Every deadline after a Nevada car accident, in one table

Last updated October 18, 2026.

The deadline that ends most injury claims is 2 years from the crash: that is how long Nevada gives you to file a lawsuit for your injuries, and property damage gets 3 years (NRS 11.190). Several shorter clocks start the same day, though, including the duty to report the crash, the 10-day DMV report and the conditions for a hit-and-run claim. This page puts every one of them in a single table so a Las Vegas car accident claim never fails on a date.

Most people only hear about "the statute of limitations." In practice, a claim can be weakened long before that date arrives, by a report that was never made, an insurer letter that went unanswered, or a lien notice nobody tracked. The table below is the checklist we would want any client to keep on the refrigerator.

How do the deadlines unfold after a Las Vegas crash, step by step?

The clocks do not all start together, and some only apply in certain cases. Here is the order in which they usually come up.

At the scene. A driver in a crash that injures or kills someone must stop immediately and stay until the information and aid duties are met (NRS 484E.010). Every driver in a crash with injury or vehicle damage must give name, address and registration and help anyone injured (NRS 484E.030(1)). If no officer comes and someone is hurt or the crash was on a highway, the crash must be reported "forthwith" to the nearest police office or the Nevada Highway Patrol (NRS 484E.030(2)). Our page on which police agency handles your crash explains who that is in each part of the valley.
Within 10 days. If the crash caused an injury, a death, or $750 or more in apparent damage to any one vehicle or item of property, the driver must send the DMV a written or electronic report within 10 days, unless a police officer investigated and the officer's report lists each person's insurer, policy number and coverage dates (NRS 484E.070(2), (3)). See when the SR-1 report is required.
In the first weeks. Once you notify an insurer, Nevada regulations set its response times: 20 working days to acknowledge the claim and 30 working days after a complete proof of loss to accept or deny a first-party claim (NAC 686A.665(1), 686A.675(1)). LVMPD says to allow at least 10 business days after the incident before a crash report becomes available.
If the crash happened at work. Written notice to your employer is due within 7 days, and the workers' compensation claim within 90 days if you sought treatment or missed work (NRS 616C.015(1), 616C.020(1)).
Before any settlement is paid. Hospitals that want a lien must record and serve their notice before the money is paid out (NRS 108.610), and Medicaid must receive written notice once a claim is asserted (NRS 422.293001).
By the second anniversary. The lawsuit for your injuries must be filed (NRS 11.190(4)(e)). If a city, county or state employee was driving, the administrative claim deadline is also 2 years (NRS 41.036).
By the third anniversary. A lawsuit for damage to your car or other property must be filed (NRS 11.190(3)(c)).
After filing. The court rules take over: service within 120 days, an answer within 21 days of service, an early case conference within 30 days of the first answer, and a 30-day appeal window after written notice of entry of the judgment is served.

The Nevada car accident deadline table

What must happen	Deadline	Who it applies to	Rule
Stop and stay at the scene of an injury crash	Immediately	Every driver involved	NRS 484E.010
Exchange name, address, registration; help the injured	At the scene	Every driver involved	NRS 484E.030(1)
Report to police if no officer came and someone was hurt or the crash was on a highway	Forthwith	Every driver involved	NRS 484E.030(2)
Notify police after hitting an unattended vehicle on a highway	Immediately	The driver who hit it	NRS 484E.050
Report a hit-and-run so uninsured motorist coverage can apply	Within the time NRS 484E.030 to 484E.050 require	The injured insured, or someone for them	NRS 690B.020(3)(f)
DMV crash report (injury, death, or $750+ damage)	10 days	Drivers, unless the police report lists insurance details	NRS 484E.070
Other vehicle presumed uninsured if no proof of insurance reaches the DMV	60 days after the crash	Injury and death crashes	NRS 690B.020(6)
Insurer acknowledges your claim	20 working days	Insurers	NAC 686A.665(1)
Insurer accepts or denies a first-party claim	30 working days after proof of loss	Your own insurer (UM, UIM, collision, med pay)	NAC 686A.675(1)
Insurer pays an accepted first-party claim	30 days after acceptance, then interest	Your own insurer	NAC 686A.675(1)
Insurer warns an unrepresented claimant that a time limit may expire	60 days before it expires	Insurers negotiating with you directly	NAC 686A.675(5)
Written notice of a work injury to the employer	7 days	Employees hurt while working	NRS 616C.015(1)
Workers' compensation claim filed with the insurer	90 days	Employees who sought treatment or missed work	NRS 616C.020(1)
Hospital lien notice recorded and served	Before payment or settlement	Hospitals claiming a lien	NRS 108.610
Administrative claim against the State or a local government	2 years	Claims arising from a public employee's crash	NRS 41.036
Injury or wrongful death lawsuit filed	2 years	Injured people, heirs and personal representatives	NRS 11.190(4)(e)
Property damage lawsuit filed	3 years	Vehicle and property owners	NRS 11.190(3)(c)
Summons and complaint served	120 days after filing	The plaintiff	NRCP 4(e)(1)
Answer to the complaint	21 days after service (45 days for the State, a public entity or a public employee)	The defendant	NRCP 12(a)(1), (2)
Early case conference	30 days after the first answer	All parties	NRCP 16.1(b)(2)(A)
Initial disclosures	At or within 14 days after that conference	All parties	NRCP 16.1(a)(1)(C)
Bring the case to trial	May be dismissed after 2 years from filing; must be after 5	The plaintiff	NRCP 41(e)
Notice of appeal	30 days after written notice of entry of judgment is served	A party appealing	NRAP 4(a)(1)

Which deadlines matter in the first week?

The reporting duties come first because they shape the evidence. A police report made at the time, with the other driver's insurance listed, usually removes the need for your own DMV report and gives your insurer and the other driver's insurer the same starting facts. In the City of Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County that is usually LVMPD; on the freeways it is often the Nevada Highway Patrol; Henderson and North Las Vegas have their own departments. Our guide to who handles a crash in Clark County sorts that out by location.

The hit-and-run rule is the one people miss most. Nevada's uninsured motorist coverage covers a driver who is unknown or cannot be found only if there was physical contact and the crash was reported within the time the reporting statutes require (NRS 690B.020(3)(f)). If a driver hit you and left, call the police the same day. Our page on what to do after a hit-and-run in Las Vegas walks through the claim.

What deadlines does the insurance company have?

Nevada's insurance regulations put the insurer on a clock too. The company must acknowledge a claim within 20 working days and reply within 20 working days to any communication that reasonably calls for a response (NAC 686A.665(1), (3)). For claims under your own policy, it must accept or deny within 30 working days of a properly completed proof of loss, or tell you in writing why it needs more time and then update you every 30 days (NAC 686A.675(1), (3)). Our page on how long an insurer has to respond in Nevada covers what to do when these dates slip.

One rule protects people without an attorney: an insurer negotiating directly with you may not drag talks out until a statute of limitations or policy time limit affects your rights without giving you written notice 60 days before the limit may expire (NAC 686A.675(5)). That rule does not move the deadline. It only obliges the insurer to warn you.

What changes the answer

A child was hurt. If the injured person was under 18 when the claim arose, that time is not counted toward the limitation period (NRS 11.250). A settlement for a child still needs district court approval before it takes effect (NRS 41.200); see when a court must approve a child's settlement.
A government vehicle was involved. The 2-year administrative claim goes to the Attorney General for the State, or to the governing body of a city or county (NRS 41.036(1), (2)). Filing that claim is not a condition for suing (NRS 41.036(3)), and damages are capped at $200,000 per claimant (NRS 41.035). Read claims after a crash with a government vehicle.
Someone died. A wrongful death action is an action for "the death of a person caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another," which falls under the same 2-year rule (NRS 11.190(4)(e)). Heirs and the personal representative may each bring claims (NRS 41.085); see who can bring a wrongful death claim in Nevada.
The crash happened at work. The 7-day and 90-day workers' compensation deadlines run alongside the 2-year limit against the other driver. Our page on a work crash with both workers' comp and a claim explains how the two fit.
Medicaid paid your bills. Written notice to the Nevada Health Authority is required when a recipient asserts a claim, and the Authority's own limitation period is tolled until it receives that notice (NRS 422.293001(1), (3)). See how Medicaid repayment works.
The at-fault driver left Nevada. The statute says that if the person is out of the state when the claim arises, or leaves afterward, the time of absence is not counted (NRS 11.300). Treat that as a backstop to argue about, never as a reason to wait.
The claim is under your own policy. Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims are made under your insurance contract, which may contain its own notice, consent and time-limit terms. Read the policy now, not at the end.
The driver was drunk. The criminal case runs on its own timetable and does not pause your civil deadline. Our page on how a DUI case affects your injury claim covers how the two move side by side.

For example: one crash, eight dates

Imagine a driver named Rosa. On Tuesday, March 3, 2026, a pickup runs a red light on Flamingo Road and hits her car. She goes to the emergency room with a wrist fracture; her car is towed. LVMPD responds and writes a report with both drivers' insurance. Every detail here is hypothetical.

Because an officer investigated and the report lists the insurers, Rosa does not need her own DMV report (NRS 484E.070(3)). She requests the report online about two weeks later, after the 10 business days LVMPD asks people to allow. She was driving to a client's office for work, so she gives her employer written notice by March 10 and files the workers' compensation claim well before the 90 days run out (NRS 616C.015, 616C.020).

She notifies the other driver's insurer and her own. Her own insurer must acknowledge within 20 working days; for her collision claim it must accept or deny within 30 working days of a complete proof of loss (NAC 686A.665, 686A.675). The hospital records a lien notice and serves it on the other driver's insurer (NRS 108.610). Her wrist needs a second surgery in the fall, and talks slow down.

Rosa's calendar now shows March 3, 2028 as the last day to file her injury lawsuit (NRS 11.190(4)(e)) and March 3, 2029 for her car (NRS 11.190(3)(c)). If she files in January 2028, she must serve the pickup driver by about mid-May 2028 under the 120-day rule (NRCP 4(e)). Nothing about the friendly negotiations changes any of those dates.

Common mistakes with Nevada crash deadlines

Counting from the wrong day. The clocks run from the crash (or from service, or from an answer), not from the day you first saw a doctor or the day the insurer called.
Believing a claim with the insurer stops the clock. An insurance claim is not a lawsuit. Only filing in court meets NRS 11.190, however long the adjuster has had the file. Our page on what you give up by signing a fast settlement explains why the release, not the clock, is the other trap.
Waiting to report a hit-and-run. Without a timely police report, uninsured motorist coverage for an unknown driver may not apply (NRS 690B.020(3)(f)).
Forgetting the property claim is separate. The car has 3 years, the injury 2. People sometimes settle the car and assume the injury deadline moved too. It did not.
Filing on the last day and serving late. A complaint filed in time can still be dismissed against a defendant who is not served within 120 days unless the court extends the time (NRCP 4(e)(2)).
Ignoring the work-injury notice. The 7-day employer notice is short, and it is easy to miss while you are recovering.

What to do this week

Write the crash date on a calendar and mark the 2-year and 3-year anniversaries.
Confirm a police report exists, and note the event number; request the copy once it is available (see getting your Las Vegas crash report).
If no officer investigated, or the report lacks insurance details, send the DMV report within 10 days.
If the other driver left, make sure the police have a report today.
If you were working, give your employer written notice within 7 days.
Write down the date each insurer received each document, so you can track the 20- and 30-working-day rules.
If a public vehicle was involved, note the 2-year administrative claim deadline under NRS 41.036.
Read your own policy's notice and consent terms before you accept any payment from the other driver's insurer.

Frequently asked questions

Does negotiating with the insurance company pause the 2-year deadline?

No rule in NRS 11.190 pauses the clock for negotiations. If you are talking to an insurer without an attorney, it must warn you in writing 60 days before a time limit may expire (NAC 686A.675(5)), but the deadline itself does not move.

What if I did not realize I was hurt until later?

NRS 11.190 runs from when the cause of action accrues, and when that is can be argued in an unusual case. Do not plan around a later start date. Treat the crash date as day one and see a doctor early, which also helps prove the injury.

Is the deadline different if the person who hit me lives in another state?

Treat the 2-year period in NRS 11.190 as the deadline. The rule that does not count a defendant's time outside Nevada (NRS 11.300) is a backstop to argue about, not a reason to wait. Visitors face extra steps; our page for people hit while visiting Las Vegas covers them.

Do I have to file the government claim before I can sue?

No. The 2-year administrative claim under NRS 41.036 is not a condition precedent to a lawsuit (NRS 41.036(3)). It can still be a useful step, and the lawsuit itself remains subject to the 2-year limit.

How long does a lawsuit take once it is filed?

The early steps have fixed dates (service, answer, early case conference), but the rest depends on the court's schedule and on whether the case goes to the court's arbitration or short trial program. Our page on the steps of a Clark County lawsuit describes each stage. Cases worth up to $100,000 per plaintiff filed since January 1, 2026 usually start in the court's program, explained in our guide to arbitration and short trials.

Is there a deadline to apply for help from the Victims of Crime Program after a DUI crash?

Yes. The statute allows an application up to 60 months after the injury, with a longer period for minors and a good-cause waiver (NRS 217.100), but the program's eligibility page says applications must be submitted within two years of the crime and that the crime must be reported to police within 5 days. Plan on the shorter dates. Our page on Victims of Crime compensation after a DUI crash explains the program.

What happens if I miss the 2-year deadline?

The statute says an injury action "may only be commenced" within 2 years (NRS 11.190), so a late lawsuit faces dismissal unless an exception such as the minority rule in NRS 11.250 applies. That is why the date belongs on your calendar today.

If you are not sure which of these dates apply to your crash, attorney Maysoun Fletcher can go through them with you and help you keep each one. Call 702-333-6339 for a free consultation; the phones are answered 24/7.