The general rule: two years
Under Idaho Code § 5-219(4), most personal injury claims must be filed within two years from the date the cause of action arose. This covers car accidents, slip and falls, and most other negligence claims — and it's notably shorter than the deadlines many neighboring states give, sometimes half as long.
Property damage: a full year longer
A single accident can carry genuinely different deadlines. While the personal injury claim runs on the two-year clock, a property damage claim from that same accident — vehicle repairs, for example — gets three years under Idaho Code § 5-218, a full year more than the injury claim itself.
Wrongful death: its own two-year clock, from the date of death
Wrongful death claims also carry a two-year deadline, but measured from the date of death rather than the date of the underlying injury. Where someone is injured and dies later from those injuries, this can create two separate, overlapping deadlines running from different dates — the injury claim (or the estate's survival action) from the date of injury, and the wrongful death claim from the date of death.
A genuinely narrow rule for professional malpractice
Here's a detail that surprises a lot of people, including some lawyers. Idaho courts have specifically held that § 5-219(4) does not adopt a true discovery rule for professional malpractice claims. Instead, the two-year clock begins when some damage becomes objectively ascertainable — not necessarily the date the injured person actually discovers or realizes they've been harmed. See our full guide to this narrow rule and the real tolling exceptions Idaho does recognize.
Government claims: a genuinely different clock for counties
Claims against the State of Idaho and most political subdivisions generally follow the same two-year rule. Idaho counties are a real exception, with a notice-then-sue process that can cut the effective deadline much shorter. See our full guide to Idaho's government claim notice requirements.