If you suffered injuries in a Colorado car accident, you can bring a personal injury lawsuit against the party or parties you believe were responsible for your injuries.
However, how you bring your case depends on the state’s insurance laws. Thus, before filing a lawsuit, it is imperative that you understand how Colorado insurance laws operate.
At the Tenge Law Firm, our Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins, Colorado car accident lawyers have nearly 30 years of experience holding negligent drivers accountable for their actions.
We routinely deal with some of the largest and most powerful insurance companies in the country, aggressively advocating for our clients at every step in the process.
If you have questions or need immediate assistance, please contact us online or call (303) 665-2929 for a free consultation.
Is Colorado a No-Fault State?
After a serious accident, you may be wondering, is Colorado a no-fault state or is Colorado an at-fault state? You may also wonder what the difference is between the two.
Colorado is an at-fault state.
This means that, after an accident, you can file a claim with the other driver’s insurance company.
In a no-fault state, state law generally requires accident victims to file a claim through their own insurance company.
Only in certain cases, usually involving very serious injuries or death, can an accident victim file a claim against the at-fault party.
However, in an at-fault state like Colorado, the law allows you to file a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance policy, regardless of your injuries.
Colorado Insurance Requirements
In an at-fault state like Colorado, ensuring that every driver has adequate insurance is crucial. If drivers did not have car insurance, an accident victim would have no way of ensuring that an at-fault driver has the means to pay their expenses after an accident.
Thus, Colorado law requires all drivers to obtain a certain amount of car insurance.
The minimum coverage required is:
- Bodily Injury Liability – $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident; and
- Property Damage – $15,000 per accident.
While this may sound like a lot of coverage. But after a significantly serious car wreck, medical expenses alone can easily and quickly surpass these limits.
Thus, to ensure adequate coverage after an accident, many drivers purchase underinsured motorist (UIM) protection.
UIM protection kicks in if the person who caused an accident doesn’t have enough insurance coverage to fully compensate you for your injuries. For example, assume another driver hit you and you suffered $75,000 in damages.
However, the at-fault driver only carried the minimum insurance required by law. In this situation, the at-fault driver’s policy would only provide $25,000 in coverage, leaving you on the hook for the remaining $50,000. However, if you have enough UIM protection, your own insurance would compensate you for the balance.
Have You Been Injured in a Colorado Car Accident?
If you were hurt in a Colorado car accident, contact the experienced auto accident attorneys at the Tenge Law Firm. We handle serious personal injury and wrongful death cases.
In fact, we don’t handle any other claims. This gives us an in-depth knowledge of these challenging cases, which gives you an advantage when negotiating with the insurance company or taking your case to trial.
Over the past seven years, we’ve recovered more than $50 million in settlements and jury verdicts for our clients. To learn more about the services we provide, give us a call at (303) 665-2929 today.
You can also connect with us through our online contact form. Calling is free, and we won’t charge you for our services unless we can get you compensation for your injuries.