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.
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| 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.