Ohio Personal Injury Claims

Free Ohio injury tools

• Ohio Settlement Calculator — estimate what a claim may be worth, with Ohio’s damage cap and the catastrophic exception applied to your numbers.
• Ohio Filing Deadline Checker — including the one-year deadline for medical claims.

A cap that applies to every injury claim

Ohio’s 2005 Tort Reform Act did something most states did not. Under R.C. 2315.18, non-economic damages are capped in all tort claims, not merely medical ones.

The limit is the greater of $250,000 or three times economic loss, subject to a maximum of $350,000 per plaintiff and $500,000 per occurrence. Economic damages — medical bills, lost earnings, future care — remain uncapped.

The practical effect is that in Ohio, documenting economic loss thoroughly raises the ceiling on everything else, because the cap is calculated from it.

The catastrophic exception, and why it is fought so hard

R.C. 2315.18(B)(3) removes the cap entirely where the injury involves permanent and substantial physical deformity, loss of use of a limb, loss of a bodily organ system, or a permanent functional injury preventing independent self-care.

The statute does not define those terms. That makes the exception an evidentiary contest rather than a checklist: medical records, physician testimony on permanence, and causation to a reasonable degree of medical probability. Ohio courts have declined the exception where a claimant showed only that they could no longer manage household chores.

The malpractice cap is before the Supreme Court right now

Medical claims are capped separately under R.C. 2323.43, at $350,000 per plaintiff, rising to $500,000 per plaintiff and $1,000,000 per occurrence for catastrophic injury.

Ohio’s appellate courts have split on whether that cap is constitutional:

• Paganini v. Cataract Eye Center of Cleveland (8th Dist., 2025) — unconstitutional as applied, where the cap would have cost the claimant 66% of the jury’s award
• Lyon v. Riverside Methodist Hospital (10th Dist., 2025) — unconstitutional as applied, where a $20 million non-economic award would have been reduced to $500,000
• McNalley v. Keiser (6th Dist.) — cap enforced, the claimant having failed to meet the burden for an as-applied challenge

The Ohio Supreme Court heard argument in Paganini on 10 February 2026. No decision has been issued. Separately, a bill before the legislature would raise the caps to $415,000, $580,000 and $830,000.

Until the Court rules, the caps remain law but are open to as-applied challenge in serious cases.

One year for medical claims

Ohio gives medical negligence claims one year from the end of the treatment relationship or from discovery, under R.C. 2305.113. That is half the ordinary deadline and among the shortest in the country. A 180-day extension is available on written notice served before the year expires, and a four-year statute of repose applies regardless of discovery.

Shared fault and insurance

Under R.C. 2315.33, recovery is reduced by your share of fault and barred once it exceeds 50%.

The insurance minimum is 25/50/25. Ohio is unusual in not requiring insurers even to offer uninsured motorist coverage, so a substantial number of drivers carry none at all — which matters because the claimant’s own policy is often the only fallback.

Where Ohio injury cases are filed

Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties handle most of the state’s injury litigation, and both of the 2025 decisions striking down the malpractice cap came out of Cleveland and Columbus.

Common questions

Does Ohio cap pain and suffering in car accident claims?

Yes. Unlike most states, Ohio’s cap applies to ordinary injury claims as well as medical ones, at the greater of $250,000 or three times economic loss, to a maximum of $350,000.

What lifts the cap?

A catastrophic injury: permanent and substantial deformity, loss of use of a limb, loss of a bodily organ system, or a permanent injury preventing independent self-care.

Are Ohio’s caps still valid?

They remain law, but two appellate districts found the medical malpractice cap unconstitutional as applied in 2025 and the Ohio Supreme Court heard argument in February 2026 without ruling yet.

Why is the medical deadline only one year?

R.C. 2305.113 sets one year from the end of treatment or from discovery, with a 180-day extension available on timely written notice.