Insurance companies use this rule to cut your recovery. Here’s how to fight back.
After a serious car crash, the insurance company for the other driver does something predictable: they find a way to blame you. Maybe you were speeding slightly. Maybe you didn’t brake in time. Maybe they claim you had the wrong lane position. Suddenly, a crash that wasn’t your fault becomes “partly” your fault — and your compensation shrinks.
This isn’t random. It’s strategy. And Minnesota law gives them a tool to do it.
How Minnesota’s Comparative Fault Law Works
Minnesota follows a modified comparative fault rule. Here’s how it works: if you are found to bear some percentage of fault for the wreck, your recovery is reduced by that percentage. If a jury finds you were 20% at fault and awards $100,000, you collect $80,000.
The hard cutoff: if you are found 51% or more at fault, you collect nothing. That’s why insurance
companies push hard to assign as much blame to injured victims as possible.
The Myth: If You Were Partly at Fault, You Have No Case
Wrong. Being partially at fault does not eliminate your claim — it might reduce it. And the percentage assigned is not decided by the insurance adjuster. It is decided by a jury, if the case goes to trial, or negotiated in settlement. Insurance adjusters inflate fault percentages because most people accept whatever number they’re given. A trial attorney challenges it with evidence.
How Defense Attorneys Fight Inflated Fault Assignments
- At Pacyga Trial Lawyers, we gather the evidence that tells your story accurately:
• Crash reconstruction experts who analyze speed, braking, and point of impact.
• Black box data from vehicles that records pre-crash inputs.
• Surveillance and dashcam footage that shows exactly what happened.
• Witness statements that contradict the other driver's account.
• Police reports and citations issued at the scene.
The goal is to lock in the facts before the other side can rewrite them.
Your Recovery Is Worth Fighting For
Serious injuries — broken bones, spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries — deserve full compensation. Don’t let an insurance company’s blame-shifting cut you short. Minnesota law gives you the right to recover even when fault is shared. An experienced trial attorney gives you the best chance of getting justice in your situation.
Call Pacyga Trial Lawyers at 612-339-5844. Free consultation. We handle personal injury cases across Minnesota.