Somewhere on I-25 or Wadsworth or College Avenue today, a Colorado driver is standing next to a dented bumper wondering what the law actually expects of them in the next hour, the next week and the next year. The rules are spread across three state agencies and a statute book, so here they are in one place.
First: the crash has to be reported, and “immediately” is the word the state uses
The Colorado State Patrol’s crash information page states it without hedging: crashes are required by law, under C.R.S. 42-4-1601, to be reported to the agency having jurisdiction immediately. There is no dollar threshold on the patrol’s page below which a crash does not count.
The exception is weather. When a jurisdiction declares “Accident Alert” during a snowstorm or other severe conditions, the patrol says officers respond only if a vehicle is disabled, someone is hurt or killed, drugs or alcohol are involved, a driver left the scene, or public property is damaged. Everyone else is told to exchange information and file the report themselves online as soon as possible.
That self-filed report goes to the Department of Revenue through the DMV’s Online Crash Reporting System. The DMV’s page explains the trade-off plainly: if a police officer was not called to the scene, you may file a crash report online, but a report filed by an individual does not get investigated by a law enforcement agency and is referred to as a counter report, kept for record purposes only. The State Patrol adds that it does not have access to copies of those online reports.
Then: tell your own insurer, even if you did nothing wrong
The State Patrol’s guidance is to notify your insurance company or agent regardless of whether you received a citation or the other party did. Colorado is a fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state, so claims typically go through the at-fault driver’s insurer; the Julian Bendinelli Law Firm’s explainer on whether Colorado is a no-fault state walks through what that distinction means for a claim. Your own policy still matters on day one, though, because several of its parts pay before or alongside the other driver’s insurer.
What a Colorado auto policy has to include
The Division of Insurance, part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies, lists the required liability minimums as $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $50,000 per accident and $15,000 for property damage to another. Those are floors, and the division’s page spends most of its space on the coverages that protect you rather than the other driver.
Two of those coverages are on your policy unless you took them off. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which pays your bodily injury damages after a not-at-fault crash with an uninsured, underinsured or hit-and-run driver, is technically optional in Colorado, but the division says it will be included in your policy unless you reject it in writing. The division estimates that 15 to 20 percent of drivers are uninsured, which is the case for keeping it. Medical payments coverage works the same way: medical payments coverage of $5,000 will be included in your policy unless you reject it, and if you are in a crash it pays before your health insurance and applies toward your health plan’s coinsurance or deductible.
Collision and comprehensive are the physical-damage coverages, both typically written with a deductible; insurers must offer collision with $100 or $250 deductibles, and you may choose a higher one to lower the premium. The division’s page also cites section 10-4-120 of the Colorado Revised Statutes on your right to choose the repair shop. If an insurer stalls, the Division of Insurance takes consumer complaints at 303-894-7499, or 800-930-3745 outside the Denver metro area.
The deadlines: three years for most car crash claims, two for other injuries
The General Assembly’s nonpartisan Legislative Council Staff summarized Colorado’s statutes of limitations in a February 2020 memo. Under the three-year category it lists motor vehicle-related bodily injury or property damage, the provision found at C.R.S. 13-80-101. General tort actions, which the memo describes as including negligence, trespass and outrageous conduct among others, carry a two-year limit under 13-80-102. In plain terms, a car crash injury claim in Colorado generally has to be filed in court within three years of the crash.
Two things trip people up. The first is that an insurance claim and a lawsuit are separate processes, and the court deadline keeps running while an adjuster is still negotiating; the firm’s page on how long you have to file a car accident claim in Colorado makes that point and notes that the exceptions Colorado recognizes, such as claims by minors, delayed discovery of an injury and claims involving public entities, are often narrowly interpreted. The second is that the exceptions cut both ways: claims involving public entities, for example, follow their own rules, so a crash with a city or state vehicle should be checked out right away rather than penciled in for year three.
Getting a copy of your crash report
If an officer investigated, the report ends up in two places. The State Patrol’s Central Records Unit will pull a copy if you provide the driver’s name, crash date, case report number and location; the patrol says to allow up to ten working days after the report is submitted, reviewed, corrected and approved. The DMV also keeps crash records, but its page asks you to allow 90 days for the law enforcement agency to send the report and for it to be entered into the driver license system, and it requires form DR 2489, the Requestor Release and Affidavit of Intended Use, plus a fee. The department keeps crash information for seven years.
A short checklist for the glovebox
- Report the crash immediately to the agency with jurisdiction; during an Accident Alert, exchange information and file online with the DMV.
- Notify your own insurer regardless of who was cited.
- Check your declarations page for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and the $5,000 medical payments coverage; both are on the policy unless you rejected them.
- Calendar the three-year filing limit for motor vehicle injury and property damage claims, and get advice early if a government vehicle was involved.
Disclosure: Julian Bendinelli Law Firm is a Holland Health Marketing client. The firm, with offices in Denver and Boulder, is profiled in our Local Business Spotlight.
Sources
- Colorado State Patrol, crash information (reporting duty under C.R.S. 42-4-1601, Accident Alert, insurer notification, Central Records Unit)
- Colorado DMV, Report a Crash and Obtain a Crash Record (online counter reports)
- Colorado DMV, Obtaining Crash Reports or Ticket Information (form DR 2489, 90-day and seven-year notes)
- Colorado Division of Insurance, Auto Insurance (minimum limits, UM/UIM, medical payments, collision and comprehensive)
- Colorado Legislative Council Staff, Statutes of Limitations memo (Feb. 10, 2020) (two-year and three-year categories)
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This is general information, not legal advice.
