Yes, in most cases you can. Connecticut lets you recover money even when part of the accident was your fault, as long as you were not more than 50 percent to blame. This is one of the most common worries injured people have, and it stops a lot of them from ever making a call they had every right to make.

But the rule has a hard edge, and how fault gets divided can be the difference between a full recovery and nothing at all. Here is how it actually works.

The Rule in One Sentence

Connecticut follows what is called modified comparative negligence, set out in Connecticut General Statutes § 52-572h. Under it, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault, and if your share of the fault climbs above 50 percent, you recover nothing.

People call this the “51 percent bar,” because 51 percent is the point where recovery is cut off entirely.

How the Reduction Works

If you are partly at fault but at or below the line, you still recover. Your award just gets reduced by your share.

Say your total damages, medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering, add up to $100,000:

• Found 10 percent at fault, you recover $90,000
• Found 30 percent at fault, you recover $70,000
• Found 50 percent at fault, you recover $50,000
• Found 51 percent at fault, you recover nothing

That last line is the cliff. The difference between 50 and 51 percent is not one percent of your money. It is all of it. This is why the fight over each point of fault is not a technicality. Near the line, a single percentage point is the entire case.

The Part Most People Get Wrong: Multiple Defendants

Here is where Connecticut’s rule is more favorable than people assume, and where a lot of general explanations are simply inaccurate.

Your fault is not measured against any single defendant. It is measured against the combined fault of everyone you are seeking recovery from. The statute says you can recover as long as your negligence is not greater than the combined negligence of the parties you are recovering against.

That matters enormously in a crash involving more than one other party. Imagine you are found 40 percent at fault, and two other drivers are found 35 percent and 25 percent at fault. No single one of them is more at fault than you are. But together they add up to 60 percent, which is greater than your 40. So you still recover, reduced by your 40 percent.

If you only compared yourself to the most-at-fault driver, you would get this wrong and might wrongly conclude you have no case. You would be leaving a real recovery on the table.

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Who Pays What When Several Are at Fault

When multiple defendants share the blame, Connecticut generally makes each one responsible for their own proportionate share of the damages, based on their assigned percentage of fault. One defendant found 25 percent at fault is responsible for 25 percent of your recoverable damages, not the whole thing.

Connecticut law does include a protection for injured plaintiffs when one defendant turns out to be unable to pay. In certain circumstances, if part of a liable defendant’s share cannot be collected, the court can reallocate that uncollectible portion among the other defendants according to their percentages of fault. The mechanics are technical and have deadlines of their own, but the point is that the law anticipates the problem of a defendant who cannot pay.

One Important Limit: This Is About Negligence

Connecticut’s apportionment rules apply to negligence. They generally do not stretch to spread fault onto parties whose conduct was intentional, reckless, or governed by other legal theories like strict liability. In practice this means the comparative-fault analysis is about ordinary carelessness, and different rules can apply when someone’s conduct crosses into something worse than negligence.

This is one of several reasons the “how much fault, and whose” question is rarely as simple as it looks, and why it is worth having someone who does this for a living build the fault picture.

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Why the Other Side Fights So Hard Over Fault

Once you understand the cliff at 51 percent and the proportional reduction below it, the insurance company’s strategy becomes obvious. Every percentage point of fault they can shift onto you is money they do not have to pay. Near the line, shifting you from 49 to 51 percent erases the claim entirely.

So expect it. The adjuster or defense lawyer will look for any way to argue you were speeding, distracted, following too closely, or otherwise partly responsible. Countering that with evidence, the police report, witness accounts, photographs, vehicle damage, and sometimes reconstruction, is a central part of building the case.

The Bottom Line

Being partly at fault does not end your Connecticut injury claim. You can recover as long as you were not more than 50 percent to blame, and your share is measured against the combined fault of everyone you are pursuing, which is more forgiving than most people realize. But the fight over fault percentages is real, it is where the other side concentrates its effort, and near the 51 percent line it is the whole ballgame.

Do not talk yourself out of a claim because you think part of the crash was your fault. Whether that is true, and how much, is exactly the question a lawyer is there to work out.

Baber Law handles Connecticut car accident and injury claims on a contingency basis. There is no fee unless we recover for you, and the consultation is free. If you think part of an accident may have been your fault, let us take a look before you assume you have no case.

This article explains Connecticut law generally. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. How fault is apportioned depends on the specific facts of your case. If you have questions about a particular accident, speak with a lawyer.