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 deals with a situation where the at fault driver has some insurance to compensate youon your bodily injury claim, but not enough to fully compensate you. In this situation you can make claim against your underinsured motorist coverage for additional compensation.

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.