WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR CAR ACCIDENTS IN COLORADO?

WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR
CAR ACCIDENTS IN COLORADO?

*HOW LONG DO YOU HAVE TO FILE YOUR INJURY
OR CAR CRASH CASE IN COLORADO?

Many people ask me about the statute of limitations with regard to car accidents in Colorado. What is the statute of limitations anyway? The statute of limitations is basically how long you have to bring a case for a personal injury claim in Colorado. If you do not settle your car accident case or car accident claim within a certain amount of time from the date of your car accident, then your claim or case can be barred forever.

Basically, the statute of limitations is your time limit on bringing your personal injury case in Colorado. Every state in the United States may have different time limits for bringing your car accident case. For example, in Florida, the statute of limitations on car accidents is only 2 years. That means if your car accident happened in Florida on July 4, 2024, then you have until July 4, 2026 to file a lawsuit or settle your case with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. That is a shorter statute of limitations than Colorado. In Colorado, you have 3 years to bring your car accident lawsuit or claim to settlement.

In Colorado, the statute of limitations starts running from the date of your car crash. So, if your car crash or accident was July 1, 2023, then that is the same day that the clock starts ticking. Every attorney has to dial in the statute of limitations date on their calendar. If a personal injury or car accident attorney fails to settle your case or file a lawsuit within 3 years of July 1, 2023 or by July 1, 2026, then you have a legal malpractice case against your attorney. There is no excuse for an attorney to miss your statute of limitations and if he or she does, then your case becomes a case against your very own car accident attorney.

Importantly, as a client, I would keep you very informed about the date that the statute of limitations runs out on your car accident case. Attorneys carry legal malpractice insurance for situations like this. But, there really is no excuse for an attorney to miss a 3-year statute of limitations. That is extreme negligence on the part of an attorney. If this happens, you can contact me and I can bring an immediate case against your car accident attorney. No excuse for a mistake like that.

I never wait 3 years to settle a car crash case or file a lawsuit. I have had situations where someone has come to me with 1 week or so left on the statute of limitations. In that type of situation, I immediately sit down with the client and determine if there is a good case and if there is, I would immediately file a lawsuit to protect my client’s injury claim from being lost forever. That is my duty as a lawyer and I take that duty very seriously.

First, I would make sure that the other driver is actually negligent in order for their to be a viable car accident case. https://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-13-courts-and-court-procedure/co-rev-st-sect-13-21-111.html. This is the statute in Colorado that determines negligence. We live in a state that does not bar your case if you are contributorily negligent. Let’s say that you were speeding at the time of your car crash and that did contribute in a way to your injuries and crash. The other driver turned left in front of you and was also negligent. In this type of situation, you could still bring a case against the other driver and their insurance company. These types of car accident cases are complicated and you need a great personal injury lawyer like myself to fight hard for you on these types of cases as the insurance companies are more difficult to deal with in comparative negligence situations.

Here is the codification of the SOL in Colorado:

2022 Colorado Code
Title 13 – Courts and Court Procedure
Article 80 – Limitations – Personal Actions
§ 13-80-101. General Limitation of Actions – Three Years

1. The following civil actions, regardless of the theory upon which suit is brought, or against whom suit is brought, shall be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrues, and not thereafter:
2. 1. All contract actions, including personal contracts and actions under the “Uniform Commercial Code”, except as otherwise provided in section 13-80-103.5;
   2. Repealed.
   3. All actions for fraud, misrepresentation, concealment, or deceit except those in section 13-80-102 (1)(j);
   6. Repealed.
   7. All actions for breach of trust or breach of fiduciary duty;
   8. All claims under the “Uniform Consumer Credit Code”, except section 5-5-201 (5), C.R.S.;
   9. All actions of replevin or for taking, detaining, or converting goods or chattels, except as otherwise provided in section 13-80-103.5;
   10. All actions under the “Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act”, article 7 of title 42, C.R.S.;
   11. All actions under part 6 of article 4 of title 10, C.R.S.;
   12. All actions accruing outside this state if the limitation of actions of the place where the cause of action accrued is greater than that of this state;
   13. All actions of debt under section 40-30-102, C.R.S.;
   14. All actions for recovery of erroneous or excessive refunds of any tax under section 39-21-102, C.R.S.;
   15. 1. All tort actions for bodily injury or property damage arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle including all actions pursuant to paragraph (j) of this subsection (1).
       2. The provisions of this paragraph (n) do not apply to any action for strict liability, absolute liability, or failure to instruct or warn governed by the provisions of section 13-80-102 (1)(b) or section 13-80-106.
   17. Repealed.

Source: L. 86: Entire article R&RE, p. 695, § 1, effective July 1; (1)(b) repealed and (1)(c) amended, pp. 708, 707, §§ 4, 1, effective July 1. L. 87: (1)(a) and (1)(c) amended and (1)(l) and (1)(m) added, p. 567, § 1, effective July 1; (1)(c) amended, p. 538, § 10, effective July 1; (1)(e) repealed, p. 600, § 38, effective July 10. L. 91: (1)(a) amended, p. 270, § 7, effective July 1. L. 92: (1)(d) repealed, p. 244, § 3, effective July 1. L. 94: (1)(n) added, p. 2824, § 1, effective July 1. L. 99: (1)(o) added, p. 215, § 3, effective July 1; (1)(p) added, p. 593, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2000: (1)(g) amended, p. 1872, § 108, effective August 2; (1)(c) amended, p. 3, § 4, effective July 1, 2001. L. 2003: (1)(j) amended, p. 1572, § 8, effective July 1. L. 2011: (1)(o)(I), (1)(o)(II)(C), and (1)(p) repealed, (HB 11-1303), ch. 264, p. 1153, § 21, effective August 10. L. 2013: (1)(o)(II) repealed, (HB 13-1300), ch. 316, p. 1674, § 34, effective August 7. L. 2017: (1)(c) amended, (SB 17-294), ch. 264, p. 1390, § 27, effective May 25.

Editor’s note: The provisions of this section are similar to provisions of several former sections as they existed prior to 1986. For a detailed comparison, see the comparative tables located in the back of the index.

Cross references: For the “Uniform Commercial Code”, see title 4.

If you have been involved in a car accident in Colorado and you are worried about the statute of limitations, feel free to call me anytime, day or night. I can answer your questions and concerns and guide you in the right direction. I take every single car accident case that I handle very seriously and you can count on me to get you the highest settlement of any attorney in Colorado.