
Colorado Car Insurance
Going
without insurance can cost you much more than carrying the
liability coverage that is required by Colorado law.
Bodily injury and property damage coverage (liability coverage)
can be purchased as split limit coverage or as combined single
limit coverage. The minimum limits of liability required by
Colorado law are 25/50/15. If you choose to purchase the
coverage as a combined single limit, the minimum allowable is
$65,000 under Colorado law.
Liability
coverage: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per
accident
Property
damage: $15,000 per accident
Personal
injury protection: $5,000
Rehabilitation procedures:
$5,000
Loss of
income: $5,000
Comprehensive
and collision coverage are not required by Colorado. Colorado
law requires collision coverage be offered by an insurance
company. However, if you borrowed money to purchase your
automobile, your lender may require you to carry this coverage
until the loan is paid.
You are
not required to carry medical payments or
uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, but all insurance
companies are required to offer uninsured/underinsured motorist
coverage in an amount equal to your bodily injury coverage or
one hundred thousand dollars per person and three hundred
thousand dollars per accident, whichever is
less.
If you
plan to lease an automobile, you should check your lease
agreement. Generally, these agreements require that you carry
liability coverage in the amount of $100,000 per person,
$300,000 per accident and may require you to carry property
damage coverage in excess of the Colorado Insurance
Law.
Insurance
provides protection to consumers by assuming certain risks and
promising to pay for financial loss. In Colorado, legal and
financial responsibility is based upon the law of negligence. A
negligent act which causes damage or injury is legally known as
a tort. If an accident is your fault, that is, you are
negligent, you are responsible for bodily injury and property
damages suffered by the innocent party.
To assure
that innocent parties are adequately compensated for their
injuries, Colorado law requires that all registered owners of a
motor vehicle have complying a liability insurance
policy.
In 1997,
House Bill 1209 was enacted. This legislation requires the
Motor Vehicle Division to contract with a provider to develop
and maintain a database of insured vehicles. The bill also
requires any insurance company that writes vehicle liability
policies in Colorado to report new policyholders and cancelled
policies at least monthly to the provider -EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1,
1999.
In 1998,
House Bill 1213 was enacted. This legislation requires County
Motor Vehicle offices throughout the state to deny vehicle
registrations for all passenger, motor home and motorcycle
vehicles that do not have proof of insurance when registering
those vehicles - EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 1999.
The intent
of the law is to reduce the rising number of uninsured drivers
and vehicles in Colorado.
The
Colorado insurance database provides officers with another tool
to verify insurance prior to taking further action. If you do
not show as insured on the database, the officer has the option
of confiscating your driver's license, serving you with a
notice that suspends your driver's license in seven days, and
issuing a summons for no liability insurance and a court
appearance. You also have the option of requesting a motor
vehicle hearing.
You must also
comply with the Financial Responsibility Act requirements, such
as filing an accident report, if not insured, posting security
in the amount of damages, filing an SR22 with the Motor Vehicle
Division, entering into an agreement to pay the other party,
and being released by the other party or being adjudicated not
liable for damages. The responding officer also has the option
of confiscating your driver's license and serving you with a
notice that suspends your driver' s license in seven
days.
If
you have a driver's license but are stopped while driving
someone else's uninsured vehicle, you are still subject to the
same laws. You may still have your license confiscated, be
served with a notice that suspends your driver's license within
seven days, and be issued a summons for no liability insurance
and a court appearance.
Note: State Car Insurance regulations
can change. Please check with your state's Motor Vehicle
Department for the most current
regulations.
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