Illinois small claims court prescribes a maximum time frame during which legal proceedings must be initiated after an incident. Once that time period has expired, then no actions related to the incident may be brought. This law is called a "statute of limitations." The amount of time you have to file a claim depends on the kind of case it is. For example, you usually have:

• 2 years from the date of incident to file a claim against someone who injured you,
• 5 years from the date of the incident to file a claim against someone who damaged your property,
• 5 years from the date of the broken contract to file a claim for breach of contract against someone with whom you have a contract with that is not in writing, and 
• 10 years from the date of the broken contract to file a claim for breach of contract against someone with whom you have a written contract.