Connecticut Car Accidents: Fault, Insurance, and Claims

Connecticut car accident laws put financial responsibility on the driver who caused the crash, but your right to collect depends on a fault-sharing rule that cuts off recovery above 50 percent, a two-year filing deadline, and specific insurance minimums that every registered vehicle must carry. Miss any of these and a clear case can still turn into no case at all.

How Fault Determines What You Can Recover

Connecticut uses a modified comparative negligence system. You can collect damages only if your share of fault is not greater than the combined fault of everyone else involved.¹ At 50 percent fault you still qualify. At 51 percent you are barred entirely. There is no sliding scale past that cutoff.

When you do qualify, your award is reduced by your percentage of blame. A driver found 30 percent at fault for a crash involving $50,000 in damages receives $35,000.¹ Insurance adjusters apply the same math during settlement talks, so the fault percentage pinned on you drives your payout long before any courtroom is involved.

How Long You Have to File a Lawsuit

You have two years from the date you first discover, or reasonably should have discovered, an injury to file a personal injury or property damage lawsuit based on negligence. Even with that discovery rule, no suit can be filed more than three years from the date of the crash itself.² That three-year ceiling matters most when injuries take time to surface, such as a herniated disc that doesn’t produce symptoms for months.

If someone dies as a result of a crash, the executor or administrator of the estate has two years from the date of death to bring a wrongful death action, with an outer limit of five years from the date of the negligent act.³

These deadlines are unforgiving. A court will almost always dismiss a case filed a day late, regardless of how strong the underlying evidence is. If you are still treating injuries or negotiating with an insurer as the deadline approaches, filing the lawsuit preserves your rights. You can still settle afterward.

Insurance Every Connecticut Driver Must Carry

Every registered vehicle in Connecticut must carry liability insurance meeting these minimums:

$25,000 for bodily injury to one person
$50,000 for total bodily injury per accident
$25,000 for property damage⁴

These minimums are low relative to actual crash costs. A single emergency room visit paired with a few weeks of lost wages can easily blow past $25,000.

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Every auto liability policy issued in Connecticut must also include uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage. This protects you when the at-fault driver has no insurance or carries limits too low to cover your losses. Minimum UM/UIM limits must match the liability minimums under § 14-112, so at least 25/50 for bodily injury.⁵

By default, your UM/UIM limits equal your liability limits. If you carry 100/300 liability, your UM/UIM matches automatically unless you request lower limits in writing by signing an informed consent form that spells out what you are giving up.⁵ You can reduce UM/UIM limits but never below 25/50, and you cannot reject the coverage entirely.

When a Crash Must Be Reported

When a crash results in any injury, a death, or property damage exceeding $1,000, police are required to investigate and file a uniform crash report (the PR-1 form) with the Commissioner of Transportation within five days of completing their investigation.⁶ The $1,000 threshold is low enough that most collisions beyond a minor fender-bender will meet it, so calling law enforcement to the scene should be the default.

If police don’t respond, which can happen with minor collisions, contact the local department to file a report as soon as possible. That official report becomes a critical piece of evidence for any insurance claim or lawsuit. Without it, your account carries less weight against the other driver’s version of events.

What Damages You Can Recover

Connecticut divides crash-related damages into two categories. Economic damages cover losses you can attach a receipt to: medical bills, lost wages, vehicle repair or replacement costs, and reduced future earning capacity if the injury limits your long-term ability to work. Non-economic damages compensate for things that don’t come with an invoice: pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and scarring or disfigurement.

Connecticut does not cap non-economic damages in car accident cases. Your total recovery is limited only by the comparative negligence reduction and by the available insurance coverage. When the at-fault driver’s liability limits fall short of your full damages, your own UM/UIM coverage fills part of the gap, which is why carrying higher UM/UIM limits is one of the most cost-effective protections available.

How the Claims Process Works

After getting medical attention and gathering documentation, notify both insurance carriers. File a third-party claim with the at-fault driver’s insurer and notify your own insurer as well, since most policies require prompt notification regardless of who caused the crash. Provide the police report number, your documentation, and a summary of what happened.

The insurer assigns an adjuster who investigates fault, reviews vehicle damage estimates and medical records, and eventually makes a settlement offer. This typically takes 30 to 45 days, though complex or high-value claims take longer. The adjuster’s offer reflects both the coverage limits and their assessment of fault percentages under Connecticut’s comparative negligence rule.¹

You are never required to accept the first offer. If it doesn’t reflect your actual losses, you can negotiate, and you should, especially if you are still treating for injuries and the full cost isn’t yet known. Accepting an offer means signing a release that permanently ends your claim, so don’t sign until the number accounts for all current and anticipated expenses.

Total Loss Valuations

When repair costs approach or exceed the vehicle’s pre-crash value, the insurer declares a total loss and pays actual cash value (ACV) rather than the repair bill. ACV is based on your vehicle’s age, mileage, condition, and comparable sales in your area. Connecticut treats a vehicle as a constructive total loss when the combined cost of repair and salvage equals or exceeds the vehicle’s value.

Insurers frequently come in low on ACV. If the offer seems off, gather listings for comparable vehicles in your area with similar mileage and condition, or get an independent appraisal. Presenting that evidence during negotiations often produces a meaningfully higher payout.

Subrogation by Your Health Insurer

If your health insurer pays medical bills related to the crash and you later receive a settlement from the at-fault driver’s insurance, your health plan may have the right to recover what it spent. This process is called subrogation, and it means a portion of your settlement goes back to the health insurer rather than into your pocket. The “make whole” doctrine offers some protection by requiring that you be fully compensated for all your losses before the insurer can reclaim its share, but the strength of that protection varies depending on whether your plan is governed by state law or federal ERISA rules. ERISA-governed employer plans often have broader subrogation rights.

Taxes on Settlement Money

Most money you receive for a physical injury from a car accident is not taxable at the federal level. Compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering connected to a physical injury is excluded from gross income under the Internal Revenue Code.⁷ The IRS looks at what the payment is actually compensating; the label on the check matters less than the underlying reason for it.

Several categories of settlement proceeds are taxable:

Punitive damages, always, even in a physical injury case.
Emotional distress not tied to a physical injury. Proceeds for pure mental anguish without an underlying physical injury are taxable income, with an exception for amounts reimbursing medical expenses paid to treat the distress, provided those expenses weren’t previously deducted on a tax return.
Any pre-judgment or post-judgment interest included in your award.
Reimbursement of medical expenses you deducted on an earlier tax return.

Receiving a 1099 for settlement proceeds doesn’t automatically mean you owe tax on the full amount. It means the payment needs to be addressed on your return.⁷ For settlements involving both taxable and non-taxable components, having the allocation spelled out in the settlement agreement itself can prevent disputes with the IRS later.