Indiana Car Accident Laws

Indiana's rules follow a common national pattern — two-year deadline, 51% fault bar — with one detail worth knowing: Indiana's well-known damage cap applies only to medical malpractice, not to car accident claims.

People sometimes assume Indiana caps car accident recoveries because of its medical malpractice cap. It doesn't — car accident pain-and-suffering damages have no statutory ceiling.

Statute of limitations: 2 years

Under Ind. Code §34-11-2-4(a)(1), you generally have two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. If the injured person is a minor, the clock is paused until their 18th birthday.

Fault rule: modified comparative negligence, 51% bar

Under Ind. Code §34-51-2-6, you can recover damages if you're found 50% at fault or less, reduced by your percentage. At 51% or more, you recover nothing.

Note: this rule doesn't apply the same way in claims against a government entity, where you generally need to prove the other driver was 100% at fault.

Insurance: at-fault system, 25/50/25 minimum

Indiana is an at-fault state. Minimum liability limits are 25/50/25: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage. Insurers must offer uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage matching these limits, though you can reject it in writing. Indiana's damage cap of $1.8 million applies specifically to medical malpractice cases — not to car accident claims, which have no statutory ceiling on non-economic damages.

How this plays out in a real claim

Take an intersection collision where fault is genuinely disputed. If an insurer or court assigns you 40% of the blame, Indiana's rule still lets you recover 60% of your damages, and even at exactly 50% you still recover half. But at 51% or more, the claim is barred entirely — not reduced, eliminated. That one-point difference between 50% and 51% is exactly why insurers have a real incentive to push a borderline case just over the line rather than simply discount what they pay.

A mistake worth avoiding in Indiana

Because a single percentage point at the 51% threshold can be the entire difference between a reduced payout and nothing at all, careless statements at the scene or to an adjuster carry more weight here than in a pure comparative state. Avoid speculating about fault, even casually, until the full picture — police report, witnesses, any available footage — is in front of you.

If a government vehicle or agency was involved

The Indiana Tort Claims Act sets a notice deadline that depends on which level of government is involved: 180 days if the claim is against a city or county, but 270 days if it's against the State of Indiana itself. Getting this distinction right matters, since filing under the wrong deadline — or serving the wrong entity — can be treated as if no notice was given at all. Damages against government entities are also capped by statute, separate from what an ordinary claim against a private driver could recover.

If the crash resulted in a death

Indiana gives two years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim, but which of three separate statutes applies changes the outcome dramatically. If the deceased had a spouse, dependent children, or dependent next of kin (Ind. Code §34-23-1-1), recovery is uncapped. If the deceased was an unmarried adult with no dependents (the Adult Wrongful Death Act, §34-23-1-2), damages are capped at $300,000 and exclude lost earnings, grief, and punitive damages entirely — Indiana doesn't allow punitive damages in a wrongful death claim under any of its statutes. A separate statute covers the death of a child under 20 (or 23, if in school).

Beyond the deadline and the fault rule

The statute of limitations and the fault rule above decide whether you have a claim and how much of it survives — they don't decide what the claim is actually worth, or whether it's worth handling yourself. For that, see our guides on what affects a settlement, who pays your medical bills while a claim is pending, and whether Indiana law makes a lawyer worth it for your specific situation.

When it's worth talking to someone

With a hard 51% cutoff, how fault gets assigned in Indiana can be the entire outcome of a claim, not just a discount. A free, no-obligation conversation is worth having if fault is disputed at all.