Montana Car Accident Laws

Montana's deadline and fault rule are fairly standard, but its insurance requirements have a genuine gap: unlike most states, Montana doesn't legally require PIP or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

If you're hit by an uninsured driver in Montana, there's no legal requirement that you already have coverage to fall back on — that protection is entirely optional here.

Statute of limitations: 3 years (2 for property damage)

Under Mont. Code §27-2-204, you generally have three years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. Property damage claims have a shorter, two-year deadline. Wrongful death claims carry a three-year deadline, running from the date of death.

Fault rule: modified comparative negligence, 51% bar

Under Mont. Code §27-1-702, you can recover damages if your fault is not greater than the combined fault of everyone else responsible, reduced by your percentage. At 51% or more, you recover nothing.

Insurance: mandatory liability only — no PIP or UM requirement

Montana is an at-fault state. Minimum liability limits are 25/50/20: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $20,000 for property damage. Distinctively, Montana does not legally require PIP or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage — both are purely optional add-ons here, unlike most states where UM coverage is at least offered by default.

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, Montana'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 Montana

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

Montana requires written notice of claim within 180 days of the accident (MCA §2-9-302) — a much shorter window than the standard 3-year personal injury deadline that otherwise applies here. Negotiating with an insurer, government or otherwise, doesn't pause this clock, so identifying whether a government vehicle or employee was involved early is particularly important given how much shorter this deadline is than what most people expect going in.

If the crash resulted in a death

Montana gives three years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim (Mont. Code §27-2-204(2)) — extending to ten years if the death resulted from a criminal homicide. The estate's personal representative files as a trustee and must distribute any recovery to the decedent's heirs; Montana places no general cap on damages. One notable limitation: parents of a deceased adult child can only recover if they can show an unusually close, interdependent relationship, not just the family tie itself.

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 Montana law makes a lawyer worth it for your specific situation.

When it's worth talking to someone

Given Montana's gap in mandatory UM coverage, checking your own policy before an accident — and getting advice quickly after one, if the other driver turns out to be uninsured — is worth doing.