Auto accidents are rarely pleasant experiences, and it only get worse when it comes to medical and auto repair bills. Thankfully, you can reduce those bills quite a bit if you file and win a lawsuit. Lawsuits do vary from state to state, which can make the entire process seem quite confusing at first glace. Here are some questions that you should ask when it comes to filing an auto accident lawsuit in Colorado:
Can You Actually File A Lawsuit For Your Accident?
Depending on whether you live in a fault or no-fault insurance state, you might not be able to even file a lawsuit in the first place. Fortunately for you, Colorado is a fault insurance state, which means that you can file a lawsuit for any car accident.
For future reference, in case you ever are involved in a car accident in a state that has no-fault insurance, the difference is fairly simple.
-
In fault states, you can file an insurance claim or a lawsuit to get compensation.
-
In no-fault states, you can only file a lawsuit if you were severely injured in the accident. If you were not, then you need to pursue an insurance claim.
When Can You File Your Lawsuit?
The statute of limitations will dictate exactly when you can file a lawsuit and when you cannot. In many states, the statute of limitations for an auto accident is in the same category as general personal injuries, but that is not the case in Colorado.
In Colorado, you have 3 years to file a lawsuit from the date of the car accident. If there was no car involved, then you instead have 2 years to file, which means that you actually have a larger window of opportunity if there was a car involved.
How Much Money Can You Ask For?
Damages are also a tricky subject, and it can be difficult to figure out how much compensation you will actually get.
To simplify the topic, there are two main types of damages that you need to worry about: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are almost always uncapped, meaning that you can get as much money as you ask for. The catch is that economic damages are instead limited by actual financial hardships that you have had to endure, such as lost wages or auto repair bills. This means that there is a very clear value that you are owed, so you can't ask for more in economic damages than you are owed.
On the other hand, economic damages are trickier. This category includes pain and suffering and other similar subjective types of damage, but there is a broad cap to keep in mind: $250,000. This is the basic limit for non-economic damages, but it can be doubled if the court feels that your case warrants such an increase.
However, that is not the actual cap today, since Colorado has since allowed that number to be increased proportionally to inflation. This basic cap is now around $1,000,000. For more information, contact Knochel Law Offices or a similar firm.
Share
