How to get your Indiana crash report

After a crash in Indiana, the officer’s crash report is often the first document an insurance company asks for. Here is how Indiana crash reports work, where to get yours, and what to check on it.

When police must write a report

An Indiana law enforcement officer must investigate each motor vehicle crash that causes injury or death, or total property damage that appears to be at least $2,500 (IC 9-26-2-1). The officer must forward a written report to the Indiana State Police within 24 hours after completing the investigation (IC 9-26-2-2). The report is not confidential and must be available for inspection and copying under Indiana’s public records law (IC 9-26-2-3).

Indiana State Police and BuyCrash

The Indiana State Police maintain the central repository of all crash reports for the State of Indiana and make electronic crash reports available “for a nominal fee” through the BuyCrash website (www.BuyCrash.com) (Indiana State Police). Government agencies that need a report for official business use the State Police public records request process instead (Indiana State Police).

Which agency wrote your report?

The agency that responded—shown on the report and on any card or exchange slip the officer gave you—determines where to ask if you cannot find the report online.

• Indiana State Police (ISP). Request electronic copies through BuyCrash, as described above (Indiana State Police).
• Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD). IMPD crash reports are available online at BuyCrash. You can also go in person to 50 N. Alabama St., E100, Indianapolis, IN 46204, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; indy.gov lists the cost as $12 and asks you to bring the date, time, and location of the crash and, if possible, the investigating officer’s name. The phone number listed is 317.327.3155. If the officer gave you a Driver Exchange link at the scene, the exchanged driver and insurance info is at CrashDocs.org (indy.gov / IMPD).
• County sheriffs and town or city police. Their crash reports also go to the State Police repository under IC 9-26-2-2, so BuyCrash is a good first place to look. If you cannot find the report, call the records office of the agency that responded. Each agency sets its own in-person procedure and fees, and we have not listed them here because we could not verify each one.

What it costs

• The State Police call the BuyCrash fee “nominal” but do not state an amount on their crash reports page (Indiana State Police).
• IMPD’s cost is listed as $12 (indy.gov / IMPD).
• Indiana law lets the supervising agency charge a report fee of at least $5, and lets the State Police superintendent charge at least $5 for each report (IC 9-26-9-3).
• Local police may not charge you an “accident response service fee” for responding to or investigating your crash (IC 9-26-9-4).
• In a 2023 decision, the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded that “there can be no fee to inspect an accident report”—inspecting is different from buying a copy (Ind. Ct. App. 2023).

We have not found an official source that says how long after a crash a report appears online, so we do not give a timeline here. If it is not available yet, ask the agency.

What to check on your report

By law, the report must include, if possible, the names and addresses of each vehicle’s owner and driver, each vehicle’s license number and description, the time and place of the crash, the names and addresses of people injured or killed, and the names and addresses of witnesses (IC 9-26-2-2). When you get your copy, check:

• Your name, address, and vehicle information, and the other driver’s.
• Insurance information listed for each driver.
• The date, time, and location—including the road, direction of travel, and mile marker on an interstate.
• Whether injured people and witnesses are listed.
• The officer’s diagram and narrative, and whether they match what happened.

If something is wrong, contact the agency that wrote the report and ask how it handles corrections or supplements.

After the report: the BMV insurance check

When the Indiana BMV receives a crash report, it mails drivers a request for proof of insurance. The information you gave the officer is not sent to the BMV. Your insurer must file a Certificate of Compliance electronically, and the BMV must receive it within 90 days of its request or your driving privileges will be suspended (Indiana BMV).

For more official links, see our Indiana accident resources page and Indiana crash statistics.

General information only—not legal advice. Laws change and every case is different; deadlines can be shorter in some situations. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.