# Claim for injury to a person after an accident in California

An insurance claim for injury to a person. The same insurer clocks apply; the Code of Civil Procedure gives two years for an action for injury to, or the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another.

## At a glance

| Detail | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Kind | Claim |
| Authority | [The insurer, under California’s Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations](https://www.insurance.ca.gov/) |
| Where it applies | us, us-ca |
| Last verified against its sources | 2026-10-04 |
| Version | 1 |

## Where this sits

**Level 2.** [Property & casualty insurance claims](/a/vertical-property-casualty-insurance-claims) › Bodily injury claim › **Claim for injury to a person after an accident in California**

**Starts from:** [A motor vehicle accident](/a/motor-vehicle-accident)

**May be caused by:** [A motor vehicle accident](/a/motor-vehicle-accident)

**Related:** [Claim for damage to a car after an accident in California](/a/california-vehicle-damage-claim), [Report an injury accident to the police in California](/a/california-police-accident-report), [Report an accident to the California DMV (SR-1)](/a/california-dmv-sr-1-accident-report)

Injury to the person is its own claim with a shorter clock than the car’s. The claim for the car is nested inside this article.

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## Rules

**Requirement:** The insurer tells the claimant what information it needs as proof of claim, and provides the forms and instructions.

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## Deadlines

**The insurer acknowledges your notice of claim:** Upon receiving notice of claim, every insurer shall immediately, but in no event more than fifteen (15) calendar days later, acknowledge receipt of such notice to the claimant unless payment is made within that period of time.

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**The insurer accepts or denies the claim:** Upon receiving proof of claim, every insurer shall immediately, but in no event more than forty (40) calendar days later, accept or deny the claim, in whole or in part.

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**The time to sue for an injury:** Within two years: an action for assault, battery, or injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1).

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## Where a person decides

The insurer accepts or denies the claim; an injury claim often turns on medical records and on who was at fault, which a person decides, not a form.

## What this page does not know

- Medical records, liens and the rules for minors are not modeled here.
- When the two years start to run in a particular case is a legal question this page does not answer.
- The regulation is read from the Legal Information Institute’s reproduction, not the official publication.

## More sources

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