The general rule: three years, discovery-based by design
Under 12 V.S.A. § 512(4), most personal injury claims must be filed within three years. A genuinely distinctive detail: the statute's own text measures this period from the discovery of the injury, rather than treating discovery as a separate exception layered on top of an incident-date rule.
Skiing injuries: a genuinely shorter one year
Vermont's ski industry comes with its own dedicated rule. Under 12 V.S.A. § 513, an action for injuries sustained while actually participating in the sport of skiing must be commenced within one year — a third of the general period, and one of the shortest personal injury deadlines in the state. See our full guide to Vermont's discovery rule and tolling for a real court case showing exactly how strictly this gets enforced.
Wrongful death: shorter, not longer
Wrongful death claims generally get two years from the date of death — shorter than the general three-year personal injury rule.
Childhood abuse: no deadline at all
Vermont has eliminated the statute of limitations entirely for civil claims based on childhood sexual or physical abuse — a genuinely significant departure from the ordinary time-limited framework.
Municipal claims: a genuine inversion
Unlike many states, Vermont generally doesn't shorten the statute of limitations for claims against a town or municipality. See our full guide to Vermont government claim deadlines for this, and one genuinely narrow exception that still applies.