In personal injury law, strict filing deadlines—known as statutes of limitations—apply to all claims. Miss the deadline, and you typically lose the right to sue. However, life doesn’t always cooperate with legal timelines. Natural disasters, wars, pandemics, or other uncontrollable crises can prevent injured individuals from filing their claims on time. In such cases, can emergency situations or force majeure events legally extend your injury claim deadline?

What Is Force Majeure in Legal Terms?

Force majeure refers to unforeseeable, extraordinary events that prevent someone from fulfilling a legal obligation. In contracts, it may excuse a party from performance due to events like:

• Natural disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, floods)
• War, civil unrest, or terrorism
• Epidemics or pandemics
• Government shutdowns or travel restrictions

In tort law, while force majeure isn’t applied the same way as in contracts, its core principle—unavoidable delay due to extreme circumstances—can support requests to extend filing deadlines under doctrines like:

• Equitable tolling
• Judicial emergency orders
• Disability tolling due to external crisis

When Do Emergency Situations Affect Injury Deadlines?

1. Declared States of Emergency or Natural Disasters

If a region is under a government-declared state of emergency—such as during wildfires, earthquakes, or hurricanes—courts may issue emergency orders that pause all legal deadlines, including personal injury claims.

Example: A hurricane shuts down local courts for weeks or months. During this time, the statute of limitations may be suspended until normal operations resume.

This protection is often codified into law or executed through emergency court directives.

2. Pandemics (e.g., COVID-19)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many jurisdictions around the world issued temporary suspensions of civil litigation deadlines, including those for personal injury lawsuits.

• In the U.S., several states issued tolling orders through governors or supreme courts.
• In Europe, countries like France and Italy passed legal provisions pausing procedural timelines.
• The UK allowed extensions and remote filings for a wide range of civil cases.

These emergency suspensions demonstrate that force majeure events—especially those affecting entire systems—can alter statutory timelines.

3. Court Closures or Inaccessibility

If physical or administrative access to the courts is impossible due to emergencies, courts may toll the statute of limitations. Examples include:

• Courthouse flooding or destruction
• Political unrest or martial law
• Complete system outages (cyberattacks or infrastructure failure)

In such cases, litigants are typically not penalized for being unable to file on time, provided they act promptly once access is restored.

4. Personal Impact of Emergencies

Beyond broad emergencies, individuals affected severely by force majeure events may qualify for deadline extensions. For instance:

• A claimant hospitalized or incapacitated due to a disaster or crisis
• A person stranded due to border closures, evacuations, or military action
• A key witness or legal counsel rendered unreachable by emergency conditions

In these cases, the court may consider tolling if the claimant can prove the crisis directly impaired their ability to act.

What Is Equitable Tolling?

Equitable tolling is a legal doctrine that allows courts to extend deadlines when a plaintiff has:

1. Been prevented from filing by extraordinary circumstances beyond their control
2. Acted with reasonable diligence once those obstacles were removed

Emergency situations often form the basis for equitable tolling. However, courts require clear evidence that the crisis directly caused the delay and that the plaintiff acted in good faith.

What You Must Show to Claim an Exception

If you want a court to toll or extend your injury claim deadline due to a force majeure event, you typically need to show:

• The nature of the event (e.g., pandemic, natural disaster, war)
• Proof that it directly prevented timely filing (e.g., court closures, medical emergency, travel ban)
• Diligence before and after the delay (you didn’t sit on your rights once the emergency passed)
• Lack of alternative legal options (such as online or emergency filings)

Courts do not grant these exceptions lightly. Vague references to “stress” or “inconvenience” usually aren’t enough.

Does This Apply Internationally?

Yes, to varying degrees. Here are a few international notes:

• United States: Courts often grant emergency tolling through state or federal orders
• UK: Procedural rules allow judges discretion for extensions under “exceptional circumstances”
• EU Member States: Many civil codes include “force majeure” or “interruption of prescription” clauses
• Canada and Australia: Judicial systems allow discretionary extensions for hardship or emergencies

Always check the local jurisdiction where your injury occurred or where the lawsuit would be filed.