Missouri car accident law: deadlines, fault and your claim

Filing deadlines in Missouri#

Missouri's statute of limitationsStatute of limitations. The law that sets the last day to file a lawsuit. After it passes, a court will usually dismiss the case, however strong it is. Glossary for personal injury and property damage is 5 years, set by the same subsection of the Revised Statutes. Wrongful death claims are on a shorter clock.

For an injured child, the deadline starts to run only after the injured person turns 21: the general limitations chapter does not count the time before that birthday, a form of tollingTolling. Pausing the limitations clock, for example while the injured person is a child. Glossary. The wrongful death statute has its own tolling rules, so a lawyer can confirm how they apply to a family's claim.

Claims against public bodies follow special rules. Missouri waives sovereign immunitySovereign immunity. The rule that governments cannot be sued unless a law allows it. Tort claims acts allow some claims, with limits. Glossary for injuries directly caused by public employees' negligence in operating motor vehicles while on the job, but only up to set limits. The statute's base limits are $300,000 per person and $2,000,000 for all claims from one occurrence. They are recalculated every January 1 by the director of the Department of Commerce and Insurance, using an inflation index, so the current figures are different. Punitive damages against a public entity are not allowed.

How fault is shared in Missouri#

Missouri's comparative fault rule comes from the Supreme Court of Missouri, which introduced comparative fault into Missouri negligence law in Gustafson v. Benda. Each person's share of fault is set as a percentage, and your damages are reduced by your own share. No share of fault, however large, bars the claim.

Because both drivers can recover, every percentage point changes both claims. Try the fault-rule explainer to see how Missouri compares with states that bar recovery at 50% or 51%.

Insurance in Missouri#

Missouri is an at-fault state. Drivers must carry at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries and $25,000 for property damage. Personal injury protection is not required.

• Uninsured motorist coverageUninsured motorist coverage. Coverage under your own policy that pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance, or too little. Glossary: Required: $25,000/$50,000. It pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance.
• Underinsured motorist coverage: Not required (optional). It pays when the at-fault driver's limits are too low.
• Medical payments coverage: Optional.

The Insurance Information Institute estimates that 20.7% of Missouri drivers were uninsured in 2023, against 15.4% nationally. Our guide to crashes with uninsured drivers covers how those claims work. For help with an insurer, the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance hotline is 1-800-726-7390 (Insurance Consumer Hotline).

After a crash in Missouri#

Missouri's crash-reporting rule centers on uninsured drivers. If a crash involves an uninsured motorist and someone is killed or hurt, or one person's property suffers more than $500 of damage, the drivers or owners involved must report it in writing to the Director of Revenue within 30 days. A driver or owner who has no liability insurance must report any crash the same way.

For crashes worked by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, request the Missouri Uniform Crash Report online through the Highway Patrol's Public Records Center, as a Traffic Crash Report Request. You can pay online by card. Our guide to police reports explains what the report contains.

Special rules in Missouri#

Time-limited demands. A time-limited demandTime-limited demand. A settlement offer to an insurer that must be accepted within a stated period. Some states set rules for what such a demand must contain and how long it must stay open. Glossary, a settlement offer with a deadline, must be in writing, refer to the statute and go to the insurer by certified mail, return receipt requested. It must stay open at least 90 days after the insurer receives it and include a list of treating providers with HIPAA-compliant authorizations, plus a list of employers with authorizations if lost wages are claimed. Any payment deadline must be at least 10 days after the insurer receives the signed release. Our demand letter guide covers the full list of terms.

Medical liens. Hospitals, clinics and practitioners can hold a lien on an injury settlement. When those liens add up to more than half of the amount due the patient, they share in up to 50% of the net proceeds, meaning what is left after the lawyer's contract fee and other expenses of recovery. The medical liens guide explains how this works.

Seat belts. Evidence that you were not wearing a seat belt is admissible only to reduce damages, and only after expert evidence shows the missing belt contributed to the injuries. Even then, the reduction can be no more than 1% of the damages awarded.

Crashes on Missouri roads#

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety counted 955 crash deaths in Missouri in 2024, or 15.3 per 100,000 people. The US rate was 11.5 per 100,000 people.

Finding a lawyer in Missouri#

The Missouri Bar offers two free online tools. LawyerSearch lists lawyers who chose to be included, by practice area and county; the Bar says inclusion is not an endorsement. The Lawyer Directory lists every lawyer in good standing with the Supreme Court of Missouri, so you can confirm a license before you sign anything. The Bar's phone number is (573) 635-4128.

Our guide on questions to ask a lawyer can help with a first meeting, and the claim process guide walks through each step.