Vermont car accident law: deadlines, fault and your claim

Filing deadlines in Vermont#

Vermont's statute of limitationsStatute of limitations. The law that sets the last day to file a lawsuit. After it passes, a court will usually dismiss the case, however strong it is. Glossary for most car-crash lawsuits is 3 years, counted from the crash. A wrongful death claim has its own, shorter clock that starts from the discovery of the death.

For an injured child, Vermont law pauses the clock, a form of tollingTolling. Pausing the limitations clock, for example while the injured person is a child. Glossary: if the injured person is a minor when the claim arises, the limitation period starts to run when they turn 18.

Claims against the State go through the Vermont Tort Claims Act, which waives the State's sovereign immunitySovereign immunity. The rule that governments cannot be sued unless a law allows it. Tort claims acts allow some claims, with limits. Glossary for many injury claims: there is no separate notice-of-claim step, and lawsuits against the State are filed in Superior Court. Claims against towns follow other rules. For an injury caused by a defective town bridge or culvert, a signed written notice must reach one or more selectboard members within 20 days, saying when and where it happened and what was wrong with the structure.

How fault is shared in Vermont#

Vermont's comparative negligence statute, 12 V.S.A. § 1036(a), sets the rule. You can recover if your negligence is not greater than all defendants' negligence combined (50% or less); damages are reduced by your share. The comparison is between your negligence and the total negligence of all the defendants, not each defendant one by one.

When more than one defendant is liable, each defendant pays only its share of the damages, in proportion to its own negligence. So in the example above, each driver would pay half of what you recover.

Insurers use the same rule in negotiations, so a dispute over a few percentage points can decide whether a claim is worth anything. The fault-rule explainer shows how Vermont compares with states that use other rules.

Insurance in Vermont#

Vermont drivers must carry liability insurance of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries, plus $10,000 for property damage. Vermont is an at-fault state: the driver who caused the crash, through their insurer, pays for the losses, and no-fault personal injury protectionPersonal injury protection (PIP). Coverage under your own policy that pays medical bills and some lost income after a crash, whoever caused it. Glossary is not required.

Your own policy must also carry coverage for crashes with drivers who have no insurance or too little:

• Uninsured motorist coverageUninsured motorist coverage. Coverage under your own policy that pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance, or too little. Glossary. Required: at least $50,000/$100,000 bodily injury, plus property damage up to $10,000 ($150 deductible).
• Underinsured motorist coverage. Required: combined with uninsured motorist coverage (same $50,000/$100,000 minimum).

The required uninsured motorist limits are higher than the liability minimums. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that 11.8% of Vermont drivers were uninsured in 2023. For a crash with an uninsured driver, see uninsured driver accidents.

If an insurer delays or denies a claim unfairly, you can contact the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation at 802-828-3302 (insurance consumer services).

After a crash in Vermont#

Vermont puts the reporting duty on drivers. If anyone is injured or total property damage reaches $3,000, the driver must send a written report to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles within 72 hours after the crash. The owner and driver of an insured vehicle must also give injured people and owners of damaged property the names, addresses and policy numbers of their liability insurers within 5 days.

To get a copy of a crash reportCrash report. The official report an officer writes after investigating a crash, with the drivers, vehicles, witnesses and the officer's notes. Glossary, request it from the Vermont DMV with its records request form (VG-116), online or by mail. A certified copy of a police crash report costs $22, and a certified copy of a driver's own crash report costs $15. The police report guide explains what a report contains and how to ask for a correction.

Special rules in Vermont#

Alcohol sellers. Vermont's dram shop lawDram shop law. A law that can make a bar or store liable for serving alcohol to someone who then causes a crash. Glossary lets people hurt by a drunk driver sue the business that served them in some cases: a licensed seller can be sued if it served a minor, served after legal serving hours, or negligently served someone who was apparently under the influence. These claims must be filed within 2 years, a shorter window than the general injury deadline. More on these cases is in the drunk driver accidents guide.

Seat belts. For adults, Vermont law says not wearing a seat belt is not admissible as evidence in a civil case and is not negligence or contributory negligence. That keeps a missing seat belt out of an adult's Vermont crash lawsuit, a rule that differs from some other states.

Claims against the State. Under the Vermont Tort Claims Act, the most the State pays is $500,000 to any one person and $2,000,000 to everyone hurt in one occurrence.

Crashes on Vermont roads#

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety counted 59 crash deaths in Vermont in 2024, or 9.1 per 100,000 people, compared with 11.5 per 100,000 people nationally. In the same year, 71% of Vermont's crash deaths happened on rural roads and 54% were speeding-related. An estimated 42% of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher.

Finding a lawyer in Vermont#

The Vermont Bar Association runs a Lawyer Referral Service at 1-800-639-7036, with requests also taken online. Referrals are free, and lawyers on its panel offer a first consultation of up to 30 minutes for no more than $25. The guide to lawyer referral services compares bar-run services with lead websites and ads.

Before you hire anyone, check the Vermont Judiciary's list of attorneys in good standing. The license check guide covers what else to look at.