Car Accident Laws in Connecticut: Fault, Insurance & Deadlines

Short answer first: Connecticut is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state — the driver who caused the crash (or their insurer) is responsible for your damages, and you generally have two years from the date you're injured (or should have discovered the injury) to file a lawsuit, with an outside cap of three years from the crash itself. Those two facts drive almost everything else below, so if you only read one section, read the next two.

Fault System: Connecticut Is At-Fault, Not No-Fault

Connecticut used to require no-fault "basic reparations" (PIP) coverage, but the legislature repealed that system effective January 1, 1994. Since then, Connecticut has run on a traditional tort/at-fault system: the negligent driver is legally responsible for the crash, and an injured person recovers by filing a claim against that driver's liability insurance (or suing them directly) rather than automatically collecting from their own no-fault policy.

Practically, this means:

• Connecticut does not require drivers to carry personal injury protection (PIP) or no-fault medical coverage.
• You seek payment for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering from the at-fault driver's bodily-injury liability coverage — or your own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage if the other driver has no insurance or not enough.
• If you're partly to blame, your recovery can be reduced or eliminated — see the shared-fault section below.

Source: Connecticut Insurance Department, Auto Insurance consumer guidance.

Minimum Auto Insurance Required in Connecticut

As of this writing, Connecticut requires drivers to carry at least:

• $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident in bodily-injury liability coverage.
• $25,000 per accident in property-damage liability coverage.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage of at least $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident — Connecticut requires insurers to include this coverage on every policy, and you generally cannot buy it below your liability limits.

PIP/medical payments coverage is not mandatory in Connecticut; it's an optional add-on you can buy for faster payment of your own medical bills regardless of fault.

Minimum limits are set by state law and can change, and many crash victims find $25,000 in bodily-injury coverage doesn't come close to covering serious injuries — that's exactly why UM/UIM coverage matters so much in an at-fault state. Confirm the current limits and your own policy's coverage with the Connecticut Insurance Department or your agent before assuming any number here still applies.

How Long You Have to Sue: Connecticut's Statute of Limitations

Under Connecticut General Statutes § 52-584, claims for injury to a person or to property caused by negligence must be filed within two years from the date the injury was first sustained or discovered (or reasonably should have been discovered) — but no more than three years from the date of the crash, regardless of when you discovered the harm. This same two-year rule covers both your personal-injury claim and your vehicle property-damage claim arising from the same crash.

Two important wrinkles:

• If a minor is injured, Connecticut law generally tolls (pauses) the clock until the minor turns 18, giving them additional time.
• Wrongful-death claims and claims involving a government vehicle or government-maintained road run on different, often much shorter, clocks (see below).

Because deadlines are jurisdiction- and fact-specific, and statutes are periodically amended, confirm the current text at the Connecticut General Assembly's official statute page for § 52-584 rather than relying on any single summary — this one included.

Shared Fault: Connecticut's 51% Bar Rule

Connecticut uses modified comparative negligence under Connecticut General Statutes § 52-572h. If you're found partly responsible for the crash, your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault — but you can recover only if your share of fault is not greater than the combined fault of the other parties (generally, 50% or less). If a jury or insurer determines your share was greater than that (51% or more in a two-car crash), you're completely barred from recovering anything. This is often called the "51% rule," and it makes how fault gets allocated (and who gets to argue it) one of the most consequential parts of any Connecticut claim. See the official text at the Connecticut General Assembly's § 52-572h page.

When a Crash Gets Reported to Police

Under Connecticut General Statutes § 14-108a, whenever a crash involves injury, death, or property damage to any one person exceeding $1,000, the police officer or agency that investigates it must complete and forward a uniform accident report within five days. In practice, that means: call 911 or local police at the scene any time there's an injury or the damage looks like it could exceed $1,000, so the crash is documented — don't try to estimate the damage yourself and skip the call. If you're unsure whether your situation requires police involvement, or need to know what to do when officers don't respond to a minor crash, confirm current procedure with your local police department or the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles rather than guessing.

Damage Caps and Claims Against a Government Vehicle

Connecticut does not impose a general statutory cap on compensatory damages (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering) in an ordinary car-crash negligence claim between private drivers. Punitive damages, however, are limited under long-standing Connecticut case law to the plaintiff's litigation costs rather than a multiplier of harm — a narrower rule than in many states.

If a government vehicle or a defective public road was involved, your deadlines are much shorter than the standard two years:

• Municipal vehicle or employee (e.g., a town truck, police cruiser, or plow): you generally must file written notice with the municipal clerk within six months of the crash, under Connecticut General Statutes § 7-465, even though the lawsuit itself must still be filed within two years.
• Defective town/city road or bridge: written notice to the town, city, or borough clerk is required within 90 days, under Connecticut General Statutes § 13a-149.
• State vehicle or state agency: depending on the circumstances, you may need to file notice with the Office of the Claims Commissioner within one year under Connecticut General Statutes § 4-148, or your claim may fall under a statute allowing a direct suit — this distinction matters and is easy to get wrong.

These short notice deadlines are strictly enforced by Connecticut courts and missing one can end a valid claim before it starts. If any government vehicle, plow, police car, or road/bridge defect was involved in your crash, treat it as urgent and confirm the applicable notice deadline immediately rather than waiting.

What to Do After a Crash in Connecticut

1. Call 911 if anyone is hurt, or if damage looks like it may exceed $1,000 — that's the threshold at which Connecticut requires an official accident report.
2. Move to safety if the vehicles are drivable and it's safe to do so, and turn on hazard lights.
3. Exchange information with the other driver(s): name, address, phone, license plate, driver's license number, and insurance company and policy number.
4. Get the police report number and the names/badge numbers of responding officers; request a copy of the report once it's available.
5. Photograph everything — vehicle positions, damage, license plates, road conditions, skid marks, traffic signals, and any visible injuries.
6. Get medical care promptly, even if you feel fine — some injuries (whiplash, concussion, internal injuries) surface hours or days later, and a documented visit close to the crash date supports both your health and your claim.
7. Notify your own insurer of the crash, even if you weren't at fault — most policies require prompt notice, and you may need to make a UM/UIM claim.
8. Note if a government vehicle or road defect was involved and act immediately — your notice deadline may be as short as 90 days.
9. Keep records of medical bills, missed work, and out-of-pocket expenses from day one.
10. Watch the calendar — mark the two-year statute of limitations (and any shorter government-claim deadline) and don't wait until it's close to act.

This article is general information about Connecticut law as of the publication date, not legal advice; laws and dollar limits change, so confirm current requirements with the Connecticut Insurance Department, Connecticut courts, or a licensed Connecticut attorney before relying on any number here.