Maryland's Damages Caps Heading into 2022 — and a Year-End Checklist for Pending Claims
Every year, quietly and automatically, the most important numbers in Maryland injury law change. No press conference announces them; they simply tick upward on schedule. As 2021 closes, here are the figures that govern what Maryland law says pain, disability, and grief are worth — and a year-end checklist for anyone with a claim pending or contemplated.
The general cap: how it works
Maryland caps noneconomic damages — pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and similar human losses — in all personal injury and wrongful death cases under Courts & Judicial Proceedings § 11-108. The cap started at $500,000 for causes of action arising on or after October 1, 1994, and rises $15,000 every October 1.
The critical concept is the cap date rule: the applicable cap is fixed by when the cause of action arises (generally, the date of injury), not when the case is filed or tried. A crash in September 2021 and one in November 2021 sit on opposite sides of an October 1 step — permanently.
Economic damages — medical bills, lost wages, future care — are not capped. The cap reaches only the noneconomic component.
The 2021–22 numbers
| Claim type | Cause of action arising 10/1/21 – 9/30/22 |
|---|---|
| Personal injury (noneconomic) | $905,000 |
| Wrongful death, two or more beneficiaries (aggregate) | $1,357,500 (150% of the cap) |
For causes of action that arose between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021 — many of the cases our office and others are actively litigating — the figures are $890,000 and $1,335,000 respectively.
Medical malpractice: a separate, lower track
Malpractice claims travel under their own cap, CJP § 3-2A-09, with its own schedule: for causes of action arising in calendar year 2021, the noneconomic cap is $845,000, rising to $860,000 for 2022 (the med-mal cap steps up $15,000 each January 1). In wrongful death malpractice cases with two or more claimants, the aggregate cap is 125% of that figure. Note the different clocks: the general cap steps on October 1, the malpractice cap on January 1 — and the malpractice cap is keyed to when the injury arose, an issue that itself gets litigated in delayed-diagnosis cases.
Government defendants: much smaller ceilings
When the defendant is a government entity, entirely different — and much lower — limits apply: the Local Government Tort Claims Act's general caps of $400,000 per claim and $800,000 per occurrence, and the Maryland Tort Claims Act's limits for state defendants. (As we covered in June, the Police Accountability Act raises the LGTCA ceiling to $890,000 for police-misconduct claims arising on or after July 1, 2022.) These statutes also carry strict notice requirements that operate like early statutes of limitations.
The year-end checklist
The turn of the year is a natural moment to audit any pending or potential claim:
- Calendar the statute of limitations. Maryland's general limitations period for negligence claims is three years from the date the claim accrues. A 2019 injury may have a 2022 deadline — check it now, not in the spring.
- Government notice deadlines. Claims against local governments and the State require written notice on short timetables measured in months, not years. If a government vehicle, employee, or property was involved, get advice immediately.
- Confirm which cap year governs your claim — it fixes the ceiling on the noneconomic portion of any verdict and shapes settlement valuation.
- Gather the year's records. Year-end is the time to collect 2021 medical bills, imaging, out-of-pocket receipts, and wage documentation while employers and providers are still assembling year-end paperwork anyway.
- Watch policy renewals. If your own auto policy renews in January, review your uninsured/underinsured motorist and PIP elections — the cheapest protection available against the underinsured driver you might meet next year.
A note on the policy fight
The cap remains contested terrain. Plaintiff-side advocates argue that a one-size ceiling falls hardest on the most catastrophically injured — the quadriplegic young client and the modestly injured one are treated identically above the line — while defense and insurance interests defend the cap as a stabilizer. Bills to modify or repeal § 11-108 appear in Annapolis regularly and, to date, have failed. Unless and until that changes, the schedule above is the law, and case valuation starts there.
If you or a loved one has been hurt, call Posey Lebowitz at (202) 524-0123 or send us a message for a free consultation.
Part of our DMV case law archive, compiled in 2026 to reflect the archive of some of the most important decisions in injury law.