Pure comparative fault: no cutoff, ever
Under KRS § 411.182, Kentucky follows a pure comparative fault system. This means a claimant's own degree of fault reduces their recovery proportionally, but never eliminates it entirely — regardless of how high that percentage climbs. Kentucky belongs to a genuinely small group of states that work this way; most states instead use some version of a modified system with a cutoff point.
The practical difference from a modified system
In a modified comparative negligence state, crossing a specific fault threshold — 50% or 51%, depending on the state — eliminates the claim entirely. Kentucky has no such threshold. A claimant found 90% at fault still recovers 10% of their damages; a claimant found 99% at fault still recovers 1%. The only effect of a higher fault percentage is a smaller recovery, never a complete bar.
Worked example
Someone with $100,000 in damages, found 20% at fault, recovers $80,000. That same person, found 70% at fault instead — a scenario that would completely bar recovery in nearly every other state on this site — still recovers $30,000 in Kentucky. The reduction scales directly with the fault percentage, with no point at which the recovery simply disappears.
Why this still doesn't make fault irrelevant
Even without a bar, the fault percentage itself remains genuinely consequential — the difference between 20% and 70% fault is the difference between an $80,000 recovery and a $30,000 one on the same underlying damages. Insurers still have a real incentive to argue a claimant's fault upward, even knowing they can never eliminate the claim entirely, because every additional percentage point of fault directly reduces what they ultimately have to pay.
Who decides the percentage
The trier of fact — typically a jury, where a case reaches trial — apportions fault among all parties and nonparties involved in causing the injury. In the far more common scenario of a negotiated settlement, this same comparison is effectively worked out between the parties based on the available evidence.