THE COLORADO UNINSURED MOTORIST STATUTE C.R.S. 10-4-609 REMOVES ANTI- STACKING PROVISIONS

For policies of automobile insurance issued or renewed after January 1, 2008, there are some new changes that may effect the amount of insurance coverage that is available to an individual injured in an automobile accident.

Among the changes set forth in the statute are the following:

1) Stacking of policies, i.e. adding together two or more policies, is only allowed where the Uninsured motorist poicies share the same policy number and premium charge.

2)Bodily injury policies and UM policies may be added without off set.

3) The insured’s UM coverage must be as high as her/his Bodily Injury coverage.

The effect of these changes are primarily that someone who is injured in an accident has the the potential to trecover greater sums of money from existing insurance policies than before.

In the past, if there was $50,000 policy covering the at fault party and $50,000 of UM coverage on the not at fault party. The not at fault injured party would only be entitled to $50,000 from the at fault party.  Under the new law, the not at fault injured party could conceivably recover $50,000 from the at fault party and $50,000 from his/her own UM for a possible total recovery of $100,000.

The term “stacking” is used to describe the process of adding one or more insurance policies on top of one another.  Under the new law, the attorney must identify all policies that can be potentially stacked for any given case.  Of course, it is important to keep in mind that even though a policy may stack the injuries and damages in the case must be serious enough to justify the increased amounts of coverage available.

This new law simplifies the law of stacking by disallowing anti-stacking language contained in insurance policies.  This new law also provides greater coverage for those who are seriously injured in accidents.

Any questions, please contact Stuart Mann 303-991-2233