What Does Comparative Fault Mean for Your Colorado Injury Settlement?
Were you told you’re partly to blame for an accident that left you hurt? Insurance adjusters raise the issue of shared fault often, and how that question gets answered can significantly affect the value of a claim. Understanding how Colorado handles shared responsibility is an important part of knowing what to expect during the claims process.
How Colorado Divides Responsibility Between Parties
Colorado follows what’s known as a modified comparative negligence system. Under this framework, more than one party can be found responsible for causing an accident, and each party’s degree of fault is expressed as a percentage. Rather than requiring a single person to bear full responsibility, the law recognizes that real-world accidents are often the product of multiple contributing factors.
Consider an intersection collision where one driver ran a yellow light that had just turned red, while the other driver was checking a phone and failed to brake in time. Both actions could have contributed to the crash, and a jury or insurance adjuster may assign a percentage of fault to each driver based on the evidence presented.
Why Your Percentage of Fault Matters
Under C.R.S. 13-21-111, a person’s compensation is reduced in proportion to their own percentage of fault. So if a jury determines your damages total $100,000 but finds you 15 percent responsible for the accident, your recovery would generally be reduced by that percentage.
There’s also a critical threshold built into the statute. If your assigned share of fault is equal to or greater than the fault of the party you’re pursuing a claim against, Colorado law generally bars recovery altogether. This makes the fault determination one of the most consequential aspects of any injury claim.
What Influences a Fault Determination?
Several types of evidence typically factor into how fault gets divided, including:
- Police accident reports and officer observations
- Photographs and video from the scene
- Witness statements
- Vehicle damage patterns and accident reconstruction
- Traffic camera or dash camera footage
Insurance companies often have a financial incentive to shift as much fault as possible onto the injured party, since doing so reduces the amount they may ultimately have to pay. This is one reason why gathering strong documentation as soon as possible after an accident can matter so much.
Steps to Take If Fault Is Disputed
If you believe an insurance company has unfairly assigned you a share of blame, consider taking these steps:
- Request a copy of the official police report and review it for accuracy
- Preserve any photos, videos, or messages related to the incident
- Avoid giving a recorded statement before understanding how it may be used
- Keep records of medical treatment tied directly to the accident
Have questions about how shared fault could affect your case? At Killian, Davis & Richter, P.C., our Grand Junction personal injury attorneys work with clients throughout Grand Junction, Montrose, and Mesa County, Colorado, to help make sure a fault dispute doesn’t stand in the way of fair compensation. We’re ready to review the details of your accident and discuss your options. Reach our office at 970-241-0707.
Source:
leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-13.pdf