Pure comparative negligence: recovery never fully closes
Under AS §§ 09.17.060 and 09.17.080, Alaska applies a pure comparative fault standard. A claimant's own contributory fault diminishes their recovery proportionally, but it never bars recovery outright — even if the claimant was found up to 99% at fault. A claimant with $100,000 in damages found 60% at fault still recovers $40,000. This is about as forgiving as American fault law gets, standing in sharp contrast to the small group of states, including Alabama, that still bar recovery entirely over even a tiny sliver of a claimant's own fault.
A rule that started in the courts, not the legislature
Alaska's pure comparative fault system has a genuinely distinctive history: it was first established by the Alaska Supreme Court itself, in Kaatz v. State, 540 P.2d 1037 (Alaska 1975), roughly a decade before the state legislature formally codified the same rule by statute through the Uniform Comparative Fault Act. In other words, Alaska's courts had already decided fault should work this way well before it became written statutory law.
Every party gets a fault percentage
Under Alaska's framework, the trier of fact — typically a jury — assigns a percentage of fault to every party involved, including the claimant and every defendant. "Fault" itself is defined broadly under AS § 09.17.900 to include negligent, reckless, or intentional conduct, along with conduct that triggers strict liability, so the allocation isn't limited to simple carelessness alone.
A separate cap on non-economic damages
Worth knowing alongside the fault rule itself: Alaska generally caps non-economic damages — pain and suffering, and similar non-financial losses — at the greater of $400,000 or the injured person's life expectancy in years multiplied by $8,000, under AS § 09.17.010. This cap operates independently of the comparative fault reduction; both can apply to the same claim.
Why insurance adjusters still push hard on fault here
Even though Alaska's rule never eliminates a claim entirely, every additional percentage point of fault assigned to a claimant directly reduces the payout dollar for dollar. See our guide to how adjusters build a fault argument in Alaska for what that negotiation actually looks like in a pure comparative state.