Personal Injury FAQs

Key legal terms

Contingency Fee

A fee model where a personal injury attorney is paid only if the case is settled or won. Costs advanced on the case are usually separate from that fee.

Statute of Limitations

The legal deadline to file a lawsuit. Most Colorado car-accident injury claims have a three-year limit; claims against a public entity can require written notice in as little as 182 days.

UM/UIM

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy that may pay when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little insurance.

Comparative Negligence

Colorado’s shared-fault rule that can reduce recovery by your percentage of fault and may bar recovery if you are equally or more at fault than the other party.

Maximum Medical Improvement

The point when a treating provider finds that further medical treatment is unlikely to improve the injury, often used when evaluating lasting impairment and case value.

Negligence

Failure to use reasonable care that causes injury. A typical claim requires duty, breach, causation, and damages.

Punitive Damages

Damages that punish especially wrongful conduct beyond compensatory losses, available only in limited Colorado cases meeting a high legal standard.

Loss of Consortium

A claim for loss of companionship, support, or marital relationship caused by another person’s injury of a spouse or family member.

Medical Lien

A claim against settlement or judgment proceeds by a health insurer, provider, or government payer for medical bills related to the injury.

Subrogation

An insurer’s right to recover amounts it paid for injury-related benefits from a settlement or judgment against the at-fault party.

General information cannot decide a specific case

Deadlines, available claims, damages, and insurance rights depend on the incident, parties, policies, and current Colorado law. Use these articles to identify questions—not as a substitute for advice based on your facts.