People who are injured by others have long been able to claim “emotional distress” as part of their overall damages. However, for those who suffer emotional distress but weren’t involved and don’t have a physical injury, the right lies in an independent claim for “negligent infliction of emotional distress”. Such a claim has always been limited, and over the years, a handful of notable Indiana cases have established who could make such a claim. Originally, recovery was available only to those whose distress was: (a) accompanied by, and (b) resulted from, a physical injury caused by an impact to the person seeking recovery could recover. This was known as the “impact rule.” The purpose for this limitation, the courts reasoned, was that otherwise the courts would be flooded with claims by parties who had lost loved ones in accidents. The fear was that there would be “spurious” claims.