Indiana’s tort claim form, officially State Form 54668, is the mandatory notice you must file before suing the State of Indiana, a state agency, or a local government body such as a city, county, township, or school corporation for property damage or personal injury. File it within 270 days of the incident for a claim against the state, or within 180 days for a claim against a political subdivision. The form is short. The rules around it are strict, and small procedural errors bar otherwise valid claims.
Where to Get State Form 54668
Download State Form 54668 from the Indiana state forms portal at forms.in.gov.1State of Indiana. Indiana Notice of Tort Claim Form The Indiana Attorney General’s office also links to it from its Civil Torts page.2Indiana Attorney General. Civil Torts For a claim against a local entity, you can use the same state form, though some cities and counties provide their own version through the clerk’s office or legal department.
Filing Deadlines
The clock starts on the date of the loss, not the date you learn how badly you were hurt or how much repair will cost.
For a claim against the State of Indiana or a state agency, you have 270 days to file the notice with the Attorney General or the agency involved.3Justia. Indiana Code Title 34, Article 13, Chapter 3 – Tort Claims Against Governmental Entities and Public Employees For a claim against a political subdivision — a city, county, town, township, school corporation, or similar local body — the deadline is 180 days.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3-8 – Claims Against Political Subdivisions Notice Requirement Miss the date by a single day and the claim is permanently barred.
One narrow safety valve exists on the state side. If you file with the wrong state agency but made a reasonable effort to identify the correct one, your claim is not automatically barred.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3 – Tort Claims Against Governmental Entities and Public Employees There is no equivalent forgiveness for political subdivision claims, so confirm the governing body before you send anything to a local entity.
Deadlines for Minors
If the injured person is a minor, the notice period does not begin running until the child’s 18th birthday. The standard 180- or 270-day period then applies. A parent’s own claim for related expenses such as medical bills or lost wages does not get the extension; that claim runs from the date of injury.
What the Notice Must Contain
Indiana Code 34-13-3-10 requires a “short and plain statement” that includes six specific items.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3-10 – Notice Requirement Form of Statement Leave any of them out and the notice is deficient.
- The circumstances of the loss: what happened, the conditions, and what the government employee or property did or failed to do.
- The extent of the loss: the nature and severity of the injuries or property damage.
- The time and place: the date and specific location of the incident.
- The names of persons involved, if known. If you don’t have names, include identifying details such as job titles, badge numbers, or vehicle descriptions.
- The amount of damages sought: a dollar figure covering medical bills, repair or replacement costs, lost wages, and any other financial harm you can calculate or reasonably estimate.
- Your residence at the time of the loss and at the time you file.
The damages figure carries weight most people underestimate. It generally caps what you can recover in any later lawsuit, so estimate on the high side if treatment is ongoing or costs are unclear. There is no benefit to claiming above Indiana’s statutory ceilings, however: total recovery is capped at $700,000 per person and $5,000,000 per occurrence for causes of action accruing on or after January 1, 2008.7Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3-4 – Limitation on Aggregate Liability
Filling Out the Form
Start with your full legal name and current mailing address. This is how the government will reach you about the claim.
Describe the incident with specifics. Vague phrasing like “sometime in March at a government building” invites the agency to challenge the notice. If the incident happened on a road, name the road and the nearest intersection or mile marker. If it happened inside a government building, note the building, floor, and room. Write the description the way you would explain the situation to someone who wasn’t there: what you were doing, what the employee or condition did that caused harm, and what injuries or damage resulted. Stick to facts. “The sidewalk had a four-inch raised section that was not marked or repaired” works better than “the city was negligent.”
After filling in the damages amount and your residence, sign and date the form. Your signature certifies the information is truthful, and an unsigned notice can be rejected as invalid.
Where to Send the Notice
The form has to reach the right body, in the right number of copies, by the right delivery method. This is where most claims are lost.
Claims Against the State
File the notice in duplicate with the Attorney General, and also with the specific state agency involved.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3 – Tort Claims Against Governmental Entities and Public Employees The Attorney General’s mailing address for tort claims is:
Office of the Indiana Attorney General
302 W. Washington St., IGCS 5th Floor
Indianapolis, IN 462041State of Indiana. Indiana Notice of Tort Claim Form
If you are not sure which state agency employed the person who caused the loss, file with the Attorney General and note the uncertainty in your notice. The statute protects you when you make a reasonable effort to identify the correct agency.
Claims Against a City, County, or Other Local Entity
File the notice in duplicate with the governing body of the political subdivision.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3-8 – Claims Against Political Subdivisions Notice Requirement The governing body is the city council, board of county commissioners, town council, school board, or the equivalent, not an individual department. Address the envelope to the governing body itself, care of the clerk’s office if you need a specific recipient.
The statute also mentions filing with the Indiana Political Subdivision Risk Management Commission, but that commission has had no members since January 1, 2018. Claims arising on or after that date are not barred for failing to file there.8Indiana Department of Insurance. Indiana Political Subdivision Risk Management Commission
How to Send It
The notice must go by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested. IC 34-13-3-12 does not authorize hand-delivery as an alternative for the filing itself.9Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3-12 – Notice Requirements Service At the post office, ask specifically for certified mail with a return receipt (the green card). When the recipient signs, the card comes back to you with a signature and delivery date. Keep it, along with a copy of the completed form, your mailing receipt, and the tracking number. Those records are your proof of timely filing if the government later disputes it.
What Happens After You File
Once the entity receives the notice, a 90-day evaluation period begins. During those 90 days, the agency or its insurance carrier reviews the claim and must notify you in writing whether it approves or denies it.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3 – Tort Claims Against Governmental Entities and Public Employees If the entity does not approve the claim within 90 days, it is treated as denied by operation of law.10Legal Information Institute. 10 IAC 3-2-1 – Tort Claims Against the State Form
You cannot sue until the claim has been denied or deemed denied. A court will dismiss a lawsuit filed before the administrative process runs its course. Once you have a denial in hand or the 90 days have elapsed with no approval, you can file suit in the appropriate Indiana court.
What the Notice Cannot Fix
A perfectly filed notice does not create a right to sue if Indiana keeps sovereign immunity for the underlying activity. The categories that most often surprise claimants include:11Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-13-3-3 – Immunity of Governmental Entity or Employee
- Discretionary policy-level decisions, such as how to allocate a budget or whether to adopt a regulation.
- Temporary weather-related conditions on public roads, such as ice or flooding. A long-standing pothole is not a weather condition; black ice from last night’s storm likely is.
- Natural conditions on unimproved government property.
- Discretionary licensing and permitting decisions.
- Failure to inspect private property, or negligent inspection.
- Adopting, enforcing, or failing to enforce a law or school policy, unless the enforcement itself amounts to false arrest or false imprisonment.
If your loss falls squarely into one of these categories, filing the notice preserves procedural rights but a lawsuit will meet an immunity defense.
Common Mistakes That Bar a Claim
Courts enforce the notice statute strictly. The errors that come up again and again:
- Filing after the 180- or 270-day deadline. The clock runs from the date of loss, not the date you understand the full extent of harm.
- Sending the notice to the wrong body. A claim against a city police officer goes to the city’s governing body, not the police department. A claim involving a state highway goes to the Attorney General and the relevant state agency, not the county.
- Filing only one copy. Two copies are required for state claims (with the Attorney General) and for political subdivision claims (with the governing body).
- Using regular first-class mail. The statute requires certified or registered mail with a return receipt.
- Omitting the dollar amount of damages. A notice describing the incident without a specific damages figure is deficient under IC 34-13-3-10.
Each of these gives the government a procedural defense that can end a claim before the merits are ever reviewed. The form is not complicated, but the process around it demands precision.