Statutes of Limitations

The main periods are these. Personal injury and injury to property: three years under CPLR 214(4) and (5). Medical, dental or podiatric malpractice: two years and six months under CPLR 214-a. Contract: six years under CPLR 213(2). Assault, battery, false imprisonment and defamation: one year under CPLR 215(3). Claims against a city, county, town, village, fire district or school district: a notice of claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law § 50-e(1)(a) and suit within one year and 90 days under § 50-i(1)(c). A no-fault benefits action is an action on the insurance contract, so CPLR 213(2) applies. Each period runs from accrual under CPLR 203(a).

Some tolls exist, and each is narrow. Under CPLR 208(a), infancy or insanity at accrual extends the time, generally to three years after the disability ends, subject to a ten-year outer limit except for infancy in non-malpractice cases. Under CPLR 207, time a defendant spends outside the state after accrual is excluded in the circumstances the section lists. Under CPLR 214-a, a malpractice claim runs from the last treatment where there is continuous treatment for the same condition. Under CPLR 214-c(2), a latent exposure injury claim runs from discovery of the injury. Military service is excluded under Military Law § 308 and 50 U.S.C. § 3936(a).

An action to recover no-fault benefits is an action on the insurance policy, so the six-year period for a contractual obligation in CPLR 213(2) applies, running from accrual under CPLR 203(a). Under Insurance Law § 5106(a), benefits become overdue when not paid within 30 days after the claimant supplies proof of the fact and amount of loss, so the accrual date depends on when proof of claim was submitted and when the claim was denied or went unpaid, not on the accident date. Have the dates checked against the bills and denial forms. Arbitration under Insurance Law § 5106(b) follows its own procedures in 11 NYCRR 65-4.2.