Comparative Negligence in Colorado
Under comparative negligence law in Colorado, you can be compensated for damages from a car accident if you are found 49% or less at fault.
Written by Mary Cahill
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Colorado uses modified comparative negligence to determine who can be compensated for damages from a car accident. Under Colorado’s comparative negligence law, you can recover damages from an accident as long as you are found 49% or less at fault.
Car accidents are sudden and scary events. After the initial shock of the collision fades, so begins the process of figuring out who’s to blame. The purpose of comparative negligence law is to assess what percentage each involved party is to blame for a crash and whether they are entitled to compensation.
This law is exercised on the state level which means it varies depending on where you’re located. Wondering how comparative negligence law works in Colorado?
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What is comparative negligence?
Comparative negligence is a legal concept that allows victims of a car accident to collect a designated percentage of compensation to cover the cost of damages relative to their amount of fault.
For example, If you’re involved in an accident and are assigned 40% of the fault, you’ll be responsible for paying 40% of the damages. The other driver is responsible for covering the remaining 60% of damages.
Comparative negligence applies to personal injury lawsuits and third-party insurance claims (like one driver filing a claim with the other driver’s insurance). In the instance of a lawsuit, a judge or jury will decide the levels of responsibility to each party. As for insurance claims, it’s the insurance companies who use comparative negligence to affix the percentage of damages they’ll pay in the aftermath of an accident.
Comparative negligence vs. contributory negligence
While comparative negligence laws differ from state to state, they all follow one of three variations of its principle: pure comparative negligence, partial or modified comparative negligence, or contributory negligence. Here’s a closer look at each one.
- Pure comparative negligence: The injured party may receive compensation for damages based on their percentage of fault.
- Partial or modified negligence: The injured party may receive compensation for damages in accordance with their percentage of fault unless they’re deemed as being more than 49% at fault (depending on the state).
- Contributory negligence: The injured party is barred from receiving compensation if they are assigned any percentage of fault.
Most states recognize partial or modified comparative negligence with just 12 states using pure comparative negligence and only 5 states recognizing contributory negligence.
What is Colorado’s comparative negligence law?
As a modified comparative negligence state, Colorado permits victims of an accident to collect damages as long as their portion of blame is less than half. If the designated blame is found to be 50/50, neither driver is eligible to receive compensation.
What happens if there are more than two responsible parties?
It’s not uncommon for some crashes to involve more than two drivers. In this case, the fault is split between all of them. You can file a claim with either or both drivers’ insurance providers.
How is fault decided in a comparative negligence case?
Insurance companies assign fault in a car accident using the data from claims, police reports, and submitted evidence. While you’re still at the scene of the accident, be sure to gather the following evidence to build your case:
- The make and models of the cars involved
- The date and time of day
- The weather conditions when the accident occurred
- Witness statements
- Photographs of the damage
- Depending on the seriousness, contact the police
How does car insurance work with comparative negligence?
Colorado’s modified comparative negligence law will allow you to file a claim against the other driver’s insurance if your percentage of fault is 49% or less.
Let’s look at an example. Say you’re driving straight through an intersection at a green light. At the opposite side of the intersection, a car making a left-hand turn at the green light crashes into you.
The reason you didn’t see the turning car is that you looked down at your phone upon receiving a text message. The driver who turned in front of you at the green light was a 16-year-old who forgot the right of way rule. You file a claim with the other driver’s insurance company.
When the insurance claim is reviewed, they find the other driver at fault for failure to grant the right of way. The insurance company assigns 65% percent of the blame to him and 35% to you because you were guilty of
distracted driving
.Modified comparative negligence lets you collect 65% of your damages from the other driver’s insurance. If the cost to repair your vehicle was $1,200, the other driver’s insurance will cover up to $780 and you’ll be responsible for the rest. Since the other driver was found to be 65% at fault for the crash, comparative negligence prevents him from filing a claim with your insurance provider.
How to find affordable car insurance
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FAQs
Will my insurance go up if I’m at fault in an accident?
Yes. You should anticipate an increase in your insurance premium if you were found to be at fault for an accident. In Colorado, the average rate of increase for a first-time, at-fault accident is 42%.
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