Wyoming Comparative Negligence
Wyoming recognizes partial/modified comparative negligence, so you’re awarded damages as long as your fault in an accident is not more than 50%.
Written by Jason Tushinski
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Wyoming recognizes partial/modified comparative negligence, meaning that you are awarded damages according to your percentage of fault in an accident, so long as your level of fault is not more than 50%.
After an accident, insurers investigate the incident and assign fault to the parties involved. A state’s comparative negligence law helps insurers determine how much fault to assign to each party, so it is a good idea to be aware of the comparative negligence law in your state.
This is why the
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What is comparative negligence?
Comparative negligence is a legal term. It is used to explain the amount of damages an injured party can collect relative to the amount of fault they hold in an accident.
Here’s an example to illustrate this. Let’s say you're involved in a collision, and insurers determine you are 40% to blame in this incident. This means you will be required to pay up to 40% of the other party’s damages. However, since the other party is 60% responsible, they (or their insurer) are liable for covering up to 60% of your damages.
Comparative negligence principles are applied to both personal injury lawsuits and insurance claims. With lawsuits, a judge or jury will decide the damages a party is entitled to, while an insurer will make that decision when a claim is made against a policyholder.
Comparative negligence vs. contributory negligence
Each state decides on its own the type of comparative negligence it recognizes. There are three types of comparative negligence used in the U.S., as explained here:
- Pure comparative negligence: Injured parties are entitled to collect damages in relation to the assigned amount of fault.
- Partial/modified negligence: Injured parties are permitted to collect damages so long as their share of the blame for an accident does not exceed 50%.
- Contributory negligence: Injured parties cannot collect any damages if they share any fault in a collision.
Only 12 states recognize pure comparative negligence, while only 5 recognize contributory negligence. The rest recognize partial/modified comparative negligence.
What is Wyoming’s comparative negligence law?
In Wyoming, partial/modified comparative negligence is recognized. This means that an injured party can collect damages only if their share of an accident’s responsibility does not exceed 50%.
For example, if you're involved in a collision and are assigned 57% of fault, you will be on the hook for up to 57% of the other party’s damages. Since Wyoming is a partial/modified comparative negligence state, you will not be entitled to collect any damages since your share of responsibility exceeds the 50% threshold.
What happens if there are more than two responsible parties?
If more than two parties are involved in an accident, damages will be awarded based on the fault level of each party. Any party holding more than 50% of responsibility will not be able to collect damages.
How is fault decided in a comparative negligence case?
Fault is decided in a comparative negligence case by weighing evidence, police reports, and insurance claims.
If you’re involved in an accident, do your best to document the accident scene with the following:
- The date and time of the accident
- The weather conditions at the time of the accident
- Any witness statements
- Photographs of any damage
- If needed, call the police
Insurers will use all available evidence to assign blame in an accident case, so do your best to document the incident as best as possible.
How does car insurance work with comparative negligence?
With Wyoming being a partial/modified comparative negligence state, an injured party can only collect damages if their share of blame does not exceed 50%.
Let’s say you’re driving through town at a high rate of speed while texting your spouse at the same time. At the last second, you see you’re about to run a red light but don’t have enough time to stop. Meanwhile, another vehicle is crossing the intersection at slightly-above speed, and the two of you collide.
Once the dust settles and everyone is deemed ok, insurers get to work figuring out who is to blame for this incident. Since you were being inattentive and speeding, things don’t look good. The other driver was deemed to be going slightly faster than they should have been but is not assigned much blame—just 10%. On the other hand, you have been assigned 90% of the blame.
In this scenario, you (or your insurer) would be responsible for up to 90% of the other driver’s damages. While it is true that the other driver shared 10% of the blame, they would owe you nothing, as your share of the responsibility far exceeds Wyoming’s 50% threshold.
How to find affordable car insurance
Wyoming’s partial/modified comparative negligence law does offer drivers some protection, but if you're involved in an accident and are more than 50% responsible, this law won’t help you.
On the other hand, if you carry a robust car insurance policy that you bought by using
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FAQ
Will my insurance go up if I’m at fault in an accident?
Yes, an at fault accident on your record will definitely impact your insurance rate. Lots of factors go into determining a premium, but an at fault accident will make your premium go up significantly once renewal time arrives.
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