At What Point Do Most Personal Injury Cases Settle in Denver?

This page provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always consult a licensed attorney for advice specific to your situation.

How Often Personal Injury Cases Settle

Settlement is the most common way a personal injury case ends. The figures come from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, which studied tort cases filed in state courts.

A tort case is one where the plaintiff says someone else’s negligent or intentional acts caused injury, loss, or damage. In the 1992 study, 92% of tort cases involved personal injury.

These figures are dated, and they cover courts across the country, with the 1992 study limited to the largest counties. Settlement data is thin because, as the 2005 study notes, the public record typically doesn’t include settlement terms.

For what drives the amount, see our post on the average personal injury settlement in Colorado.

The Points Where a Personal Injury Case Can Settle

Where your claim sits on this list depends on your injuries and how far apart the two sides are. Our guide to how long a Colorado injury case takes walks through each stage in order.

Settling Before a Lawsuit Is Filed

A claim can settle with the insurance company before anyone goes to court. That avoids the time a court case takes. The risk is settling before you know the full cost of your injuries.

Before you sign, it helps to know:

• What treatment you’ve had and what your doctors expect next.
• Your medical bills so far and who paid them.
• The at-fault driver’s policy limit and the coverage on your policy are also important.
• Whether anyone who paid your bills may ask to be repaid.

Our post on when not to accept a settlement offer in Denver covers the signs that it’s too early.

How Colorado’s Filing Deadlines Shape the Timing

Keep the filing deadline in view while you speak with an insurer. If it’s close, your lawyer may need to file a lawsuit to protect the claim while settlement talks continue.

• Most lawsuits for bodily injury or property damage from the use or operation of a motor vehicle must be filed within three years after the claim accrues (C.R.S. 13-80-101).
• Most other negligence claims must be filed within two years (C.R.S. 13-80-102).
• A claim generally accrues, meaning the clock starts, when you knew, or should have known, about both the injury and its cause (C.R.S. 13-80-108).
• A claim for an injury caused by a public entity, or by one of its employees on the job, needs written notice within 182 days after you discover the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109). That’s true even if you don’t yet know everything about the claim, and missing the notice can bar it.

These statutes list exceptions, so the exact deadline for your claim depends on its facts. Our guide to the Colorado personal injury statute of limitations goes into more detail.

Colorado’s Offer of Settlement Rule

Colorado has a statute that gives both sides a reason to weigh an offer carefully once a case is in court. It applies to written offers of settlement served more than 14 days before trial (C.R.S. 13-17-202).

Under the statute:

1. If the defendant makes an offer, you turn it down, and your final judgment is not more than the offer, the court awards the defendant its actual costs from after the offer, paid by you. If you’re the prevailing party, your judgment still includes your actual costs from before the offer.
2. If you make an offer, the defendant turns it down, and your final judgment is more than the offer, the court awards you your actual costs from after the offer, which the defendant pays.
3. An offer that isn’t accepted in writing within 14 days after it’s served is treated as rejected. An offer accepted in writing within that time becomes a binding settlement agreement.

“Actual costs” don’t include attorney fees. They include items such as filing fees and reasonable expert witness fees, which can add up in a case headed for trial.

Because of this rule, a written offer of settlement under this statute deserves a careful look with your lawyer before the 14 days run out.

When a Colorado Court Sends a Case to Mediation

In mediation, a trained neutral person helps both sides work out a solution they agree on. Mediation doesn’t force anyone to settle, and if it ends without an agreement, the case keeps moving toward trial.

Any Colorado court of record may, in its discretion, refer a case to mediation (C.R.S. 13-22-311). A party who doesn’t want to mediate can file a motion objecting within five days of the referral order. The court may then exempt the case if the motion shows compelling reasons, such as mediation costing more than the relief requested when earlier attempts to resolve the issues have failed.

A court also can’t refer a case to mediation when one party says the other party physically or psychologically abused them and is unwilling to mediate.

How Long Personal Injury Cases Take to Settle

There’s no fixed personal injury settlement timeline, and a lawyer can’t provide you a date before looking at your claim. The federal studies give a rough sense of how long filed cases take:

• In the 1992 study, half the tort cases ended within 14 months, and auto cases settled faster than other tort cases.
• In 2005, tort cases that went to a jury trial took a median of about 23 months from filing to verdict.

These figures count from the day a lawsuit was filed, so a claim that settles before any lawsuit isn’t part of them. For a step-by-step look at a crash claim, see our post on the Colorado car accident settlement process and timeline.

Questions to Ask Before Your Case Settles

Before you agree to a number at any stage, these questions are worth asking your lawyer or the adjuster:

1. Has my treatment shown the full extent of my injuries?
2. What is the at-fault driver’s policy limit, and do I have underinsured motorist coverage?
3. Who paid my medical bills, and will any of them ask to be repaid?
4. Is a filing deadline coming up on my claim?
5. If the document is a written offer of settlement, when do the 14 days run out?

The answers can change whether now is the right time to settle. Once you have an offer, our guide to what comes out of a $25,000 settlement in Denver shows how fees and repayment claims come out before you’re paid.

Talk to a Denver Personal Injury Lawyer About Your Settlement Timing

You don’t have to guess whether an offer is coming at the right time. Our Denver personal injury lawyers can look at your injuries and any deadlines that apply.

The firm describes its attorneys as “Colorado trial lawyers who prepare every case to be tried, not just settled.”

The consultation is free, and there’s no fee unless we win. That covers the attorney’s fee, and your written agreement handles case expenses. Tell us what happened: call (303) 209-9395 or reach us through our Denver contact page.

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Written by CGH Injury Lawyers.

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