Personal injury lawyer help in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

Hillsborough County, New Hampshire includes 28 named communities, the largest being Manchester, Nashua, Merrimack. Whether an accident happened on a county road, in a small town or in one of the larger communities, the same New Hampshire rules apply: a 3-year filing deadline for most injury claims, modified comparative negligence (51% bar), and lawsuits filed in the Hillsborough County Superior Court. This page is the county-wide guide, with links to a page for each community.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests from Hillsborough County may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle car, truck, motorcycle and pedestrian accidents, slip and fall injuries, workplace injuries and workers' compensation, medical malpractice and wrongful death matters in New Hampshire. There is no charge to submit a request and no obligation to hire anyone.

From 2020 through 2024, federal crash records list 128 fatal crashes in Hillsborough County, in which 137 people died. The roads with the most were Everett Tpke (US-3) with 12 fatal crashes, I-293 with 10 and State Route 28 with 6.

The yearly count was 19 in 2020, 29 in 2021, 29 in 2022, 22 in 2023 and 29 in 2024; 42% of the crashes happened after dark. 20 involved a pedestrian, cyclist or other person outside a vehicle, and 36 happened at or near an intersection.

Fatal crashes are the most serious outcome on these roads; many more crashes cause injuries without a death. Whatever the severity, the police crash report, photos of the scene and prompt medical records are the starting evidence for a claim.

Communities in the county with the most fatal crashes coded to them:

• Manchester, NH43 fatal crashes · 45 deaths, 2020-2024
• Nashua, NH20 fatal crashes · 21 deaths, 2020-2024
• Bedford, NH9 fatal crashes · 10 deaths, 2020-2024
• Merrimack, NH8 fatal crashes · 9 deaths, 2020-2024
• Hudson, NH6 fatal crashes · 6 deaths, 2020-2024

In New Hampshire, every driver in a crash that injures or kills anyone, or causes more than $1,000 of property damage, must report it in writing to the Division of Motor Vehicles within 15 days, unless a police officer investigated it, in which case the officer's report satisfies the requirement (RSA 264:25).

Who must report

Any driver in a crash, or the owner of an illegally parked vehicle involved in one, when anyone is injured or killed or property damage is more than $1,000, unless a police officer investigated it

Report to

The New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles (Department of Safety)

Deadline

Within 15 days after the crash

At the scene

If the injured person, the other driver or the owner of damaged property cannot take your information, give it to a uniformed police officer at the scene or immediately to an officer at the nearest police station

Sources: New Hampshire RSA 264:25; New Hampshire RSA 259:22. Checked November 3, 2026. General information, not legal advice; local rules and police practice can add steps.

Each community below has its own guide with the local court, insurance rules and every type of injury claim.

• Manchester, NHpop. 110,229
• Nashua, NHpop. 87,970
• Merrimack, NHpop. 26,726
• Bedford, NHpop. 21,188
• Pelham, NHpop. 12,676
• Milford, NHpop. 8,835
• Weare, NHpop. 8,583
• Litchfield, NHpop. 8,307
• Hollis, NHpop. 7,711
• Hudson, NHpop. 7,336
• New Ipswich, NHpop. 5,283
• New Boston, NHpop. 4,934
• Brookline, NHpop. 4,650
• Goffstown, NHpop. 3,196
• Peterborough, NHpop. 3,103
• Mont Vernon, NHpop. 2,166
• Hillsborough, NHpop. 1,976
• Greenfield, NHpop. 1,765
• Lyndeborough, NHpop. 1,688
• Francestown, NHpop. 1,571
• Antrim, NHpop. 1,397
• Temple, NHpop. 1,381
• Wilton, NHpop. 1,163
• Greenville, NHpop. 1,108

Smaller communities in Hillsborough County include Amherst, Bennington, Hancock, West Peterborough. Residents of these areas follow the same New Hampshire rules, use the same Hillsborough County Superior Court, and can request a free claim review from anywhere in the county.

New Hampshire generally gives an injured person three years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (RSA 508:4); medical malpractice is different (three years). Wrongful death claims follow their own deadline, which can differ from the one above. Claims against a city, county, school district or state agency follow separate and often much shorter deadlines. Once the deadline passes, the Hillsborough County Superior Court will dismiss the case regardless of how clear the fault was, so the practical rule in Hillsborough County is to get legal advice early.

New Hampshire follows modified comparative negligence (51% bar). In plain terms, you can recover as long as you were not more than 50% at fault, and your award is reduced by your share of fault. Insurance adjusters apply this rule from the first phone call, which is why the way an accident is described and documented in the days after it happens in Hillsborough County has a direct effect on what a claim is worth.

After a crash in Hillsborough County, the at-fault driver's liability insurance is the primary source of compensation. New Hampshire does not require drivers to buy auto insurance; a driver who causes a crash must instead show the ability to pay at least 25/50/25 (thousands of dollars for bodily injury per person, per accident, and property damage), which serious injuries quickly exhaust. Underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy and claims against additional responsible parties often make the difference in Hillsborough County cases.

Lawsuits arising from accidents in Hillsborough County are typically filed in the Hillsborough County Superior Court, the trial court of general jurisdiction for Hillsborough County, although cases can sometimes be filed where the defendant resides or does business, and claims against out-of-state trucking companies or manufacturers may end up in federal court. Most claims settle before trial, but the credible ability to try a case in Hillsborough County is what moves insurers to pay fair value.

Employees injured on the job in Hillsborough County are generally covered by New Hampshire workers' compensation, administered through the New Hampshire Department of Labor. Report the injury to your employer within 2 years (RSA 281-A:19) — a late report can delay or put the claim at risk, and the exceptions vary by state — then file the formal claim within three years. Workers' compensation does not pay for pain and suffering, so when a third party such as a subcontractor, driver or equipment manufacturer caused the injury, a separate personal injury claim is often worth pursuing alongside it.

• Cheshire County, NH
• Merrimack County, NH
• Rockingham County, NH
• Sullivan County, NH

See the New Hampshire personal injury guide for every county in the state.