Personal Injury Advocate
← All states

Maryland injury rights, deadlines, and help

If you were hurt in Maryland, you probably have one big question: how long do I have to act, and what should I do first? This page answers that in plain words, with links to the official laws so you can check every number yourself. Two things make Maryland different: very short work injury reporting windows, and one of the strictest fault rules in the country.

The deadlines that matter in Maryland

Medical claims can have different, often shorter deadlines. Minors and some other people may get extra time. Laws change, so treat these as starting points, not legal advice for your exact case.

What to do first

  1. Get medical care now. Your health comes first, and the medical record it creates also protects your claim.
  2. Report the injury in writing. Work injury: tell your employer today. In Maryland the window is only 10 days. Crash: call the police and get the report number. Fall or dog bite: tell the property owner or dog owner and keep proof you did.
  3. Save everything. Photos of the scene and your injuries, names of witnesses, receipts, and every letter or text about the incident.
  4. Be very careful what you say about your own actions. Maryland is one of the last states where any share of fault on your part, even a small one, can bar your recovery completely (more below). Casual apologies and guesses get used against people.
  5. Do not sign anything from an insurance company yet. A release signed early can end your claim forever, even for injuries no one has found yet.
Not sure which deadline applies to you? Tell us what happened at /start/. It is free, and we will help you sort it out.

Common situations in Maryland

Hurt at work

Maryland workers' compensation (the no-fault system that pays for work injuries) moves fast: 10 days to report, 60 days for the claim form, and an absolute 2-year bar. The good news is that comp is no-fault, so the strict fault rule below does not apply to comp benefits. Report the same day, file early, and keep copies of everything.

Hurt on the road

Car, motorcycle, bike, and pedestrian injuries generally fall under the 3-year lawsuit deadline. Fault is where Maryland is hardest on injured people. It follows the contributory negligence rule: if the other side convinces a court you were even slightly at fault, you can recover nothing at all. Maryland's highest court reaffirmed this rule in Coleman v. Soccer Association of Columbia (2013). Court opinion Only a handful of places still use this rule, and it is the single biggest reason not to handle a contested Maryland injury claim alone.

Hurt on someone's property, or by a dog

Slip and fall cases follow the same 3-year clock, with the 1-year notice rules if the property belongs to the state, a county, or a city. Contributory negligence looms over fall cases too, because "you should have watched your step" is exactly the argument the rule rewards. For dog bites, Maryland law gives victims a head start: proof that the dog caused the injury creates a presumption that the owner knew the dog was dangerous, and the owner has to rebut it. A dog running at large brings stricter liability. Md. Code, Cts. and Jud. Proc. 3-1901. Official text

A story worth knowing

On November 13, 2021, Judith Romero fell on a broken, deteriorated part of a roadway owned by New York City. When you fall on public property there, you must send the city a formal notice of claim within 90 days. Judith did not send hers until June 2022, about four months past the deadline, because she did not know the rule existed. The court refused to accept her late notice, ruling that not knowing about the deadline is not a legal excuse. An appeals court agreed in 2025. Her claim against the city was over before it started. Matter of Romero v City of New York (2025)

Maryland's government notice windows are longer than New York's, but they work the same way: the clock starts the day you are hurt, it runs whether or not you know about it, and "I didn't know" does not save the case. That is exactly why having an advocate helps.

What we can help with

We are not a law firm and we do not charge injured people anything. We are your advocate. Here is what that looks like:

Our help is always free to you. We never take money from injured people.

Tell us what happened

If you or someone you love was hurt in Maryland, you do not have to figure this out alone. Share your story at /start/ and we will point you in the right direction. No pressure, no cost.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-08-16

This is general information, not legal advice. Deadlines can change or vary with the facts. A licensed attorney can confirm the rule for your situation.