When Not to Accept a Settlement Offer in Denver: Signs It’s Too Soon to Sign

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What You’re Agreeing to When You Accept

Accepting a settlement can mean signing a release. A release is a written agreement about what claims you’re giving up, against whom, in exchange for the payment. Its exact words matter, because the goal of a settlement is to close the claim. If you accept before you know what your injury will cost, the offer can end up covering the first few weeks of a problem that lasts much longer.

Colorado law also has a rule about releases when more than one party may be responsible. A release given in good faith to one of two or more people liable for the same injury “does not discharge any of the other tortfeasors from liability for their several pro rata shares of liability for the injury… unless its terms so provide.” It does reduce what you can recover from the others by the share of fault assigned to the released party (C.R.S. 13-50.5-105(1)(a)). Release forms can be written broadly, so read who is named before you sign.

Seven Signs It May Be Too Soon to Accept

Each sign below is a reason to slow down and look more closely at the offer.

1. You’re still being treated

If you’re still in physical therapy, waiting on a specialist or unsure whether you’ll need surgery, you may not yet know what your care will cost. An offer made now won’t include treatment your doctor hasn’t recommended yet. Ask your doctor what care you’re likely to need and for how long, and keep those notes.

2. The offer only covers the bills you already have

Your losses can include more than today’s medical bills. They can include future care, lost income, reduced ability to earn and the effect the injury has on your daily life. Colorado limits noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, at $1.5 million in many injury cases filed during 2025 and in claims that accrue on or after January 1, 2025, with inflation adjustments starting January 1, 2028. That limit doesn’t cap economic losses like medical bills and lost wages, and it doesn’t limit compensatory damages for physical impairment or disfigurement (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5(3)(a)(II), (3)(c)(I)(B), (5)). Medical malpractice and wrongful death claims follow different rules.

If an offer only adds up the receipts in front of you, it may leave out losses you haven’t seen yet.

3. The insurer says the accident was partly your fault

An adjuster may argue that you share the blame. In a negligence claim in Colorado, being partly at fault doesn’t automatically end your claim. Your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, and you can’t recover if your share is equal to or greater than the share of the party you’re claiming against (C.R.S. 13-21-111).

A fault argument can be a reason an offer is low. Before you accept a reduced number, it helps to find out whether the evidence actually supports the percentage the insurer has in mind.

4. More than one party may be responsible

A crash involving a commercial truck, a rideshare driver or a defective part can involve several parties and several insurance policies. If you settle with one of them, the release’s terms decide whether the others are released too (C.R.S. 13-50.5-105). Signing too early can make it harder to understand what every possible source of payment could have covered.

5. Your own insurance hasn’t been looked at

If the at-fault driver’s policy isn’t enough, your own coverage may help. A Colorado auto liability policy generally must include uninsured motorist coverage unless the named insured rejects it in writing, and that coverage extends to underinsured drivers. Where you have it, it covers “the difference, if any, between the amount of the limits of any legal liability coverage and the amount of the damages sustained, excluding exemplary damages, up to the maximum amount of the coverage obtained” (C.R.S. 10-4-609(1)(a), (1)(c), (4)). Your policy may also set conditions on settling with the at-fault driver, so read it or have it read before you sign.

When you claim benefits from your own insurer, Colorado law says an insurer “shall not unreasonably delay or deny payment of a claim for benefits owed to or on behalf of any first-party claimant” (C.R.S. 10-3-1115). That protection applies when you’re claiming benefits owed to you as an insured under a policy. It doesn’t cover a claim against another person under their liability policy (C.R.S. 10-3-1115(1)(b)).

6. Your deadline is getting close

The deadline to file a lawsuit is set by statute, so keep it in view while you negotiate. Colorado generally requires tort actions to be filed within two years after the claim accrues (C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a)), and tort actions for bodily injury or property damage arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle generally have three years (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). That three-year period doesn’t apply to a strict liability or failure-to-warn claim, which can come up with a defective part. Those claims generally have two years (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)(II), 13-80-102(1)(b)). If a public entity or one of its employees on the job may be responsible, written notice must be filed within 182 days after you discover the injury, even if you don’t yet know everything about the claim (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)).

If a deadline is near, an offer can feel like the only option. Have a lawyer confirm your deadline so the choice stays yours.

7. You haven’t seen what the offer leaves you after liens

Hospital liens and a Medicaid lien can come out of a settlement before you receive your share.

Medical Liens Can Take a Bite Out of a Settlement

Before you accept, find out who may have a claim to part of the money.

Hospital liens. In Colorado, a licensed hospital that treats someone injured by another person’s negligence first has to submit its charges to the injured person’s identified insurers and payers. After it meets the statute’s requirements, the hospital can have a lien “upon the net amount payable to the injured person… out of the total amount of any recovery or sum had or collected, or to be collected, whether by judgment, settlement, or compromise” (C.R.S. 38-27-101(4)). An injured person subject to a lien in violation of that section may bring an action to recover twice the amount of the lien (C.R.S. 38-27-101(7)).

Medicaid. If Colorado Medicaid paid for care related to the injury, the state department “has an automatic statutory lien for all medical assistance” against any settlement in a claim against the liable third party, not to exceed the amount of medical assistance provided. The statute also says no settlement “is satisfied without first satisfying the state department’s lien” (C.R.S. 25.5-4-301(5)).

If you accept an offer without knowing what liens are attached, you could receive much less money than you expected. Request a written list of what is owed before agreeing to a number.

When Accepting an Offer May Make Sense

Accepting may be reasonable when:

• Your treatment is finished and your doctor doesn’t expect you to need more care
• The offer covers your medical bills, lost income and the other losses you can document
• You know what liens and repayment claims will come out of it
• Fault isn’t seriously disputed, or the offer reflects a fair look at the evidence
• You’ve read the release and understand who it releases and what it covers

If most of those are true, an offer may be worth considering. If several aren’t, it may be worth asking more questions first.

What to Do Before You Sign Anything

1. Ask for the offer and the release in writing. Don’t agree to anything over the phone.
2. Gather medical records and bills together, including any notes about care you still need.
3. Write down your lost time from work and any income you’ve missed.
4. List everyone who paid for your care, including health insurance, Medicaid and any hospital that sent a lien notice.
5. Read your own auto policy if the injury came from a crash, especially the underinsured motorist section.
6. Check your deadline, and have a lawyer confirm it.
7. Talk to someone before you sign. Have them read the release with you so you know what it covers.

If you’ve already received a low number, our article on how to fight a low first settlement offer explains why first offers can come in low and what you can do about it.

Talk to a Denver Personal Injury Lawyer Before You Sign

If you’re holding an offer and aren’t sure whether it’s enough, a Denver personal injury lawyer can look at what it covers, what it leaves out and what liens may apply. Call (303) 209-9395 or use our contact page to tell us what happened.

Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). CGH Injury Lawyers, formerly Cheney Galluzzi & Howard, was founded in Denver in 2016 and prepares each case as if it will be tried. If Spanish is your first language, you can reach us at (303) 835-9177.

To learn more about working with a personal injury attorney in Denver, visit our Denver page, or read about our work as a Denver car accident lawyer if your injury came from a crash.

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Written by CGH Injury Lawyers.

Last reviewed: September 15, 2026.

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