Hurricane Karen made a name for herself last week when she swirled and blew into the Gulf Coast region. She shied away just before making an impact in Texas but made she made it a point to stop by the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. Previously, I gave you a snippet of the statute of limitations for Texas and Arkansas property claims. This week, I’ll give you a brief snapshot of the Mississippi statute of limitations so you can be ready for the next named storm.
Mississippi makes it clear: Statute of limitations for claims filed under Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA)1 begins to run when all the elements of a tort, or cause of action, are present.
Under the judicially-created discovery rule, limitations period for Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA) claims does not begin to run until all the elements of a tort exist, and the claimant knows or, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, should know of both the injury and the act or omission which caused it.
Here’s the statutory language:
17. Under Section 15–1–49(1) and (2) of the Mississippi Code:
(1) all actions for which no other period of limitation is prescribed shall be commenced within three (3) years next after the cause of such action accrued, and not after.
(2) in actions for which no other period of limitation is prescribed and which involve latent injury or disease, the cause of action does not accrue until the plaintiff has discovered, or by reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury.
Here’s the statute put to work: In Oaks v. Sellers,2 the Mississippi Supreme Court applied this section to insurance cases, stating that “the three-year statute of limitations, pursuant to Miss.Code. Ann. § 15–1–49, began to run at the latest” when the insured received written notice from the insurer that his claim was denied.
1 Miss. Code § 11—46—11(3).
2 Oaks v. Sellers, 953 So.2d 1077, 1084 (Miss.2007).