A Delaware crash puts two systems in motion at once. Your own insurer starts paying medical bills and lost wages through personal injury protection, no matter who caused the wreck, and separately you keep the right to pursue the at-fault driver for everything PIP doesn't cover. Knowing how those two tracks work, and the deadlines attached to each, is what protects the value of your claim.
Here is what Delaware law actually requires, with the numbers and dates that apply.
Delaware pays your bills first through mandatory PIP
Every vehicle registered in Delaware carries personal injury protection, and it pays regardless of fault. The minimum is $15,000 in medical expenses and lost wages per person and $30,000 per accident, plus up to $5,000 for funeral costs.1 Those benefits cover expenses you run up within two years of the crash date.1 There is no injury threshold to clear before PIP kicks in, and using it does not waive your right to sue the driver who hit you.
That last point matters. Delaware is an at-fault state even though it requires no-fault PIP coverage. PIP is the first payer, but the person responsible for the crash, and their liability insurer, stays on the hook for pain and suffering, medical bills beyond your PIP limits, and other losses.
Your insurer is on a clock
The PIP statute gives your carrier hard deadlines. After you notify the insurer that you want to file, it has 10 days to send you a claim form.2 Miss that, and it owes 1% of the amount due per day, capped at $5,000.2 Once you submit a completed proof of loss, the insurer has 30 days to pay or deny.2 If it doesn't, interest penalties start stacking: 1.5% per month on amounts unpaid from day 31 to 60, 2% from day 61 to 120, and 2.5% after that.2 If you're getting the runaround on a PIP claim, those numbers are your leverage.
The deadline that can end your case
You have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit in Delaware.3 Claims for vehicle and property damage carry the same two-year limit, running from the date of the accident.4 Miss the deadline and the court will almost certainly throw the case out, no matter how strong it is.
There's a narrow exception. If the injured person was under 18 at the time of the crash, the clock is paused during that period of legal disability, so a minor's claim isn't automatically lost while they're still a child.5 Don't rely on it without checking the specifics. The safe assumption is two years.
How your own share of fault changes the math
Delaware uses modified comparative negligence. You can still recover damages as long as your share of the fault was not greater than the other driver's, which means you're barred only once you're 51% or more responsible.6 If you're found partly at fault below that line, your award drops by your percentage. A $100,000 award with 20% fault assigned to you becomes $80,000. That is why the fault evidence in a Delaware case, the crash report, witness statements, and phone records, is worth fighting over.
On the damages themselves, Delaware sets no cap on compensatory or punitive damages in an ordinary car accident case. Punitive damages are available, but only on clear and convincing proof that the at-fault driver acted willfully, wantonly, or recklessly. The heightened punitive-damages statute people sometimes cite, 18 Del. C. § 6855, applies to medical negligence, not auto crashes.
The insurance limits behind the claim
Delaware's minimum liability coverage is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $10,000 for property damage, often written as 25/50/10.7 Those are floors, and plenty of drivers carry exactly the minimum, which becomes a problem when injuries are serious.
That's where uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage comes in, and Delaware builds it in automatically. UM/UIM is included in your policy at the same limits as your liability coverage unless you reject it in writing on a form the insurer provides.8 Insurers also have to offer you the option to buy higher underinsured limits, up to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.8 If the driver who hit you had no insurance or too little, this coverage on your own policy is often what actually pays.
Distracted driving is illegal, and it's evidence
Delaware bans handheld electronic device use for all drivers while the vehicle is in motion, covering calls, texting, and browsing.9 A first offense is a $100 civil penalty; a repeat within two years runs $200 to $300, and no license points attach.9 Beyond the ticket, proof that the other driver was on a phone is strong evidence of negligence in your injury claim, so it's worth preserving early.
Drunk drivers and Delaware's no-dram-shop rule
If a drunk driver caused your crash, they face criminal charges on top of civil liability, and their conduct can support punitive damages under the reckless-conduct standard. But Delaware is unusual on one point: it has no dram shop law. A bar or restaurant that overserved the driver generally can't be sued by someone injured off-premises, a rule the Delaware Supreme Court set in Wright v. Moffitt and reaffirmed in Samson v. Smith, and one the Superior Court applied again as recently as 2023.10 The claim runs against the driver, not the bar.
Your car, the crash report, and getting help
Vehicle damage is its own claim. Even after a proper repair, a wrecked car is worth less on resale, and Delaware drivers can pursue that lost value. The Delaware diminished value guide covers how that works.
You'll want the official crash report for almost everything above. In Delaware it comes from the Delaware State Police Traffic Operations Section by mail, at $25 for a standard report and $60 for a fatal-crash report.11 Details on requesting it are on the Delaware crash reports page.
If injuries are significant, the insurer is stalling, or fault is disputed, talk to a lawyer well before the two-year deadline runs. You can find a Delaware attorney here.
This is general information about Delaware law, not legal advice.
Sources
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Delaware Code, 21 Del. C. § 2118 (personal injury protection coverage). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title21/c021/sc01/index.html
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Delaware Code, 21 Del. C. § 2118B (PIP claim-handling deadlines and interest penalties). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title21/c021/sc01/index.html
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Delaware Code, 10 Del. C. § 8119 (two-year limitation for personal injuries). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c081/index.html
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Delaware Code, 10 Del. C. § 8107 (two-year limitation for injury to personal property). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c081/index.html
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Delaware Code, 10 Del. C. § 8116 (tolling for infancy or incompetency). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c081/index.html
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Delaware Code, 10 Del. C. § 8132 (comparative negligence). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c081/index.html
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Delaware Code, 21 Del. C. § 2902(b)(2) (minimum liability insurance limits). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title21/c029/sc01/index.html
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Delaware Code, 18 Del. C. § 3902 (uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title18/c039/index.html
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Delaware Code, 21 Del. C. § 4176C (electronic communication device ban). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title21/c041/sc09/index.html
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Frei v. Jask, Inc., N23C-04-118 VLM (Del. Super. Ct. Sept. 19, 2023), applying Wright v. Moffitt, 437 A.2d 554 (Del. 1981) and Samson v. Smith, 560 A.2d 1024 (Del. 1989). https://courts.delaware.gov/Opinions/Download.aspx?id=353200
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Delaware State Police, Traffic Operations Section (crash report requests and fees). https://dsp.delaware.gov/traffic-unit/