In Colorado, personal injury claimants are permitted to seek 3 categories of damages:
- Economic damages – Classic economic damages include medical expenses and lost income.
- Non-economic damages – Non-economic damages include emotional pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, frustration, and inconvenience.
- Permanent physical impairment and disfigurement.
In 2024, Colorado lawmakers revised the statute establishing caps on non-economic damages that can be recovered in civil cases (those focused on compensating the victim, rather than punishing the wrongdoer). House Bill 24-1472 amended Colorado Revised Statute § 13-21-102.5 to dramatically increase the limit on the damages that can be recovered in these lawsuits. However, for certain cases, a narrow window of time remains in order to take advantage of these elevated caps if your claim already accrued before this year.
In particular, the amended statute sets the current non-economic damages ceiling at $1,500,000 for general tort claims (i.e., claims other than for medical malpractice or wrongful death). Claims for healthcare malpractice and wrongful death are handled differently under the new statute.
In order to qualify for the higher caps, however, you must either:
- Have a claim that accrued during or after 2025; OR,
- File your civil action between January 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026 if your claim accrued earlier than the 2025 calendar year.
If you have questions about when your claim accrued and whether it would benefit you to file a civil action before January 1, 2026, contact the Hailey | Hart team to explore your options.
Jennifer is an experienced litigator with an established history of resolving disputes for her clients from pretrial settlement negotiations through successful jury verdicts and appeals. Her practice focuses on representing policyholders in coverage disputes and claims against their insurance companies.