Civil torts in Indiana fall into three broad categories — intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability — and the state layers on its own rules about who can sue, how long they have, what they can recover, and how much fault of their own will sink the claim. A few Indiana-specific quirks matter more than the categories themselves: a two-year filing window for personal injury, a 51% fault bar that ends a case cold, a statute that redirects three-quarters of any punitive award to the state, and much shorter notice deadlines when the defendant is a government entity.
The Three Categories of Tort Claims
An intentional tort requires proof that the defendant meant to do the act that caused harm. Assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass, and intentional infliction of emotional distress are the common ones. The defendant does not have to intend the full extent of the resulting injury, only the act itself. Physical contact is not always necessary either: the Indiana Supreme Court held in Cullison v. Medley that assault is “a touching of the mind, if not of the body,” so creating a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful contact can be enough.1Justia. Cullison v. Medley
Negligence is the most common tort claim filed in Indiana. To win, you have to prove four things: the defendant owed you a duty of care, they breached it, the breach caused your injury, and you actually suffered damages. Duty is often where the fight happens. Under Webb v. Jarvis, courts weigh the relationship between the parties, the foreseeability of harm, and public policy to decide whether a duty exists in the first place.2Justia. Webb v. Jarvis No duty, no case.
Strict liability holds a defendant responsible regardless of how careful they were, and in Indiana it applies mostly to defective products under the Product Liability Act. A manufacturer that puts a dangerously defective product on the market is liable if the injured person was a foreseeable user, the manufacturer was in the business of selling the product, and the product reached the consumer without major changes.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-20-2-1 – Grounds for Action The Indiana Supreme Court confirmed in Koske v. Townsend Engineering Co. that the focus is whether the product itself was unreasonably dangerous, not whether the manufacturer could have done better.4Justia. Koske v. Townsend Engineering Co.
One boundary worth knowing: strict liability generally does not reach a seller who did not manufacture the product or the defective component. A retailer that simply sold a defective product made by someone else is typically not subject to strict liability under the Act.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-20-2-3 – Strict Liability of Manufacturer Indiana is narrower on this than many states.
Defamation sits alongside these categories with its own rules. You have to show the statement was false, communicated to at least one other person, and caused actual harm. Statements accusing someone of a crime, of having a communicable disease, of sexual misconduct, or of dishonesty in business or profession count as defamation per se — the law presumes harm, and you don’t have to prove specific losses to recover.
Deadlines That Can End Your Case Before It Starts
You have two years from the date the cause of action accrues to file a lawsuit for personal injury, injury to reputation, or damage to personal property.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 – Injury or Forfeiture of Penalty Actions Miss it, and the court will dismiss the case no matter how strong the underlying facts are. Accrual usually means the date of injury, or the date you discovered or should have discovered it.
Product liability claims run on the same two-year clock but also carry a ten-year statute of repose measured from the date the product was first delivered to its initial user. If your injury lands between the eighth and tenth year after delivery, you get a two-year window from accrual.7Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-20-3-1 – Negligence and Strict Liability in Tort Actions Unlike a limitations period, the repose deadline cannot be extended by a discovery rule. Once the ten years pass, the claim is gone.
Claims involving child sexual abuse get a longer window: seven years from accrual, or four years after the victim is no longer dependent on the abuser, whichever is later.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 – Injury or Forfeiture of Penalty Actions
What You Can Recover
Indiana tort damages aim to put you back where you were before the wrongful act. Compensatory damages split into economic losses — medical bills, lost wages, property damage — and non-economic losses like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of companionship. In most personal injury cases, Indiana does not cap non-economic damages, so the jury has broad discretion to value them based on the evidence.
Punitive Damages and the 75% Rule
Punitive damages are available only for particularly egregious conduct. Indiana caps them at the greater of three times the compensatory damages or $50,000.8Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-51-3-4 – Maximum Award of Damages
Then the twist most plaintiffs don’t see coming. Even when you win a punitive award, you keep only 25% of it. The other 75% goes to the state’s violent crime victims compensation fund. The defendant pays the full amount to the court clerk, who then splits it.9Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-51-3-6 – Payment and Allocation of Damages A $150,000 punitive award nets the plaintiff $37,500. Punitive damages in Indiana function more as a public penalty than a plaintiff’s windfall.
Wrongful Death Damages
When someone dies because of another person’s wrongful act, the personal representative of the estate brings the claim. The statute treats “adult persons” — defined as unmarried individuals without dependents, or married individuals whose spouse caused the death — differently from other decedents.10Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-23-1-2 – Wrongful Death Actions, Damages
For an adult person’s death, recovery includes medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses, plus loss of love and companionship. Companionship damages are capped at $300,000 in the aggregate, and the jury is not told about the cap; if the verdict exceeds it, the judge reduces it after. Grief damages and punitive damages are excluded entirely, and for adult persons the jury cannot hear evidence of the decedent’s lost earnings.10Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-23-1-2 – Wrongful Death Actions, Damages A parent or child seeking companionship damages also has to prove a genuine, substantial, and ongoing relationship with the deceased.
Medical Malpractice
Claims against healthcare providers run under a separate framework in Title 34, Article 18. Total damages, economic and non-economic combined, are capped at $1.8 million per occurrence. The cap applies whether the case settles or goes to verdict, and no matter how many providers were responsible. Before filing suit, the plaintiff must submit a proposed complaint to a medical review panel, which issues an opinion on whether the standard of care was met. That opinion is admissible at trial but not binding.
The Collateral Source Rule and Mitigation
Indiana takes a modified approach to collateral sources. Defendants can generally introduce evidence that a plaintiff received compensation from other sources like health insurance. The statute excludes certain categories: life insurance payments, insurance the plaintiff personally paid for, and payments from state or federal government programs.11Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-44-1-2 This can meaningfully cut a recovery, so it matters early.
Indiana also expects you to act reasonably to limit your own losses. Refuse necessary medical treatment and let your condition worsen, and the court can reduce your award by the amount of harm you could have prevented. The standard is what an ordinary person would do, not perfection.
Suing a Government Entity
Bringing a tort claim against the state, a city, a county, or another public body means clearing extra procedural hurdles under the Indiana Tort Claims Act, and the deadlines are much shorter than the standard two years.
For claims against the state, written notice must go to the attorney general or the relevant state agency within 270 days of the loss. For claims against a political subdivision like a city or county, the deadline drops to 180 days, and notice goes to the governing body of that subdivision. If the injured person is incapacitated, the clock extends to 180 days after the incapacity ends.12Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3 – Tort Claims Against Governmental Entities and Public Employees
The notice has to be in writing, delivered in person or by registered or certified mail, and it must include the facts giving rise to the claim, the circumstances of the loss, when and where it happened, the names of anyone involved if known, the amount of damages sought, and the claimant’s address at the time of the loss and at the time of filing.12Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3 – Tort Claims Against Governmental Entities and Public Employees
Damages are capped even after you clear the notice hurdles. Recovery is limited to $700,000 for one person’s injury or death, and $5 million for all persons injured in a single occurrence. Government entities and their employees acting within the scope of employment are immune from punitive damages entirely.12Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3 – Tort Claims Against Governmental Entities and Public Employees One more requirement: you cannot file suit until the entity has denied the claim in whole or in part. The entity has 90 days to respond, and silence past that point counts as a denial.
Defenses That Can Reduce or Wipe Out Your Recovery
Comparative Fault and the 51% Bar
Comparative fault is the most consequential defense in Indiana negligence cases. Under Indiana Code 34-51-2-5, any fault attributed to the plaintiff reduces the award proportionally. Thirty percent at fault means a 30% cut to the recovery.13Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-51-2 – Compensatory Damages, Comparative Fault
Then comes the hard cutoff. If your share of fault is greater than 50%, recovery is completely barred. The jury returns a verdict for the defendant, and that’s the end.13Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-51-2 – Compensatory Damages, Comparative Fault That threshold is why fault allocation is often the central fight in a negligence trial.
Assumption of Risk
Assumption of risk can be a complete defense, and Indiana treats it separately from comparative fault in certain contexts. Express assumption of risk happens when a plaintiff signs a valid waiver before an activity, common with recreational sports, gyms, and some medical procedures. If the waiver holds up and does not violate public policy, it can bar the claim outright. Implied assumption of risk applies when someone voluntarily participates in an activity knowing its inherent dangers, like collisions in a recreational hockey league.
Consent and Self-Defense
Consent mainly comes up against intentional tort claims. If the defendant can show the plaintiff voluntarily agreed to the conduct that caused harm, informed of the risks, liability may be negated. Informed consent to a medical procedure and voluntary participation in a contact sport are the usual examples. The defendant carries the burden of proof.
Self-defense is available to a defendant who used force in response to an immediate physical threat, but the force has to be proportionate. Responding to a shove with deadly force will not qualify. A successful self-defense argument negates civil liability for what would otherwise be an assault or battery.