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If you're dealing with the aftermath of an auto accident, you may hear someone from your insurance company mention "comparative fault." It's a term that can make a big difference in the financial payout you receive from an insurance claim tied to the accident.
Comparative fault, also known as comparative negligence, assigns a share of the fault in an auto accident to each of the drivers involved. Read on to learn more about comparative fault, including how it's determined and how it affects a claim payout.
What Is Comparative Fault?
Comparative fault is a legal principle that determines each driver's responsibility in a car accident. Insurers often initially assess comparative fault during the claims process. If a case goes to court, a jury or judge weighs in and helps make the final determination.
Responsibility is usually assigned on a percentage basis, such as 75/25. Then, the insurer or courtroom uses this information to determine how much each driver receives in a payout.
The driver with the higher percentage of fault shoulders most of the blame and therefore may receive a lower payout (or none at all). But the other driver may also carry some of the responsibility (and therefore may receive less) if they failed to exercise reasonable care for their safety.
How Do Adjusters Determine Who Is at Fault?
Most states have laws that spell out comparative fault as it relates to auto accidents. Comparative fault refers to the amount of fault pinned on each person who contributed to causing an auto accident.
For instance, let's say a driver fails to hit the brakes at a stop sign and collides with another driver who was texting while driving. Both drivers contributed to the accident in different ways. An insurance company might assign 80% of the blame to the driver who failed to stop, and the other 20% of the blame to the driver who was texting. This system is called pure comparative negligence, and it's one of the methods states use to determine fault.
An insurance adjuster typically figures out the fault percentages based on factors such as an accident report from a police officer, statements from witnesses and a reconstruction of the accident scene. If a crash-related lawsuit goes to trial, a judge or jury might contribute to the outcome.
Types of Comparative Fault
The level of fault in an auto accident can dramatically affect your insurance payout. Payouts differ based on the type of fault that's in play.
| Pure Comparative Negligence | Modified Comparative Negligence | Contributory Negligence |
|---|---|---|
| The payout is split based on the amount of fault assigned to each driver involved in an accident | A driver can recover damages only if their percentage of fault is below a certain threshold, usually set at 50% or 51% | A driver who contributed in any way to an accident can't receive any damages |
Pure Comparative Negligence
In a state with a pure comparative negligence law, the payout is split based on the amount of fault assigned to each driver involved in an accident.
For example, an insurance adjuster may say you were 35% at fault in an accident and the other driver was 65% at fault. You might be able to recover 65% of your repair and medical bills from that driver's insurance, while your insurance would cover the remaining 35%.
States with pure comparative negligence:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Mexico
- New York
- Rhode Island
- Washington
Modified Comparative Negligence
Most states use a method that says drivers can't receive monetary damages if they are assigned fault beyond a certain percentage. That threshold is usually set at 50% or 51%. If you're eligible for a payout, it might be reduced based on your fault in the accident.
For example, say a driver is 75% responsible for causing an accident and you carry 25% of the blame. You're eligible to collect damages because you're less than 50% at fault. But the other driver's insurance company might only pay for 75% of your damages. And as for the other driver, they can't collect damages because they're more than 50% to blame.
Most states follow a modified comparative negligence system. But each state may have a slightly different system in assigning fault and awarding damages.
States with modified comparative negligence:
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
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Contributory negligence
When using the contributory negligence approach, you can't recover any crash-related expenses from another driver's insurer if you're partly to blame for the accident. This is true even if another driver is 99% at fault and you only shoulder 1% of the responsibility.
Jurisdictions with contributory negligence:
- Alabama
- Washington, D.C.
- Maryland
- North Carolina
- Virginia
The Bottom Line
Most states require drivers to carry liability car insurance. This type of insurance covers injuries someone else suffers in an accident you caused or covers damage to someone else's property if you're at fault. You can add what's known as an umbrella policy to cover financial damages that exceed the limits of your liability policy.
If you think you're overpaying for your current policy, you can use Experian's auto insurance comparison tool to shop for a better rate from multiple top insurance companies.