Vermont Car Accident Settlement Calculator

Vermont's 51% bar for comparative fault means you can still recover in a car accident case as long as you are not more than 50% at fault. In a two-car collision where fault is split 50/50, you can still recover 50% of your damages. This is slightly more favorable than 50% bar states, where equal fault eliminates recovery entirely.

You have 3 years to file suit in Vermont, a deadline that is in line with the national average of 2.7 years. This is a standard timeframe, but acting sooner preserves evidence and strengthens your position. Vermont does apply a discovery rule, which can adjust the starting point of the limitations period when the injury was not immediately discoverable.

Vermont requires all drivers to carry minimum liability insurance of $25K per person / $50K per accident in bodily injury coverage and $10K in property damage coverage (commonly written as 25/50/10). These minimums are below the national average, meaning many drivers in Vermont may carry only enough insurance to cover a fraction of the costs from a serious accident. Vermont also requires uninsured motorist (UM) coverage of at least $50K per person, which protects you if the at-fault driver has no insurance.

Vermont lets a vehicle owner recover diminished value, the resale value a properly repaired car loses because of its accident history, from the at-fault driver on top of the cost of repairs. Under your own collision coverage, the answer in Vermont turns on the wording of your policy. Vermont's insurance regulator told insurers in a 2011 bulletin that they must review and adjust diminished value claims, subject for a claim by the policyholder to what that policy itself says. The diminished value guide in the related reading below carries the rule for every state and how to document the loss.