Minimum car insurance requirements in Indiana

If you drive in Indiana, state law requires liability insurance before you ever pull out of the driveway, and you have to be able to prove it on demand. The required amounts are set by statute, they are specific, and the penalties for skipping coverage add up fast. Here is exactly what Indiana requires in 2026, what it does not, and why the legal minimum is a floor you probably should not stop at.

The 25/50/25 liability minimum

Every vehicle registered in Indiana has to carry a liability policy that pays at least ¹:

• $25,000 for bodily injury to or the death of one person in an accident
• $50,000 for bodily injury to or the death of two or more people in one accident
• $25,000 for damage to or destruction of property in one accident

Insurance agents shorthand this as "25/50/25." The two bodily injury figures pay for injuries you cause to other people, and the property damage figure pays for the other driver's car or anything else you damage ². The $25,000 property damage minimum is the newest of the three; it took effect July 1, 2018 ¹. Those limits apply per accident, so a single bad wreck with several injured people can exhaust the $50,000 cap on its own.

These are minimums, not recommendations. They cap what your insurer pays on your behalf, and once that money is gone, the rest can come out of your own pocket.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage

Indiana also builds in protection against the other driver's lack of insurance. Every newly written Indiana auto liability policy must include uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage unless you reject it in writing ³⁴. If you never signed a rejection, you almost certainly carry it.

The minimum UM and UIM amounts, per the Indiana Department of Insurance, are ⁴:

• Uninsured motorist bodily injury: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident
• Uninsured motorist property damage: $25,000
• Underinsured motorist bodily injury: $50,000

UM coverage pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance or drives off. UIM coverage covers the shortfall when the at-fault driver is insured but carries too little to cover what they did to you. Since so many drivers carry only the 25/50/25 floor, that shortfall is common.

What Indiana does not require

Indiana is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state, so there is no personal injury protection (PIP) requirement here ⁴. After a crash, the at-fault driver's liability coverage pays for the other side's injuries and vehicle damage. You do not file against your own policy for medical bills the way drivers do in no-fault states.

You can add medical payments coverage, known as MedPay, and many Indiana drivers do. It is optional. MedPay pays medical and funeral bills for you and your passengers up to the policy limit, no matter who caused the crash ⁴. It is a modest add-on that picks up the deductibles and co-pays your health insurance leaves behind.

Proving you are insured

Carrying coverage and proving it are two different things. Indiana verifies insurance electronically, and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles can ask you to confirm yours at any time, often after a crash or a random audit. You are also expected to keep proof of insurance in the vehicle and show it to law enforcement on request, so keep a current card or the digital version on your phone.

When the BMV mails a request for financial responsibility verification, your insurer has to file a Certificate of Compliance (COC) electronically. The COC confirms that you and the vehicle you were driving carried at least the state minimum on the date in question ². It must reach and be processed by the BMV within 90 days of the mailing, or your driving privileges are suspended ². That letter is not one to set aside.

What happens if you drive uninsured

The penalties escalate, and they are separate from any ticket written at the scene. If you cannot show proof of insurance when the BMV asks, it will suspend your driving privileges for 90 days on a first offense. A prior insurance suspension within the past three years adds another 365 days ⁵.

Getting your license back costs money. The reinstatement fee for a no-insurance suspension is $250 for a first suspension, $500 for a second, and $1,000 for a third or later suspension that occurred after January 1, 2015 ⁶.

You will usually also have to file an SR-22, your insurer's guarantee to the state that you are carrying at least the minimum coverage. Indiana requires you to keep the SR-22 in force for 180 consecutive days with no lapse, and a gap restarts the clock ⁷. If you knowingly drive uninsured after a prior conviction or judgment for the same thing, the offense becomes a Class C misdemeanor, a criminal charge stacked on top of the administrative penalties ⁸.

Why the minimum is a floor, not a target

Indiana set the 25/50/25 numbers to get drivers legal, not to make an injured person whole. An ambulance ride and two days in the hospital can pass $25,000 without much trouble. Cause a serious crash while carrying only the minimum, and the injured party can pursue your personal assets for the balance. Get hurt by someone who carries only the minimum, and their $25,000 may not come close to your bills.

That is the practical argument for buying limits above the floor and for keeping the UIM coverage your policy already offers. Indiana's fault rules raise the stakes further. Under the state's modified comparative negligence standard, you can recover damages only if you are less than 51% at fault, and your recovery drops by your own share of the blame ⁹. Assigning those fault percentages is exactly the fight insurers have after a wreck.

If you have already been hit, a few Indiana specifics matter. You have two years from the crash date to file a personal injury or property damage lawsuit ¹⁰. The official crash report is kept by the Indiana State Police ¹¹, and our Indiana crash report page covers how to get a copy. If your car is worth less after the repair than it was before, that lost value is a separate claim, explained on our Indiana diminished value page. And when the numbers are large or the other insurer is pushing back, it is worth talking to an attorney; you can find one through our legal directory.

Carry at least the state minimum because the law requires it. Carry more, and hold onto UIM, because the minimum rarely covers a bad day.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Indiana Code 9-25-4-5 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/9#9-25-4-5

2. Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Proof of Financial Responsibility. https://secure.in.gov/bmv/licenses-permits-ids/suspension-and-reinstatement/proof-of-financial-responsibility/

3. Indiana Code 27-7-5-2 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/27#27-7-5-2

4. Indiana Department of Insurance, Auto Insurance. https://www.in.gov/idoi/consumer-services/types-of-insurance/auto-insurance/

5. Indiana Code 9-25-6 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/9#9-25-6

6. Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Driver's Manual Chapter 5: Points, Suspension, and Insurance Requirements. https://www.in.gov/bmv/licenses-permits-ids/files/Drivers_Manual_Chapter_5.pdf

7. Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Reinstating Your Driving Privileges. https://secure.in.gov/bmv/licenses-permits-ids/suspension-and-reinstatement/reinstating-your-driving-privileges/

8. Indiana Code 9-25-8 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/9#9-25-8

9. Indiana Code 34-51-2-6 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-51-2-6

10. Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 (Indiana General Assembly). https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/34#34-11-2-4

11. Indiana State Police, Crash Reports. https://www.in.gov/isp/crash-reports/