Personal Injury Lawyers in Utah

Ask someone who just got rear-ended on I-15 what happens next in Utah, and the honest answer starts with a system most other states do not use. Utah is a no-fault insurance state, which changes the order of operations for a claim before fault is ever debated. What follows is the practical rundown: how the no-fault system works, where the fault rule kicks in, what is capped, and how a claim actually moves from the first phone call to a resolution.

The No-Fault System and the $3,000 Threshold

Every Utah auto policy must include Personal Injury Protection of at least $3,000 per person, and that coverage pays your initial medical bills and a share of lost wages regardless of who caused the crash. It sounds protective, and for minor injuries it often is — but $3,000 does not go far against an emergency room bill, an MRI, and a course of physical therapy. Under Utah Code § 31A-22-309, you can only pursue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering once your reasonable medical expenses exceed that threshold, or the injury caused permanent impairment, permanent disfigurement, or death. You can still go after the at-fault driver for lost income and property damage without clearing that bar, but the pain-and-suffering claim — often the largest piece of a serious case — waits on it.

Four Years to File, One Year Against the Government

Utah Code § 78B-2-307 gives most injury claimants four years from the date of injury to file suit — longer than the two-year window common in many states. Product liability and wrongful death claims are shorter, at two years, and medical malpractice runs two years from when the harm was discovered. The sharpest exception is a claim against a government entity: the Utah Governmental Immunity Act requires written notice within just one year, and missing that notice deadline can end a claim long before the general four-year period would.

The 50% Fault Bar

Once a claim clears the PIP threshold, fault is decided under Utah Code § 78B-5-818’s modified comparative negligence rule. An injured person’s award is reduced by their percentage of fault, but a claimant found 50% or more at fault recovers nothing. That single dividing line is why insurance adjusters spend so much effort trying to push a claimant’s share of blame up toward the halfway mark — crossing it does not just shrink a payout, it eliminates the claim.

What Utah Does and Does Not Cap

• No cap on ordinary injury damages. Economic losses and pain and suffering are both uncapped outside medical malpractice.
• Medical malpractice non-economic damages cap at $450,000, adjusted every two years.
• Punitive damages are capped at the greater of $250,000 or three times compensatory damages, once compensatory damages reach $100,000.
• Liability minimums sit at 25/65/15 on top of the required $3,000 PIP coverage — often thin for a serious highway crash, which is why underinsured motorist coverage matters.

How a Utah Injury Claim Typically Unfolds

The first move after a crash is usually a PIP claim with your own insurer to get medical bills paid while you are still figuring out how serious the injury is. Keep every receipt and record of missed work, because the moment those medical expenses cross $3,000 — or a doctor documents a permanent effect — the door opens to a claim against the at-fault driver for the damages PIP does not cover. A consultation with a Utah personal injury attorney is almost always free, and most firms work on contingency, taking a percentage only if they recover money. Many cases resolve through a demand and negotiation once treatment stabilizes; unresolved claims can be filed in court well within the four-year window, though government-defendant cases require far faster action.

Finding the Right Lawyer for Your Case

The Lawyer Atlas is a directory, not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice about your specific situation. Look for an attorney who handles Utah’s no-fault threshold regularly, understands how the 50% fault bar plays out with your local insurer, and can move quickly if a government entity is involved. Browse the Utah city pages above to reach attorneys serving Salt Lake City and the surrounding communities.