120+ more){kind=small}
Certified financial education instructor
Published in USA Today, TIME, Forbes, and Business Insider
Timothy has covered the insurance market for 15 years. He‘s also the editorial director of a niche travel magazine.
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Licensed property and casualty insurance agent
10+ years editing experience
NPN: 20461358
John is Insurify’s Chief Copy Editor, helping ensure the accuracy and readability of Insurify’s content. He’s a licensed agent specializing in home and car insurance topics.
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Licensed auto and home insurance agent
4+ years experience in insurance and personal finance editing
NPN: 20564519
Katie uses her knowledge and expertise as a licensed property and casualty agent in Massachusetts to help readers understand the complexities of insurance shopping.
Updated
Colorado law requires drivers to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance. But it doesn’t mandate other coverages, such as uninsured motorist coverage or medical payments (MedPay) coverage.
Colorado was once a no-fault state but repealed its no-fault laws in 2003. The state went back to an at-fault, or tort, car insurance system and is the most recent state to revert.
Colorado requires all drivers to carry a minimum amount of bodily injury liability insurance and property damage liability insurance:[1]
Bodily injury per person: $25,000
Bodily injury per accident: $50,000
Property damage per accident: $15,000
While Colorado car insurance requirements don’t include MedPay, insurers must automatically include this coverage on your policy unless you reject it. The minimum is typically $5,000.
But these requirements are lower compared to many neighboring states.
In Kansas, for example, drivers must carry a higher amount of property damage liability coverage ($25,000), plus purchase uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) motorist insurance and personal injury protection (PIP). Utah’s minimum coverage limits are also higher (30/65/25), and UM/UIM is required.
Liability policies average $97/mo.
Minimum liability insurance in Colorado is rarely enough coverage for the average driver. Limits are on the low end, and the state doesn’t require coverages such as UM/UIM, collision coverage, or comprehensive coverage.
For added financial protection, consider higher liability limits or a full-coverage car insurance policy. Here are some additional optional coverages to consider:
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage: The Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) estimates that 15% to 20% of drivers in the state are uninsured. Carrying UM/UIM coverage protects you financially if you’re injured in a collision with an uninsured or underinsured driver.
Collision coverage: In 2025, the Colorado Department of Transportation recorded 95,714 vehicle crashes across the state.[2] If a collision damages your vehicle, collision coverage can help pay for repairs, regardless of fault. Colorado requires insurers to offer collision with deductibles of $100 or $250, though you may choose higher deductibles.
Comprehensive coverage: Colorado has the fifth-highest vehicle theft rate in the country, per National Insurance Crime Bureau data. Wildfires are also becoming increasingly common and more destructive in Colorado. Plus, Colorado is in “Hail Alley” and is one of the most hail-prone states in the country. Comprehensive coverage protects against losses from theft, fire, hail, and other types of damage.
Medical payments coverage: Colorado has the second-highest family deductible for health insurance in the country, according to KFF, a leading health policy organization. In Colorado, MedPay coverage can apply toward that health insurance deductible and any co-insurance.
Driving without insurance in Colorado is a criminal misdemeanor. This can result in several penalties, including a monetary fine, points on your license, license suspension, community service, and even imprisonment. You must also file an SR-22 in Colorado for three years following the offense.[3]
The table below breaks down the penalties for driving without insurance in Colorado as a first-time offender and as a repeat offender (within five years of the first offense):
First-Time Offense | Repeat Offense | |
|---|---|---|
| Fine* | $500 | $1,000 |
| Points on your license | 4 points | 4 points |
| License suspension | Until you’ve provided proof of insurance, including filing an SR-22 | 4 months for second offense; 8 months for third and subsequent offenses |
| License reinstatement fee | $95 | $95 |
| Community service | 40+ hours, at the court’s discretion | 40+ hours, at the court’s discretion |
| Imprisonment | 10 days to 1 year, at the court’s discretion | 10 days to 1 year, at the court’s discretion |
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In April 1974, Colorado became a no-fault state. Just shy of 30 years later, in July 2003, the legislature repealed its no-fault laws, returning Colorado to its status as a tort state.[4] That means you may not necessarily always file a claim with your own insurer following an accident.
In a tort state (or at-fault state) like Colorado, the at-fault driver’s liability coverage typically pays for covered damages the driver causes. This differs from no-fault states, which require you to file a bodily injury claim with your own insurance company regardless of fault.
If both drivers share some fault, Colorado’s modified comparative negligence rule kicks in. You can still recover money from the other driver’s insurer as long as your share of the fault is 49% or less, but their insurer will reduce your final payout by your percentage of fault.
While car insurance costs vary across states for a number of reasons, the lower risk of payouts in at-fault states like Colorado often leads to lower premiums.
Check out the additional information below about car insurance laws in the Centennial State.
Colorado is no longer a no-fault state for car insurance. From 1974 to 2003, Colorado operated as a no-fault state. But the legislature repealed those laws and reverted the state to its tort, or at-fault, system.
If someone else is driving your car and gets in an accident in Colorado, your car insurance policy will typically cover them. But this applies only if you’ve given the person “express or implied” permission to drive your vehicle.
It’s illegal to drive without car insurance in Colorado. At a minimum, Colorado requires drivers to carry bodily injury and property damage liability coverage. Insurers must also offer MedPay, but you can choose to waive this coverage.
Yes, in Colorado, someone can drive your car even if they’re not on your insurance. Colorado law simply requires that the person using your vehicle must have your “express or implied permission.”
Insurify data scientists analyzed more than 250 million quotes served to car insurance applicants in Insurify’s proprietary database to calculate the premium averages displayed on this page. These premiums are real quotes that come directly from Insurify’s 500+ partner insurance companies in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Quote averages represent the median price for a quote across the given coverage level, driver subset, and geographic area.
Unless otherwise specified, quoted rates reflect the average cost for drivers between 20 and 70 years old with a clean driving record and average or better credit (a credit score of 600 or higher).
Liability-only premium averages correspond to policies with the following coverage limits:
Quotes for Allstate, Farmers, GEICO, State Farm, and USAA are estimates based on Quadrant Information Services’ database of auto insurance rates.
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Certified financial education instructor
Published in USA Today, TIME, Forbes, and Business Insider
Timothy has covered the insurance market for 15 years. He‘s also the editorial director of a niche travel magazine.
Licensed property and casualty insurance agent
10+ years editing experience
NPN: 20461358
John is Insurify’s Chief Copy Editor, helping ensure the accuracy and readability of Insurify’s content. He’s a licensed agent specializing in home and car insurance topics.
Licensed auto and home insurance agent
4+ years experience in insurance and personal finance editing
NPN: 20564519
Katie uses her knowledge and expertise as a licensed property and casualty agent in Massachusetts to help readers understand the complexities of insurance shopping.
At Insurify, our goal is to help customers compare insurance products and find the best policy for them. We strive to provide open, honest, and unbiased information about the insurance products and services we review. Our hard-working team of data analysts, insurance experts, insurance agents, editors and writers, has put in thousands of hours of research to create the content found on our site.
We do receive compensation when a sale or referral occurs from many of the insurance providers and marketing partners on our site. That may impact which products we display and where they appear on our site. But it does not influence our meticulously researched editorial content, what we write about, or any reviews or recommendations we may make. We do not guarantee favorable reviews or any coverage at all in exchange for compensation.
