Damage caps in injury cases in Oregon

If a driver hurt you in an Oregon car crash, start with the good news: in an ordinary negligence case, Oregon does not limit what a jury can award you for your injuries. A $500,000 cap on noneconomic damages sits in the statute books, but the Oregon Supreme Court held it unconstitutional for common-law injury claims in 2020.¹ What matters here are the exceptions, and they are specific enough to change what a case is worth.

The $500,000 cap that no longer binds ordinary crash cases

Oregon's noneconomic damages cap lives in ORS 31.710.² "Noneconomic damages" means the human side of a loss: pain, mental suffering, emotional distress, loss of companionship, interference with your normal activities.³ For years the statute capped those damages at $500,000 in nearly every injury case.

Then came Busch v. McInnis Waste Systems, Inc. A garbage truck struck Scott Busch in a downtown Portland crosswalk and he lost his leg above the knee. A jury awarded him $10,500,000 in noneconomic damages. The trial court cut that to $500,000 under the statute. In 2020 the Oregon Supreme Court reversed, holding that applying the cap to a common-law negligence claim violates the remedy clause of Article I, section 10 of the Oregon Constitution.¹ Busch got his full verdict back.

The practical result is simple. In a normal car accident injury case, the $500,000 figure does not limit your recovery. The Legislature amended ORS 31.710 in 2021 through Senate Bill 193, and the section as it now reads applies the cap to wrongful death actions, with carve-outs for Tort Claims Act cases and workers' compensation.²⁴

Economic damages are not capped at all

Nothing in Oregon law caps your economic damages. Medical bills, future medical care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and property damage are recoverable in full, whatever the total comes to. ORS 31.710 only ever reached noneconomic damages, and the definitions statute keeps the two categories on separate lines of the verdict form.³ If your crash totaled a newer vehicle, the drop in its resale value after repair is part of that economic recovery; the Oregon diminished value page covers how to prove it.

When a public agency is at fault, the Tort Claims Act caps do apply

Here is the cap that actually catches Oregon crash victims. If the driver who hit you was working for a public body, a TriMet or transit bus, a city or county vehicle, a state truck, a school district van, your claim runs through the Oregon Tort Claims Act, and the OTCA sets hard dollar limits that Busch did not touch.

For causes of action arising between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027, the limits for personal injury or death are $2,708,100 per claimant against the state, with a $5,416,200 ceiling for all claimants from a single incident, and $902,700 per claimant against a local public body, with a $1,805,300 ceiling for all claimants.⁵ These figures are adjusted every year for inflation under ORS 30.271, 30.272, and 30.273, so the number that governs your case is the one in effect when your claim arose.⁶

These caps survived constitutional challenge. In Horton v. OHSU (2016), the Oregon Supreme Court upheld the OTCA limits against the same remedy-clause argument that later won in Busch. The court treated the state's limited waiver of sovereign immunity differently from a claim against a private defendant.⁷

A public-body claim also carries a deadline you cannot miss. You must give written notice of the claim within 180 days of the injury, or within one year for a wrongful death, under ORS 30.275.⁸ Blow that deadline and the size of any cap stops mattering.

Wrongful death still carries the $500,000 cap

Busch turned on a common-law right, so its reasoning has not carried over cleanly to wrongful death, which is a claim the Legislature created rather than one that existed at common law. As ORS 31.710 now reads, the $500,000 noneconomic cap applies to wrongful death actions.² Families in fatal-crash cases keep challenging it, and trial courts have gone both ways, but as of 2026 no Oregon Supreme Court decision has struck the cap down in a death case. Economic damages in a wrongful death claim, including the deceased person's lost future earnings, stay uncapped.

How Oregon limits punitive damages

Oregon does not cap punitive damages at a fixed dollar figure. It limits them a different way. You can recover punitive damages only with clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice, or with reckless and outrageous indifference to a highly unreasonable risk and conscious disregard of others' safety, under ORS 31.730.⁹ A distracted fender-bender will not get you there. A drunk driver who blows through a red light might.

Even when a jury awards punitive damages, you do not keep most of the money. ORS 31.735 splits the award three ways: 30 percent to you, 60 percent to the state's Criminal Injuries Compensation Account, and 10 percent to a state court facilities and security account.¹⁰ Your attorney's share comes out of your 30 percent and cannot exceed 20 percent of the total award.¹⁰ The effective ceiling on what a punitive verdict puts in your pocket is roughly 30 cents on the dollar.

Your own share of fault is its own limit

One more Oregon rule works like a cap on what you collect. Under the modified comparative negligence statute, ORS 31.600, your damages are reduced by your own percentage of fault, and you recover nothing if your share reaches 51 percent or more.¹¹ A $400,000 award drops to $320,000 if the jury finds you 20 percent responsible. Cross the 51 percent line and it pays zero.

The ceiling that usually matters most

For most people hurt in an Oregon crash, the real limit is how much insurance is available to pay. Oregon's minimum liability coverage is only $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $20,000 for property damage, under ORS 806.070.¹² If the at-fault driver carries only the minimum, a large verdict can be uncollectable above that amount, which is why your own underinsured motorist coverage often becomes the source that actually pays.

Deadlines close off everything above. The general statute of limitations for a car accident injury claim is two years from the date of the crash under ORS 12.110, and a public-body notice window runs far shorter.¹³ Pull your Oregon crash report, document every loss early, and if you are trying to figure out whether a statutory cap or a policy limit controls your case, an attorney who handles Oregon injury claims can tell you which ceiling you are up against.

This is general information about Oregon law, not legal advice. For guidance on your own situation, talk with a licensed Oregon attorney.

Sources

1. Busch v. McInnis Waste Systems, Inc., 366 Or 628, 468 P3d 419 (2020), Oregon Judicial Department opinion release. https://www.courts.oregon.gov/news/Lists/ArticleNews/Attachments/1287/3b02f5a371a6294c9f1a2aaaf1aa7349-07-09-20%20Opinion%20Media%20Release%20Final.pdf

2. Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 31.710 (limitation on award for noneconomic damages in claim for wrongful death). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors031.html

3. Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 31.705 (economic and noneconomic damages defined). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors031.html

4. Senate Bill 193 (2021 Regular Session), Oregon Laws 2021 chapter 478, amending ORS 31.710. https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Measures/Overview/SB193

5. Oregon Judicial Department, Oregon Tort Claims Act Liability Limits. https://www.courts.oregon.gov/pages/tort.aspx

6. Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 30.271, 30.272 and 30.273 (Tort Claims Act limits and annual adjustment). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors030.html

7. Horton v. Oregon Health & Science University, 359 Or 168, 376 P3d 998 (2016). https://law.justia.com/cases/oregon/supreme-court/2016/s061992.html

8. Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 30.275 (notice of claim under the Tort Claims Act). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors030.html

9. Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 31.730 (standards for award of punitive damages). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors031.html

10. Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 31.735 (distribution of punitive damages). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors031.html

11. Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 31.600 (contributory negligence not a bar; comparative fault). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors031.html

12. Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 806.070 (minimum financial responsibility limits). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors806.html

13. Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 12.110 (two-year limitation for personal injury). https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors012.html