Car Accident Laws in Indiana: Fault, Insurance & Deadlines

Short answer: Indiana is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state. The driver who caused the crash — or that driver's insurance company — is financially responsible for the other side's injuries and damage. If you were hurt, you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit, and two years for property damage too, under Indiana Code § 34-11-2-4. If a government-owned vehicle (city, county, or state) was involved, that deadline effectively shrinks to a 180-day (or 270-day) written notice requirement — see the government-claims section below before you assume you have two full years.

1. Is Indiana a No-Fault or At-Fault State?

Indiana runs on a tort (at-fault) system. There is no state-mandated personal injury protection (PIP) coverage and no requirement that you file first with your own insurer regardless of fault. Instead, the driver whose negligence caused the wreck is legally responsible for the resulting medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and vehicle damage. Practically, this means you have three paths after a crash: (1) file a claim against the at-fault driver's liability insurance, (2) tap your own coverage (such as medical payments coverage, if you bought it, or your own collision coverage for your car) and let your insurer pursue reimbursement, or (3) sue the at-fault driver directly. Because Indiana is a fault state, the question of who caused the crash — and whether you share any blame — matters immediately (see the comparative-fault section below).

2. Minimum Auto Insurance Required in Indiana

Indiana's financial responsibility law requires every driver to carry at least the following liability limits, commonly written as 25/50/25 (per the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles):

• $25,000 bodily injury or death, per person
• $50,000 bodily injury or death, per accident (when two or more people are hurt)
• $25,000 property damage, per accident

These are legal minimums, not what most injuries actually cost — a single serious ER visit or hospital stay can exceed $25,000 quickly, so many drivers carry higher limits voluntarily.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage: Indiana insurers must include UM/UIM coverage at limits equal to your liability limits on every new or renewed auto policy; you can reject it, but only in writing (Indiana Code § 27-7-5-2). If you don't sign a written rejection, you should have it. By statute, underinsured motorist coverage generally must be made available in limits of at least $50,000. Given how many drivers carry only the state minimum, UM/UIM is one of the most valuable coverages an Indiana driver can keep.

PIP / medical payments coverage: Indiana does not require personal injury protection (PIP) or medical payments (“MedPay”) coverage — it's optional, sold as an add-on. If you have it, it can pay your own medical bills quickly regardless of fault while a liability claim is sorted out.

Insurance minimums are set by statute and are periodically revisited by the legislature — confirm current limits with the Indiana Department of Insurance or your carrier before relying on a specific number for a claim.

3. Statute of Limitations After a Crash

Under Indiana Code § 34-11-2-4, an action for injury to a person or to personal property must be commenced within two (2) years after the claim accrues — generally the date of the crash. That two-year clock covers both your personal injury claim and your property-damage claim. Exceptions can pause or extend the clock (for example, if the injured person was a minor at the time, or was under another legal disability), but don't count on an exception applying to you — treat two years as your outside limit and file well before it. Miss the deadline and a court will almost certainly refuse to hear your case, no matter how strong it is.

4. Indiana's Shared-Fault Rule

Indiana uses modified comparative fault with a 51% bar, codified at Indiana Code Chapter 34-51-2 (see § 34-51-2-6). In practice:

• If you're 50% or less at fault, you can still recover damages, but your award is reduced by your percentage of fault (for example, 20% at fault means a 20% cut to your total recovery).
• If you're found more than 50% at fault, Indiana law bars you from recovering anything.

Insurance adjusters know this rule well and often try to shift extra percentage points of fault onto the injured person specifically to push them past the 50% line — another reason to document the scene and get an official crash report. Note also that claims against a government entity or employee are handled differently from ordinary driver-versus-driver claims (see below), so don't assume the same comparative-fault math automatically applies.

5. When You Must Report a Crash

Indiana law requires the drivers involved to report a crash when it causes property damage of $1,000 or more, any injury, or a death. If law enforcement responds to the scene, the responding officer typically files the official crash report and you don't need to separately file one. If police were not called or did not respond, the driver must complete Indiana's official crash-report form and submit it to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles within 10 days of the crash. Failing to report as required can put your driving privileges and registration at risk. Whenever there's any injury, disputed fault, or damage anywhere near four figures, call the police to the scene rather than trying to handle it informally — the officer's report becomes important evidence for your insurance claim.

6. Damage Caps and Claims Against a Government Vehicle

If the at-fault vehicle was owned or operated by a city, county, township, school corporation, or the State of Indiana, you are not dealing with an ordinary insurance claim — you're dealing with the Indiana Tort Claims Act (Indiana Code Chapter 34-13-3), and the rules are much less forgiving:

• Notice deadline: You (or your attorney) generally must deliver a formal written notice of your claim within 180 days of the loss if the defendant is a political subdivision (city, county, township, municipal agency), or within 270 days if the defendant is a state agency or state employee. Miss this notice window and your claim can be barred entirely — even though the two-year lawsuit deadline hasn't run yet.
• Damage caps: The Act limits what you can recover from a governmental entity, commonly cited as up to $700,000 per person and an aggregate cap per occurrence, with punitive damages generally not recoverable against the government at all.

These notice deadlines and dollar caps are technical, unforgiving, and have been adjusted by the legislature over time, so verify the current notice deadline and cap amounts before you rely on them, and don't wait to find out you owe a governmental entity a notice — if any government vehicle (police car, snowplow, transit bus, school bus, mail truck, etc.) was involved, treat the situation as time-critical from day one, well inside your ordinary two-year window.

What to Do After a Crash in Indiana

1. Call 911 if anyone is hurt, or if property damage looks anywhere near $1,000 — get police to the scene so an official crash report gets created.
2. Exchange information — name, address, license and plate number, and insurance — with every driver involved, as Indiana law requires.
3. Document the scene — photos of all vehicles, damage, license plates, skid marks, road conditions, traffic signals, and any visible injuries, plus names and contact information for witnesses.
4. Get medical care promptly, even if you feel "okay" — some injuries (concussions, soft-tissue injuries, internal injuries) surface hours or days later, and a documented, timely exam links your injuries to the crash.
5. Note if a government vehicle was involved (police, fire, public transit, school bus, city or county truck) — if so, find out immediately whether you're facing a 180-day or 270-day notice deadline, not the standard two years.
6. Report to your own insurer and, if there is one, the at-fault driver's insurer — but be careful about giving a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company before you understand the comparative-fault rules above.
7. Keep every record — medical bills, repair estimates, missed-work documentation, and the crash report number — in one place.
8. Track your two-year deadline (or the much shorter government-claim notice window) so you don't lose your right to recover.

This article is general information about Indiana law as of 2026, not legal advice for your specific situation — confirm current deadlines, coverage limits, and caps with the Indiana Department of Insurance, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the current Indiana Code, or a licensed Indiana attorney before acting.