How Long Do You Have to File a Car Accident Claim in Indiana?

25th Nov 2025
The jarring nature of car accidents can leave you feeling exhausted and confused, especially when you’ve suffered injuries. One minute, you were driving down the highway, and the next, you’ve been spun around in the opposite direction. From there, everything may feel like a blur as you rush to the emergency room and medical teams race to save your life. Once you’re stabilized and recovering, you will need to file a car accident claim. You might be wondering, “How long do I have to file this claim?”  After car accidents, there are specific time limits that must be followed for filing these claims. Indianapolis personal injury lawyers always recommend that the sooner, the better. Read on to learn more about the specific time limits you’ll need to follow.  Car Accident Claim Deadlines in Indiana There are several deadlines to meet after a car accident in Indiana: Filing with the State of Indiana After you’re involved in a car accident in Indiana, regardless of who is at fault, you must report the accident to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) as quickly as possible. The state gives you up to 10 days to make this report, though many accident victims don’t realize they need to take this step. Even when the police respond to the scene of the accident and create a police report, drivers must contact the BMV to report the crash if it involved injury, death, or caused property damage over $1,000.  Notifying Your Auto Insurance Company Indiana is an at-fault state, meaning that the person who caused the accident is the one responsible for paying the damages. If you did not cause the accident, you would file your car accident claim with the other party’s insurer. However, you are still obligated to notify your auto insurance carrier of the accident.  For those who are capable of doing so, notifying the insurance companies should be done within the first 24 to 72 hours after an accident. Some insurance policies specify a timeframe in the fine print. Ideally, you should know what is required of you by your insurer, regardless of whether or not you need to file a claim. If you are seriously injured, there will be slightly more leeway, such as if you were rendered unconscious or were recovering from life-saving emergency surgery.  Understanding Indiana’s Statute of Limitations for Car Accident Cases Every state in the U.S. has statutes of limitations for personal injury cases. These are time limits set by the state to ensure timely filing of legal matters. For Indiana, that time limit is two years from the date of your crash.  Injury lawyers always recommend filing personal injury cases promptly. If you do not file within the allotted timeframe, you will lose your chance to seek financial compensation. Additionally, waiting too long to take legal action can also make it more challenging to prove your case. Unlike criminal law, personal injury law requires the plaintiff to prove that the other party was negligent and liable for their injuries. The longer you wait, the more likely it is for crucial evidence to fade from the accident scene. Any witnesses who saw what happened may not fully recall what happened on that day. They may move away or forget some facts in this time span. There are some exceptions that provide an extension of this time, such as if you did not immediately discover your injuries. In that situation, you would have from the date of discovery for the 2-year time limit to begin. Extensions are also granted for minor children who are injured in a car accident. They will have two years from their 18th birthday to file a lawsuit.  Filing Claims with Government Entities If your car accident involved a vehicle owned and operated by a government entity, then the time limits are shortened. You’ll first have to file a notice for a formal tort claim, and that must be done within six months. Failing to take this step will prevent you from seeking justice for your injuries.  What to Know About Indiana’s Car Accident Laws As mentioned, Indiana law holds the driver who caused the accident liable for damages. However, not every accident is cut-and-dry. If you were sitting at a red light waiting for it to turn green and another driver slammed into the back of your vehicle, it would most certainly be entirely their fault. It isn’t always that easy to determine fault in other types of car accidents. The state follows a modified comparative fault model, which allows for shared blame among the involved parties. You can be partially at fault for your own injuries, as long as you are not more than 50% at fault.  Maybe you had the green light as you approached the intersection, but you were going just a little over the posted speed limit. As you went through the intersection, another driver ran through the red light and caused a T-bone accident. The insurer will argue that if you were obeying the speed limit, you would have likely avoided the accident. In this scenario, you might be assigned 10% of the blame while the driver who ran the red light would be considered 90% at fault. Your injuries may have been extensive, requiring surgery and the need for ongoing treatments. After all is said and done, you may have $100,000 in compensation to collect, though it will be reduced by 10%, leaving you with $90,000.  Insurance companies can be incredibly manipulative, and they will look for other ways to reduce your settlement. If you have a pre-existing condition, they may try to say that your previous injuries are not their responsibility. Another common ploy is to use the amount of time it took you to report the accident to them. If you waited, they will argue that your injuries aren’t as serious as you claim or that those injuries were caused by something else that happened after the accident.  Why You Should Hire a Car Accident Lawyer After Your Crash There are no laws that require you to obtain legal representation in Indiana, or any other state. However, you most likely don’t realize all of your legal rights after such an incident. Along with serious and painful injuries, trying to navigate car accident claims can add more stress and make it more difficult to heal. You might be able to handle a minor fender-bender claim on your own when there were no injuries involved. If your vehicle was totaled, your injuries are severe or life-altering, or the other driver is trying to blame you, you should not proceed without an attorney advocating for you. Car accident lawyers are a huge asset in these scenarios for the following reasons: Determining the Full Extent of Your Damages After your car accident, you might only be thinking of the expensive medical bills that have already arrived. You may not be thinking about your future medical needs as a result of these injuries, or the amount of income you’ll lose because you can’t work until you’ve healed. These economic expenses, along with your added out-of-pocket costs and property damage, can all be sought in your compensation.  You can also seek compensation for your non-economic damages, such as the pain and suffering you’ve endured from your injuries or your loss of enjoyment of life when those injuries prevent you from engaging in your favorite activities. The more devastating the impact of your injuries, the greater the compensation you’ll be able to claim. Preventing the Insurer from Offering Too Low a Settlement Car accidents don’t begin with a lawsuit. Instead, they begin with a car accident claim filed with the at-fault party’s insurer. The insurance company is invested in protecting its bottom line, and it trains its insurance adjusters accordingly.  When insurance agents tell you that you don’t need an attorney, get a second opinion. While you might not need a lawyer for a little dent at 3 mph in the supermarket parking lot, if you were in a serious accident, do not accept a settlement offer without having an attorney take a look at it. At this point, you should get legal representation to negotiate for the full and fair compensation you deserve.  Getting Evidence Needed to Prove You’re Not At Fault In major car accidents, victims are often taken by ambulance to the hospital. Seeking medical treatment immediately is vital in these situations, though it also means you might not have had the chance to gather any evidence.  A personal injury attorney can help gather evidence to strengthen your claim. They can hire accident reconstructionist experts who can challenge any claims that you are liable for the crash. They can obtain the traffic camera footage from the intersection as well.  If you have recently been in an accident, don’t wait to file your car accident claim, and don’t wait to get a lawyer on your side.