The general rule: a genuinely short one year
Under T.C.A. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A), most personal injury claims must be filed within one year — among the shortest general personal injury deadlines anywhere in the country, well under the two- or three-year periods common elsewhere.
A genuinely real way this can extend to two years
There's a real, distinctive exception worth knowing. If the same conduct that caused the injury is also the subject of a criminal prosecution commenced within one year by a law enforcement officer, the deadline extends to two years under T.C.A. § 28-3-104(a)(2). See our full guide to Tennessee's discovery rule and tolling for how narrowly Tennessee courts have construed this exception.
Property damage: a genuinely longer three years
Property damage claims generally fall under a much longer deadline — three years under T.C.A. § 28-3-105(1) — triple the general personal injury period.
Wrongful death: the same one year
Wrongful death claims generally carry the same one-year deadline from the date of death, brought by the personal representative of the deceased's estate.
Government claims: a real complication
Claims against a government entity follow Tennessee's Governmental Tort Liability Act, with its own genuinely nuanced rules. See our full guide to Tennessee government claim deadlines.