Colorado prejudgment interest branches
United States Colorado prejudgment interest has general, personal-injury, and medical-debt branches.
→ All Colorado judgment & prejudgment interest rates
Statutory branches Branch-specific
2026 Colorado prejudgment interest branches at a glance
- Headline branch
- 8% / 9% per year (branch shown)
- Recorded reference date
- July 9, 2026
- Controlling authority
- C.R.S. §5-12-102 (8% general); §13-21-101 (9% personal injury)
- Rate basis
- Statutory branches
- Source checked
- July 9, 2026
- Recorded history
- 1 data point
Colorado’s wrongfully-withheld-money branch uses 8% under C.R.S. §5-12-102, while §13-21-101 supplies a separate 9% personal-injury branch. Qualifying medical debt from a contract entered after May 4, 2023 has a maximum rate of 3% per year. That medical-debt category includes healthcare services and goods, devices, durable medical equipment, and prescription drugs, but excludes debt charged to a credit card; medical expenses within a personal-injury claim are not automatically the same statutory category.
When Colorado prejudgment interest applies
Section 5-12-102 addresses money or property wrongfully withheld and is not limited to claims liquidated in advance. Section 13-21-101 separately governs qualifying personal-injury actions. The 3% medical-debt cap applies to covered post-May-4-2023 contracts, excludes credit-card debt, and does not resolve every financed consumer-credit transaction; official Colorado guidance on that scope is due by December 31, 2026 and remains pending.
When it starts accruing
The general branch looks to when money or property was wrongfully withheld or became due. For the 9% personal-injury branch, interest runs from accrual: simple interest applies through filing, and annual compounding begins at filing. The medical-debt cap does not independently create entitlement or supply an accrual date.
Simple or compound
The general and personal-injury branches have their own compounding rules. Section 5-12-102(5) caps qualifying medical debt at 3% but does not itself establish a compounding method, so that branch remains calculator-withheld.
→ Compare with the Colorado post-judgment interest rate (interest after judgment)
Colorado has TWO prejudgment rates, both compounded annually: 8% for general/contract claims and money or property wrongfully withheld (C.R.S. §5-12-102(1)(b)), and 9% for personal-injury actions (C.R.S. §13-21-101, from the date suit was filed, for actions filed on/after July 1, 1979). §5-12-102 opens "Except as provided in section 13-21-101," carving personal-injury cases out to the 9% rate. Verified against the statute text 2026-07-09. This is PREjudgment interest, separate from Colorado’s post-judgment rate. Not legal advice.
Current recorded observation
| Recorded reference date | Rate | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| July 9, 2026 | 8% / 9% | Statute |
Source & provenance
Observation recorded July 9, 2026 (00:00 UTC) from the cited source (Colorado General Assembly — Office of Legislative Legal Services (official)):
https://content.leg.colorado.gov/agencies/office-legislative-legal-services/colorado-revised-statutes
Cite this page
StatuteRates. “Colorado Prejudgment Interest Rate.” StatuteRates.com. Accessed today. https://statuterates.com/rates/colorado-prejudgment-rate/ Rate recorded under C.R.S. §5-12-102 (8% general); §13-21-101 (9% personal injury); current-code reference checked for July 9, 2026.