Skip to content
MyClaimWorth
MA
★ Massachusetts · whiplash

Whiplash settlements
in Massachusetts.

By Reviewed by Abd Shanti, Founder9 min read

Massachusetts is a no fault state. After a car crash you can claim pain and suffering only if your reasonable medical bills top $2,000 or the injury fits a listed category, and a whiplash claim can fail on that number alone.

Facts that decide a whiplash claim in Massachusetts

Tort thresholdRecovery for pain and suffering in a motor vehicle case requires reasonable and necessary medical expenses over $2,000, unless the injury falls into one of five defined categories.G.L. c. 231, § 6D, as quoted in Lima v. Marshall (Mass. App. Ct. 2007)
Deadline to sueThree years: tort actions “shall be commenced only within three years next after the cause of action accrues.”G.L. c. 260, § 2A
Fault ruleYour negligence does not bar recovery if it “was not greater than the total amount of negligence attributable to” the defendants; the award is reduced by your share.G.L. c. 231, § 85, as quoted in Shantigar Foundation v. Bear Mountain Builders (Mass. 2004)
Seat belt useNot contributory negligence and not admissible as evidence in a civil action.G.L. c. 90, § 13A, in the MyClaimWorth seat belt chart
united states · sister site
Your whiplash claim in Massachusetts. See the number for your own case.

FairSettlement gives you a free estimate for your own whiplash case in about two minutes, no cost and no obligation.

Check my case
★ MA · reported whiplash outcomes

What Massachusetts courts have awarded.

Real Massachusetts decisions and verdicts, each linked to the court record or official report.

  • Lima v. Marshall
    Massachusetts Appeals Court · 2007
    Summary judgment for defendant affirmed

    Esmeralda Lima suffered whiplash when Jack Marshall’s car struck hers in February 2001. After $436.35 in medical bills, and before starting physical therapy, she was in a second unrelated crash. Her later treatment cost $4,937.02, but she could not show which of those costs were for the first crash’s whiplash, so she could not prove she crossed the $2,000 threshold. Summary judgment for the defendant was affirmed.

★ MA · whiplash · in practice

What changes the number here.

What actually moves a whiplash settlement in Massachusetts.

  1. 1

    Track bills by accident. Lima lost because her treatment after a second crash could not be separated from the first, leaving her short of the $2,000 threshold for the whiplash claim.

  2. 2

    The threshold is about medical expenses, not their size alone. The five listed categories in § 6D, such as a fracture or permanent loss of a bodily function, can open the door to pain and suffering even with smaller bills.

  3. 3

    Seat belt nonuse cannot be used against you in Massachusetts, and you have three years to file.

  4. 4

    Keep the paper trail simple. Lima had only $436.35 in bills before the second crash, and her lawyer could not show how much of the later $4,937.02 in therapy belonged to the first one. A treating provider who separates the two injuries in writing can save the claim.

  5. 5

    Summary judgment can end a whiplash case before a jury hears it. The threshold is decided on the documents, so the medical expense proof has to be complete when the defense files its motion.

★ MA · statute of limitations
3 years from date of injury

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A

★ MA · fault rule
Modified comparative, 51% bar

Modified comparative, recovery barred at 51% claimant fault.

★ MA · caps

What caps recovery.

Statutory caps that may bear on a whiplash settlement in Massachusetts.

★ whiplash · same region & fault regime

Compare to like jurisdictions.

How Massachusetts's fault rule and limitation period compare to jurisdictions in the same US region and to those running the same fault rule for whiplash claims.

JurisdictionFault ruleLimitationWhiplash page
Massachusetts · you are hereModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injury—
New HampshireModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryNH · whiplash →
New JerseyModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryNJ · whiplash →
New YorkPure comparative negligence3 years for personal injury; 2 years 6 months for medical malpracticeNY · whiplash →
PennsylvaniaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryPA · whiplash →
Rhode IslandPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryRI · whiplash →
VermontModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryVT · whiplash →
MichiganModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryMI · whiplash →
MinnesotaModified comparative, 51% bar6 years for personal injury (uncommonly long); 4 years for medical malpracticeMN · whiplash →
MontanaModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryMT · whiplash →
NevadaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years for personal injury; 3 years for medical malpracticeNV · whiplash →
MississippiPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryMS · whiplash →
MissouriPure comparative negligence5 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeMO · whiplash →
★ MA · whiplash · frequently asked

Common questions.

Each answer is independently coherent and references the relevant statute or authority document.

united states · sister site
Hurt in a car crash in Massachusetts? See what your own claim could be worth.

FairSettlement, our US sister site, gives you a free estimate in about two minutes. No cost and no obligation.

Check my case

Sources

Checked 2026-09-28.

★ all of MA
Massachusetts overview

Fault rule, statute, caps, and key facts for Massachusetts as a whole.

★ national frame
Whiplash in United States

Whiplash band structure and severity tiers at the US level.

★ all 15 countries
Whiplash · everywhere

Cross-jurisdiction comparison of whiplash bands.

★ editorial note

Figures on this page are not quotes for any specific case. For representation, consult an attorney admitted in Massachusetts. See /methodology, /sources, and /disclaimer.