State guide · West
Colorado subrogation law guide
The insured recovers only if its negligence is less than the combined negligence of the defendants, so a 50% share bars recovery. Below that line, damages are reduced by the insured's percentage.
Colorado at a glanceCO
- Property damage
- 2 years
- Bodily injury
- 2 years
- Fault rule
- Modified, 50% bar
- Gov. notice
- 182 days
Overview
Colorado rewards careful deadline work. The general tort limitation period is two years, but claims arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle get three, so a collision recovery and a water loss caused by a plumber sit on different clocks. The comparative fault rule in C.R.S. 13-21-111 bars recovery when the insured's negligence equals or exceeds the defendants' combined negligence, and joint and several liability is gone except for conspiracies. Defendants can designate nonparties at fault within 90 days of the action, so missing a responsible party costs real money. Claims against public entities need written notice within 182 days of discovery, and the statute makes that notice a jurisdictional prerequisite. On bodily injury benefits, C.R.S. 10-1-135 codifies the made-whole rule, voids contrary policy terms and limits a payer's ability to pursue the tortfeasor directly, which narrows medical payments subrogation. Property subrogation is less restricted, but construction-related losses run through the Construction Defect Action Reform Act's pre-suit notice process. Utility-caused wildfire and contractor fire losses make Colorado a meaningful state for large property recoveries.
Quick reference with citations
- Property damage SOL
- 2 years
- C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a) (2 years for tort actions); torts arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle run 3 years under C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)
- Bodily injury SOL
- 2 years
- C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a); 3 years for motor vehicle torts under C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)
- Product liability
- 2 years from when the injury and its cause were or should have been discovered (C.R.S. 13-80-106); 7-year repose only for new manufacturing equipment (C.R.S. 13-80-107); rebuttable presumption of no defect 10 years after first sale (C.R.S. 13-21-403(3))
- Written contract
- 3 years
- Contract and indemnity recoveries
- Comparative fault rule
- Modified, 50% bar
- C.R.S. 13-21-111
- Government notice of claim
- 182 days
- Under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, written notice must be filed within 182 days after discovery of the injury, and compliance is a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). Notice goes to the governing body or its attorney for a local public entity and to the Attorney General for the State. Suit may be filed after denial or after 90 days without a response (C.R.S. 24-10-109(6)). Immunity is waived only for listed categories, including operation of a non-emergency motor vehicle, dangerous conditions of public buildings and roads, and operation of public water, gas, sanitation and power facilities (C.R.S. 24-10-106), and recoveries are subject to per-person and per-occurrence caps (C.R.S. 24-10-114).
Fault rule in practice
How Colorado's rule changes a $50,000 recovery.
The insured recovers only if its negligence is less than the combined negligence of the defendants, so a 50% share bars recovery. Below that line, damages are reduced by the insured's percentage.
Authority: C.R.S. 13-21-111
| Insured's share of fault | Recoverable in CO | Under pure comparative |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| 20% | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| 50% | Barred | $25,000 |
| 60% | Barred | $20,000 |
Doctrines that move the number
Colorado doctrine checklist.
Made-whole doctrine
C.R.S. 10-1-135 codifies the made-whole rule for payers of bodily injury benefits, including health plans and auto medical payments coverage: reimbursement or subrogation is allowed only after the injured party is fully compensated, the payer shares attorney fees pro rata, and contrary policy terms are void. The statute also bars a benefits payer from pursuing the third party directly unless the injured party has not pursued a claim within 60 days before the limitation period runs. Kral v. American Hardware Mutual Insurance Co., 784 P.2d 759 (Colo. 1989) refused to enforce a subrogation clause that would keep an uninsured motorist claimant from being made whole.
Economic loss doctrine
Town of Alma v. AZCO Construction, Inc., 10 P.3d 1256 (Colo. 2000) bars negligence claims for purely economic loss caused by breach of a duty that arises from contract, and BRW, Inc. v. Dufficy & Sons, Inc., 99 P.3d 66 (Colo. 2004) applied the rule across interrelated construction contracts. Physical damage to other property and duties independent of the contract remain actionable in tort.
Joint and several liability
Colorado abolished joint and several liability except for defendants who consciously conspire (C.R.S. 13-21-111.5). Defendants may designate nonparties at fault within 90 days after the action is commenced, and the jury can then allocate fault to them, so every responsible party should be identified and sued within the limitation period.
Anti-subrogation and waiver
A carrier cannot subrogate against its own insured for a covered risk (1700 Lincoln, Ltd. v. Denver Marble & Tile Co., 741 P.2d 1270 (Colo. App. 1987)). Colorado recognizes a no-coverage exception: when the policy does not cover the second insured for the conduct that caused the loss, the carrier can subrogate against that insured (Continental Divide Insurance Co. v. Western Skies Management, Inc., 107 P.3d 1145 (Colo. App. 2004)).
Practice notes
Working Colorado subrogation files.
- 1
Set the limitation date by cause, not by line of business. A rear-end collision is a motor vehicle tort with three years under C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n); a kitchen fire caused by an electrician runs two years from discovery. Claims against a construction professional also require a notice of claim at least 75 days before suit under C.R.S. 13-20-803.5, which tolls the limitation period, and the six-year construction repose in 13-80-104 still applies.
- 2
The 50% bar turns close liability files into all-or-nothing decisions. If a carrier pays $72,000 for a restaurant fire started by a hood cleaning contractor and the insured is assigned 30% of the fault for skipped maintenance, the carrier recovers $50,400. At 49% it recovers $36,720; at 50% it recovers nothing. Spend expert money on the evidence that keeps the insured's share well below half.
- 3
A burst water main operated by a municipal utility or a collision with a city truck requires written notice within 182 days of discovery under C.R.S. 24-10-109, delivered to the entity's governing body or its attorney. Late notice is a jurisdictional bar, not a defense the entity must show prejudice to raise. Include the date and place of the loss, the nature of the damage and the amount claimed.
- 4
Answer a nonparty designation quickly. When a defendant designates the general contractor or a product manufacturer as a nonparty at fault, the carrier must decide whether to add that party before the limitation period runs, because any share the jury assigns to an absent nonparty is lost. Build the full defendant list from the claim file before the complaint is filed, not after the defense raises it.
- 5
Ishqkala applies the motor vehicle and general tort periods separately for Colorado, reading the loss narrative to decide which applies, and adds a 182-day public entity clock when a city vehicle, utility or road condition appears. For medical payments dollars, the scoring model applies C.R.S. 10-1-135, discounting recoverability when the insured has an open injury claim and routing those files to coordinate with the insured's attorney.
Key cases
Kral v. American Hardware Mutual Insurance Co.
784 P.2d 759 (Colo. 1989)
Recognized the made-whole rule in the uninsured motorist setting and refused to enforce a subrogation clause to the extent it would keep the insured from full compensation. The legislature later codified the principle for bodily injury benefits in C.R.S. 10-1-135.
Town of Alma v. AZCO Construction, Inc.
10 P.3d 1256 (Colo. 2000)
Adopted the economic loss rule for duties arising from contract. Subrogation against contractors for purely economic loss must proceed in contract, while physical damage to other property can be pursued in tort.
Continental Divide Insurance Co. v. Western Skies Management, Inc.
107 P.3d 1145 (Colo. App. 2004)
Applied the anti-subrogation rule where the policy covered the property manager for the conduct at issue and described the no-coverage exception. Coverage analysis decides whether a co-insured can be pursued.
Inter-company arbitration
Arbitration Forums panels apply Colorado law, including the 50% bar, and signatory carriers must arbitrate company-paid damages up to $100,000 in the Automobile and Property forums. Before filing medical payments claims on Colorado losses, confirm the conditions in C.R.S. 10-1-135 are met, because the statute restricts direct pursuit of third parties by benefit payers. Use the three-year motor vehicle period for auto filings and the two-year period for most property filings, since a respondent can raise an expired limitation period as an exclusion.
How Ishqkala applies this guide
CO rules, built into every score.
- Opportunities with a Colorado loss state are calendared against the 2 years property damage period or the 2 years bodily injury period, whichever controls the claim type.
- The insured's estimated fault share is applied under modified, 50% bar before recoverable dollars are scored.
- Files involving a public entity get a 182-day notice deadline that outranks the general SOL in the priority queue.
- Alerts fire at 180, 90, 45 and 15 days before the controlling deadline.
Other modified, 50% bar jurisdictions
FAQ
Colorado subrogation FAQ
2 years (C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a) (2 years for tort actions); torts arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle run 3 years under C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). A subrogating carrier generally takes the insured's claim subject to the same limitation period, usually measured from the date of loss.
Modified, 50% bar (C.R.S. 13-21-111). The insured recovers only if its negligence is less than the combined negligence of the defendants, so a 50% share bars recovery. Below that line, damages are reduced by the insured's percentage.
Under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, written notice must be filed within 182 days after discovery of the injury, and compliance is a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). Notice goes to the governing body or its attorney for a local public entity and to the Attorney General for the State. Suit may be filed after denial or after 90 days without a response (C.R.S. 24-10-109(6)). Immunity is waived only for listed categories, including operation of a non-emergency motor vehicle, dangerous conditions of public buildings and roads, and operation of public water, gas, sanitation and power facilities (C.R.S. 24-10-106), and recoveries are subject to per-person and per-occurrence caps (C.R.S. 24-10-114).
C.R.S. 10-1-135 codifies the made-whole rule for payers of bodily injury benefits, including health plans and auto medical payments coverage: reimbursement or subrogation is allowed only after the injured party is fully compensated, the payer shares attorney fees pro rata, and contrary policy terms are void. The statute also bars a benefits payer from pursuing the third party directly unless the injured party has not pursued a claim within 60 days before the limitation period runs. Kral v. American Hardware Mutual Insurance Co., 784 P.2d 759 (Colo. 1989) refused to enforce a subrogation clause that would keep an uninsured motorist claimant from being made whole.
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