Colorado Automobile Insurance Law Overview

When an accident happens, it is helpful to have an overview of Colorado insurance laws, as these laws direct how most types of claims are handled. The complete law of these claims is very complex with exceptions to almost every rule. Please check your specific situation with a competent personal injury attorney. This overview is intended for general information purposes, and is not to be relied upon as specific legal advice applying to your case.

LIABILITY COVERAGE

If you are not at fault in the auto accident, you may be entitled to compensation from the party at fault in the accident, or their insurance company. Colorado law requires that an owner or operator of a motor vehicle have liability insurance coverage. This coverage exists to compensate people who are injured through the fault of that driver. Claims can include ones for bodily injuries, and property damages.

The property damage claim generally deals with the cost of repairing or replacing the vehicle (plus taxes and licensing fees if appropriate), loss of use for the vehicle until it can be replaced or while repairs are being completed, and perhaps loss of value of the vehicle after it has been repaired.

Bodily injury damages can include claims for any economic loss, physical impairment and non–economic loss. Non–economic loss is for such things as pain and suffering, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, disabilities, scarring and disfigurement. Economic loss can be thought of as out of pocket dollar losses. For a bodily injury claim, those can typically include lost wages, lost earnings capacity for the future, medical bills, and expected medical care expense in the future. It can also include things that happened because of lost income such as a damaged credit rating, foreclosure on a home and related consequences.

UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE

This coverage is available on every policy written in Colorado, but it can be rejected in writing. Uninsured motorist coverage is coverage that has been purchased to cover you (and people claiming through your policy) if you are injured through the fault of an uninsured motorist or a motorist that has not been identified (hit and run). The benefits for uninsured motorist are the same as under the liability bodily injury coverage, except the claim is made against your own insurance company. If you are not at fault in the accident, the insurance company cannot penalize you in any fashion for making a claim against your uninsured motorist coverage.

UNDER INSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE

This coverage provides similar coverage to uninsured motorist coverage, except that it applies only if your policy (or the policy you are claiming through) has a limit of coverage that exceeds the coverage purchased by the party at fault. For example, assume that your bodily injury claim is worth $45,000.00. The party at fault has liability coverage of $25,000.00. If you have underinsured motorist coverage at the appropriate limit, you would be able to make an underinsured motorist claim against your own company for the additional $20,000.00.

PROPERTY DAMAGE LIABILITY COVERAGE

If you have property damage in a traffic accident that is someone else's fault, you can make a property damage liability claim against their insurance. Colorado Law requires that all insurance policies in this State carry liability coverage for property damage. This was touched on in the second heading.

In addition to a property damage liability claim, if you have purchased collision coverage through your own insurance policy, you have the option of making a claim against your own company for your property damage subject to any deductible that you agreed to. The claim against the liability company does not have the deductible.

MEDICAL PAYMENTS COVERAGE

You have an option of purchasing medical payments coverage from your own carrier. If you purchased this, monies are available to pay for medical care regardless of who is at fault in the accident. The exact coverages and limitations on medical payments policies vary significantly from company to company. Therefore, a close review of your policy will be needed to know exactly the rights you have concerning medical payments coverage. However, medical payment coverage, if purchased, is primary to any health insurance that you may have covering you. Therefore, it is important to make application to the automobile medical payments coverages before any bills go to the health insurance carrier.

NO–FAULT BENEFITS

Colorado was a no–fault insurance state from 1973 until the middle of 2003. Some accident claims are still governed by our no–fault laws. Under no–fault, Colorado law required that the owner or operator of a motor vehicle carry no–fault (and liability) coverage for all passenger motor vehicles. This did not apply to motorcycles and certain other types of vehicles.

No–fault benefits (also called personal injury protection, or PIP benefits) are paid by the insurance company providing coverage to the vehicle you were in, the vehicle that struck you if you were a pedestrian, or in certain limited cases, the insurance company covering the passenger or occupant of the vehicle. In some instances these benefits are available even if the accident happened outside of Colorado, even though the state where the accident occurred is not a no–fault state. Making claims for no–fault benefits in an accident that was not your fault cannot be used to raise your insurance rates or in any way be used against you by your insurance company.

A general listing of the no–fault coverages that went with a basic policy are set forth below. Quite frankly, no–fault had many different types of policies with coverages varying significantly. However, most people purchased the basic policy, which is described below. The law did allow people to purchase more or less than the basic coverage under certain circumstances. Investigating the coverage that actually exists in your accident is very important.

1.	MEDICAL BENEFITS
	This coverage provides payment for reasonable and necessary medical expenses for treatment incurred to treat injuries caused by the accident. It has a limit of $50,000.00 or five (5) years from the date of the accident, whichever comes first. With minors it is possible to get this time period extended. The coverage is available for any "healing art", whether it is for medical, chiropractic, hospital, psychological, dental, pharmacy or ambulance services. Mileage to and from medical care is also available.
2.	REHABILITATION EXPENSES
	This covers up to $50,000.00 for rehabilitation procedures and occupational training incurred up to ten (10) years from the date of the accident. In most cases medical care above the $50,000.00 limit can be covered by drawing against the $50,000.00 available as rehabilitation expenses.
3.	LOST INCOME
	If income is lost due to injuries from the accident there is a benefit that is available on a sliding scale. This typically has a maximum of $400.00 per week for one (1) year from the date of the accident commencing the day after the accident. For self–employed people this benefit can be used for the "replacement labor" cost of having to hire someone to do the physical work that you used to do, but are unable to due to accident related injuries. Lost income benefits up to the $400.00 per week maximum are paid according to the following formula: 100% of the first $125.00 per week, 70% of the next $125.00, per week 60% of the amount above $250.00.
4.	ESSENTIAL SERVICES
	Covers up to $25.00 per day for one (1) year from the date of the accident. Essential Service benefits cover payment for activities you would have performed without income but are unable to due to injuries from the accident. This can include things such as house cleaning, lawn work and cooking.
5.	DEATH BENEFIT
	There is a $1,000.00 benefit payable to the estate.

These no–fault benefits are available in full to each person entitled to benefits, not on a per–accident basis. For example, if there are three occupants of a car, each is entitled to $50,000.00 in medical benefits; the three do not have to divide a total of $50,000 between them.

The no–fault law has become very complicated, with insurance companies having the ability to have preferred provider organizations, opt–out penalties, deductibles and co–payments. If there are any questions as to what benefits apply to your case, please contact an attorney.