even where the statute never required a helmet in the first place. Lane splitting and lane filtering are both illegal in New Hampshire regardless of the rider's age.¹¹

When alcohol is part of the crash

New Hampshire's dram shop law, RSA chapter 507-F, lets a crash victim sue a bar or server that negligently or recklessly served alcohol to a minor or to someone already visibly intoxicated.¹² Punitive damages still aren't available even in a drunk-driving case, since RSA 507:16's bar has no DUI carve-out, but a dram shop claim against the establishment is a separate source of recovery from the driver's own liability policy.¹²

Getting the official crash report

A crash report from the New Hampshire DMV is often worth pulling early, especially once fault percentages start getting argued between insurers.¹³ New Hampshire's process for requesting a crash report works differently than most states.

If the vehicle itself was damaged

Repair costs aren't the only number worth tracking. A diminished value claim covers what a vehicle lost in resale value even after it's fixed, and it runs on the same three-year clock described above.

Finding help before the clock runs out

Three years sounds like a long runway, but evidence fades, witnesses move, and insurers get less cooperative well before that date arrives. Anyone still working through a claim, or unsure how New Hampshire's 51 percent fault rule applies to their case, can find a local attorney through the legal directory.

This article provides general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4, I, https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LII/508/508-4.htm

2. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 507:7-d, https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LII/507/507-7-d.htm

3. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 264:20 (Financial Responsibility), https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/264/264-20.htm

4. NH Dept. of Safety, Division of Motor Vehicles, Insurance Requirements / SR-22, https://www.dmv.nh.gov/tickets-accidents-or-restorations/insurance-requirements-sr-22

5. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 264:15, https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/264/264-15.htm

6. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 264:16, https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/264/264-16.htm

7. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 264:17, https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/264/264-17.htm

8. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 507:16; Carson v. Maurer, 120 N.H. 925 (1980), https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LII/507/507-16.htm

9. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 265:79-c, https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/265/265-79-c.htm

10. NWS Gray/Portland, Concord NH 30-year climate normals (1981-2010), https://www.weather.gov/media/gyx/climo/CON_Monthly-Seasonal-Annual_30_year_normals_1981-2010.pdf

11. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 265:122, https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/265/265-122.htm

12. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. ch. 507-F, https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LII/507-F/507-F-mrg.htm

13. NH DMV, Accident Reports, https://www.dmv.nh.gov/tickets-accidents-or-restorations/accidents-reports