Insurance Bad Faith Lawyers in Colorado Springs

You pay premiums so that when something goes wrong, the insurance company pays. Colorado law requires it to handle your claim in good faith, and gives you remedies when it doesn’t. These claims are against your own insurer, or an insurer that owes benefits directly to you, which Colorado calls a first-party claim.

What bad faith looks like

• Denying a claim without a reasonable basis, or on a reading of the policy that doesn’t hold up.
• Delaying payment of benefits that aren’t really in dispute, such as payment for the part of a claim the insurer agrees it owes.
• Offering far less than the claim is worth and refusing to explain how the number was reached.
• Ignoring evidence, failing to investigate, or demanding the same documents repeatedly.
• Misrepresenting what the policy covers or what the law requires.

Disagreement alone isn’t bad faith. An insurer can dispute a claim when it has a reasonable basis. The question is whether its position was reasonable given what it knew.

Colorado’s statutory remedy

Colorado law prohibits an insurer from unreasonably delaying or denying payment of a covered benefit to a first-party claimant. When it does, you can recover two times the covered benefit plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. This statutory claim doesn’t require proof that the insurer acted with bad intent, only that it lacked a reasonable basis.

Colorado also recognizes a separate common-law claim for bad faith breach of an insurance contract, which can recover other losses the insurer’s conduct caused. Which claims apply depends on the facts.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims

Disputes with your own auto insurer over UM/UIM benefits are among the most common bad faith cases. The insurer stands in the shoes of the at-fault driver and disputes the claim as that driver would, but it still owes you the duties of an insurer to its own policyholder. See uninsured and underinsured motorist claims.

Homeowners and property claims

Hailstorms, wildfire, wind, water, and fire damage generate large claims and frequent disputes over scope, cause, and cost of repair. Common issues are underpaid estimates, denial based on “wear and tear” or pre-existing damage, disputes over matching materials, and delays that let damage get worse. Policies often have deadlines and procedures of their own, such as proof-of-loss deadlines and appraisal clauses, that should be reviewed before responding.

What to keep

Keep the policy, including the declarations page and endorsements, every letter and email, notes of every call with the date and the adjuster’s name, photos, and estimates. Put important communications in writing.

How we handle bad faith claims

We review the policy and the full claim file, compare how the claim was handled with what the policy and Colorado law require, and pursue the benefits owed along with the statutory remedy where the delay or denial was unreasonable.