Usually no more than $100,000 from the city, even if your injuries are worth more. That cap surprises people.

A realistic Lowell example: on Labor Day weekend, traffic is heavy and impatient everywhere, from local streets to backups feeding Route 3. A City of Lowell pickup runs a light and hits a car. The injured driver first uses PIP under Massachusetts no-fault rules for medical bills and lost wages, because every Massachusetts auto policy includes it. But if the driver wants money from the city itself for pain, bigger medical losses, or other damages, the claim runs under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, not the usual private-driver rules.

That law puts a $100,000 cap per claimant on damages against a public employer like the City of Lowell, the Commonwealth, or many state agencies.

The catch that trips people up is the notice rule. Before filing suit, you must send a proper presentment claim within 2 years to the public employer's executive officer. For Lowell, that generally means the City Manager, not just a department, insurer, or police station. If the paperwork goes to the wrong place, the city may say notice was never made.

Other rules are different too:

• You generally have 3 years to file the lawsuit, but the 2-year presentment deadline comes first.
• You cannot get punitive damages against the city.
• Claims against public employers often involve stricter defenses and narrower exceptions than ordinary crash cases.
• If a state vehicle caused the crash, the correct public entity and recipient for presentment may change.

So the short money answer is up to $100,000 from the government entity, plus any available PIP and possibly other insurance coverage, depending on who else was at fault.