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Colorado · State Law Library Hub
Colorado Auto Insurance & Crash Law Library
A citizen navigation guide to Colorado automobile insurance, coverage, UM/UIM, insurer duties, crash liability, damages, settlement, and controlling authority.
Colorado State Law Library
Numbered guides by legal category
Start with Guide 01 if you are new to the library. Browse all 23 issue guides by legal category and open the numbered Colorado guide that matches the problem.
Getting Started in Colorado
State-specific working guide: how to use the library, build the claim map, and decide what to do first.
Coverage & Insured Status
Required insurance, every policy, who is insured, UM/UIM, stacking, and policy interpretation.
03Policy Disclosure & Finding Every Insurance PolicyDriver, owner, household, employer, commercial, umbrella, excess, rental, rideshare, and first-party coverage.›
04Who Is an Insured?Named insureds, resident relatives, permissive users, occupants, and coverage-specific insured status.›
05Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist CoverageColorado first-party protection, rejection, insured status, claim preservation, exhaustion, and benefits.›
06Stacking & Multiple Insurance PoliciesMultiple policies, coverage priority, anti-stacking, exhaustion, and other-insurance issues.›
07Policy Interpretation, Exclusions & Coverage DisputesPolicy language, endorsements, definitions, exclusions, limitations, ambiguities, and coverage defenses.›
Insurer Duties & Claims Conduct
6 GUIDES: Disclosure, claims handling, agents, defense, policy-limit settlement, and limited proceeds.
09Claims Handling & Insurance Bad FaithInvestigation, adjustment, unreasonable delay or denial, common-law duties, and statutory remedies.›
10Insurance Agents & Failure to Procure CoverageApplications, requested insurance, producer representations, missing coverage, and procurement claims.›
11Duty to Defend & Reservations of RightsDefense obligations, indemnity, reservations of rights, coverage litigation, and insured protection.›
12Settlement Demands, Policy Limits & Excess ExposurePolicy-limit opportunities, settlement evaluation, protection of the insured, and excess exposure.›
12AMultiple Claimants, Multiple Insureds & Limited Policy ProceedsCompeting claims, inadequate limits, allocation, defense, exhaustion, insured protection, and interpleader.›
Vehicle & Use Questions
Borrowed and rental vehicles, work and commercial use, rideshare, and government vehicles.
14Work, Employer & Commercial VehiclesEmployer liability, course and scope, commercial-auto, fleet, employee, workers’ compensation, and excess coverage.›
15Rideshare & Transportation Network Company InsuranceTNC app periods, accepted rides, liability coverage, Colorado TNC UM/UIM, exclusions, and app evidence.›
16Government Vehicle & Public Entity ClaimsCGIA vehicle claims, public employees, 182-day notice, immunity waivers, limits, and special procedures.›
Liability & Proof
Comparative fault, nonparty fault, crash investigation, evidence preservation, and proof.
Damages & Resolution
Damages, wrongful death, MedPay and reimbursement, settlement, releases, and claim closure.
20Wrongful Death & Survival ClaimsClaimants, statutory timing, one-action rules, damages, survival claims, estate authority, and deadlines.›
21MedPay, Medical Liens & ReimbursementMedPay, health insurance, provider liens, Medicare, Medicaid, ERISA, workers’ compensation, and net recovery.›
22Settlement, Release & Claim ClosureSettlement formation, released parties, UM/UIM preservation, liens, defendants, releases, and finality.›
Case Authority
Colorado appellate authority, federal decisions applying Colorado law, publication status, and current review.
Guide 01 · Colorado Working Guide
How to use this library before making a final claim decision
Guide 01 is the state-specific working guide. Use it to build the claim map first, then move into the numbered legal topic that answers the next question.
Identify every responsible person and entity, every claimant, and every potential source of payment.
Do not stop with the insurance card. Check owner, driver, household, employer, commercial, umbrella, excess, rental, rideshare, and first-party coverage.
Protect vehicles, photos, witnesses, video, EDR, telematics, records, medical chronology, and other time-sensitive evidence.
Read the actual policy and current primary authority, then resolve liens, UM/UIM, multiple claims, and release consequences before settlement.
Colorado Quick Reference
What is distinctive about Colorado?
25 / 50 / 15 minimum liability
Colorado’s compulsory auto-insurance framework begins with minimum liability limits, but a claim investigation should search for every higher or additional layer.
Pre-suit policy disclosure
C.R.S. § 10-3-1117 creates a specific automobile-insurance disclosure framework before litigation.
UM/UIM statutory protection
C.R.S. § 10-4-609 supplies an important first-party recovery layer and interacts with rejection, multiple policies, cooperation, exhaustion, and settlement.
$5,000 MedPay framework
Qualifying Colorado policies generally include a $5,000 medical-payments layer unless the named insured properly rejects it.
Modified comparative negligence
Comparative negligence, nonparty fault, several liability, and settlement allocation can materially affect recovery.
Public-entity notice
Government defendants can trigger separate Colorado Governmental Immunity Act waiver, notice, damages-limit, and procedural rules.
Primary Research
Official Colorado sources
Browse the Colorado Statutes: Official-Source Index → — 782 selected entries across eight titles. This selected research library links to official text; it is not the entire Colorado code.
VictimsGuide is the navigation layer. Current primary authority, the actual insurance contract, and the verified factual record control.
Colorado Revised Statutes
Insurance, motor vehicles, tort liability, government claims, health-care recovery, and related Colorado law.
Colorado Division of Insurance
Insurance regulation, consumer resources, complaints, bulletins, and insurer / producer oversight.
Colorado Judicial Branch
Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions, dockets, rules, forms, and court resources.
Colorado Case Law Search
Search current and historical Colorado appellate decisions.
Colorado DMV
Insurance verification, licensing, registration, crash records, and motor-vehicle administration.
Colorado Code of Regulations
Official administrative rules for insurance, transportation, motor carriers, and related systems.
How this library stays current
Registry-driven publishing and official-source review
The public page is generated from a stable topic registry and authority library. Periodic review should update only the pages affected by a material legal or source change.
Do not let one insurance card define the available recovery.
Find every potentially applicable policy, identify the correct insureds and responsible parties, preserve the evidence, develop the damages record, resolve medical-payment and reimbursement issues, and understand every remaining first- and third-party right before signing a final release.