Clear, sourced information about what happens after a Colorado crash
Treatment happens now. Fault is decided later. Colorado has a specific answer for the gap.
Medical payments cover of $5,000 is included in a Colorado policy unless you turn it down, and it pays your early treatment regardless of who caused the crash. C.R.S. § 10-4-635 verified 2026-09-11
It pays regardless of who caused the crash, which is exactly what is needed in the first weeks. It is the most commonly forgotten coverage in Colorado.
Health cover pays, and then generally asserts a right to be repaid out of any settlement. That is normal, but it means the settlement figure is not the amount you keep, and the repayment is often negotiable.
They do not pay bills as they arrive. They pay once, at the end, in a settlement or a judgment. Anyone who tells you otherwise is describing a different system.
Every Colorado driver must carry at least $25,000 of bodily injury liability cover per person, $50,000 per crash, and $15,000 for property damage. Colorado Division of Insurance, auto insurance requirements verified 2026-09-11
Uninsured and underinsured motorist cover is added to every Colorado policy automatically, matched to your liability limits, unless you reject it in writing. C.R.S. § 10-4-609 verified 2026-09-11
Every statement on this page traces to one of the sources below. Where the text was read somewhere other than the body that issued it, that is noted.
The questions that come up while treatment is still going on and nobody has accepted fault yet.
Medical payments cover is included in a Colorado policy unless you turned it down, and it pays early treatment regardless of who caused the crash — C.R.S. § 10-4-635. It is the coverage most often forgotten in Colorado, and it exists for exactly this gap.
You can, and many people do. Health cover pays and then generally asserts a right to be repaid out of any settlement, so the settlement figure is not the amount you keep. That repayment is often negotiable, which is worth knowing before you agree to a number.
No. A liability insurer settles once, at the end, for the claim as a whole. Anyone describing bills being paid along the way is describing a no-fault system, which Colorado is not.
Liability cover stops at the limit, and $25,000 per person is the legal floor rather than a typical policy. Uninsured and underinsured motorist cover is added to every Colorado policy automatically unless you rejected it in writing — C.R.S. § 10-4-609 — and that is usually what is left.
A few questions about what happened, and you get the guidance that matches it. Free, no obligation, and you can stop at any point.