Accident Claim Map · 50 state guides

Car accidents

After a car crash: when to report it, who pays in a fault or no-fault state, how shared fault cuts what you get, the deadline to sue and free letters to the insurer and the police.

What it is

After a car crash, state law sets most of what happens next. Every state says when you must call the police or report the crash to the state. In a fault state the driver who caused the crash (through their insurer) pays for injuries and damage; in a no-fault state your own insurance pays first for injuries, whoever caused it, and you can sue the other driver only for a serious injury. If you were partly at fault, your state's comparative fault rule cuts what you can get, or bars it. Each state also sets a minimum insurance amount and a deadline to sue, often only two years.

Who it helps

  • Drivers and passengers in a crash that wasn't their fault
  • Drivers who caused or partly caused a crash
  • People hit by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver
  • People whose insurance claim after a crash was delayed or denied

Go straight to your state's guide

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Across the country

50state guides checked against official sources so far (the other states are listed in the national tables)
9no-fault states, where your own insurance pays first for injuries whoever caused the crash
4let you choose no-fault or fault coverage: District of Columbia, Kentucky, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
4still bar you from recovering if you were even slightly at fault (contributory negligence): District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia
8use pure comparative fault: you can recover even if you were mostly at fault, minus your share
3published states whose shared fault rule is not checked yet (see the state guide): Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi
1–6 yearsdeadline to sue for a crash injury: shortest in Tennessee, longest in Maine, Minnesota and North Dakota

Figures from Accident Claim Map's state data, checked Oct 2026.

Guides and comparison tables

All of Accident Claim Map: every state, tools and guides.

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