Colorado Workers Comp Settlement Calculator

Workers' Comp in Colorado at a Glance

Colorado's workers' compensation system is run by the Division of Workers' Compensation (DOWC), part of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) (CDLE, Division of Workers' Compensation). The benefits themselves come from the Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado, C.R.S. Title 8, Articles 40 through 47.

Coverage is close to universal: CDLE states that all businesses with employees operating in Colorado must carry workers' compensation insurance (or qualify as self-insured), regardless of the number of employees, whether they work part-time, or whether they're family members of the owner (CDLE, Division of Workers' Compensation; C.R.S. § 8-44-101 (statute text via Justia)).

Temporary Disability Benefits

If a work injury keeps you off the job or cuts your hours, Colorado replaces part of your lost wages while you recover.

Rate. Temporary total disability (TTD) pays 66 2/3% of your average weekly wage (AWW) at the time of injury (C.R.S. § 8-42-105 (statute text via Justia)).

2026-2027 maximum. The rate is capped at 91% of the state average weekly wage. Under the Division's 2026 Max Benefits Order, that ceiling is $1,464.12 a week, effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 — you need to earn at least $2,196.18 a week to hit it (DOWC 2026 Max Benefits Order). Colorado's order does not publish a separate statutory minimum dollar floor for TTD the way some states do.

Waiting period. The first 3 days off work go unpaid. But if the disability lasts more than two weeks, payment becomes retroactive all the way back to your first day off (C.R.S. § 8-42-103 (statute text via Justia)).

Duration. Colorado does not cap TTD at a set number of weeks. Checks continue until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), return to your regular or modified job, or are given a written release to return to regular work — whichever comes first. Do not trust any claim that Colorado has a "104-week" TTD limit; that number doesn't apply here (C.R.S. § 8-42-105 (statute text via Justia)).

Temporary partial disability (TPD). Once you're released to work with restrictions but can only earn a reduced wage, TPD pays 66 2/3% of the difference between your pre-injury AWW and what you're earning now, subject to the same 91%-of-SAWW cap that applies to TTD (C.R.S. § 8-42-106 (statute text via Justia)).

Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)

This is where Colorado departs from the simple "weeks × your wage" formula used in many states. PPD splits into two separate tracks, and which one applies depends on the body part hurt.

Scheduled injuries. For a defined list of body parts — arms, hands, legs, feet, fingers, toes, eyes, hearing, and a few others — the statute sets a fixed number of weeks for a total loss, and you're paid your percentage of that many weeks. The important quirk: scheduled awards are not paid at 66 2/3% of your own wage. They're paid at a flat weekly compensation rate the Division sets by rule and adjusts every year with the state average weekly wage. For the 2026-2027 benefit year, that flat rate is $459.45 a week, no matter what you actually earned (C.R.S. § 8-42-107(2), (6) (statute text via Justia); DOWC 2026 Max Benefits Order).

Whole-person (non-scheduled) injuries. Injuries not on the schedule — most spine, internal, and systemic conditions — are rated differently. A physician assigns a whole-person impairment percentage under the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Third Edition, Revised, as it stood on July 1, 1991 (Colorado has not adopted a newer edition for this purpose). That percentage is multiplied by an age factor — which runs from 1.80 for a worker age 20 or younger down to 1.00 at age 60 or older, so an older worker's award reflects fewer remaining working years — and then by 400 weeks. The result is paid at your TTD rate, subject to a Division-set floor and ceiling: $150.00 to $804.46 a week for the 2026-2027 year (C.R.S. § 8-42-107(8) (statute text via Justia); DOWC 2026 Max Benefits Order).

Under either track, PPD is paid after temporary disability ends, starting on the date of MMI.

Colorado also caps the combined dollar total of temporary disability plus PPD payable on a claim rated by whole-person impairment: $202,297.46 for a rating of 19% or less, and $328,049.94 for a rating of 20% or greater, for 2026-2027 (C.R.S. § 8-42-107.5 (statute text via Justia); DOWC 2026 Max Benefits Order).

Colorado's scheduled PPD table (2026-2027 rate: $459.45/week):

Source: C.R.S. § 8-42-107(2), (6) (statute text via Justia); DOWC 2026 Max Benefits Order.

The PPD calculator below runs both the scheduled-weeks math and the whole-person (impairment % × age factor × 400 weeks) math for you — plug in your own rating and date of birth to see an estimate.

Permanent Total Disability (PTD)

If you're unable to earn any wages in the same or other employment, you may qualify for permanent total disability. PTD pays 66 2/3% of your AWW, subject to the same weekly maximum as TTD, and continues until death — Colorado does not cut PTD off at a fixed number of weeks (C.R.S. § 8-42-111 (statute text via Justia)). Under the 2026 order, PTD can be terminated if the worker earns, or is shown capable of earning, more than $9,474.74 a year (DOWC 2026 Max Benefits Order).

How Settlements Work in Colorado

Most Colorado workers' comp cases end in a "full and final" settlement, documented on the Division's own Uniform Settlement Agreement (USA) form (CDLE, Uniform Settlement Agreement FAQ).

By statute, a settlement is not binding until it has been reviewed in person with the injured worker and approved in writing by an administrative law judge or the Director of the Division (C.R.S. § 8-43-204 (statute text via Justia)).

A full and final settlement can leave future medical benefits open or closed. "Closing" medical means giving up the right to further Division-ordered treatment for that claim in exchange for settlement money; the USA form has a specific paragraph the parties can use instead to agree medical benefits stay open. If the agreement states the claim cannot be reopened, it generally can't be — except for fraud or a mutual mistake about a material fact (C.R.S. § 8-43-204 (statute text via Justia)). Once approved, any lump sum owed must be paid within 15 calendar days.

Deadlines

Notice to your employer. Report the injury to your employer in writing within 10 days. Missing this can cost you up to a day of benefits for every day you're late — but the penalty doesn't apply if your employer already knew about the injury, you had good cause for the delay, or you were physically or mentally unable to report it yourself (C.R.S. § 8-43-102 (statute text via Justia)).

Filing your claim. A notice claiming compensation must be filed with the Division within 2 years of the injury or death. That stretches to 5 years for occupational diseases involving radioactive/fissionable materials, radiation-induced malignancy, uranium poisoning, asbestosis, silicosis, or anthracosis. The 2-year deadline does not apply once compensation has already been paid on the claim (C.R.S. § 8-43-103 (statute text via Justia)).

Medical Care

Your employer or its insurer picks the doctor at the start of your claim — but not by handing you a single name. They must designate at least four physicians, or a combination of at least two physicians and two corporate medical providers, within 30 miles of your workplace, with at least one location that isn't commonly owned with the others (C.R.S. § 8-43-404(5) (statute text via Justia)).

You get one chance to switch your own treating physician, as long as you do it in writing within 120 days of the first doctor being designated and before you reach MMI. If your employer fails to designate a physician in time, you're free to pick your own treating doctor (C.R.S. § 8-43-404(5) (statute text via Justia)).

Worked Example (Hypothetical — Not a Prediction of Your Case)

Say your average weekly wage before the injury was $1,200, and you hurt your hand at work.

That total sits far below Colorado's combined-benefit cap for whole-person claims, but note that cap is written in terms of whole-person impairment percentage, so it may not be the operative ceiling for a purely scheduled injury like this one.

This is a simplified estimate for illustration only. It leaves out medical bills, any temporary partial disability, vocational or disfigurement add-ons, and disputes over the rating itself, and it is not a prediction of what any real claim would settle for. Use the calculator above to run your own numbers.