The courthouse
El Paso County's courts sit in the El Paso County Judicial Building, 270 S Tejon St, Colorado Springs, CO 80903. The county is part of the 4th Judicial District, which also covers Teller County.
IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.
Colorado Springs Bad Faith Insurance Lawyers Pressing for Answers on Stalled Claims
A fire in the kitchen, a car taken from the driveway, and a disability check that simply stopped. When the company you've paid for coverage won't honor it, Colorado law gives you ways to challenge that decision. Call (303) 209-9395 to start that conversation.
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(303) 209-9395
Colorado Springs, El Paso County
Why policyholders call us
CGH Injury Lawyers represents Colorado Springs residents against insurers that deny, delay, or underpay claims without a reasonable basis. Your first conversation with us is free, and we do not get paid unless we win.
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- ABOTA trial advocate on the team
- Trial-ready, not settlement-shy
- No fee unless we win
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ABOTA trial advocate on the team
Trial lawyers, not a settlement mill
8 attorneys, bilingual EN / ES
You kept up your end of the policy, and the insurer is now finding reasons not to keep up its end. A Colorado Springs bad faith insurance lawyer looks behind the letters to the question the statute cares about: whether the company had a reasonable basis for its decision.
Colorado Springs residents work with CGH Injury Lawyers, formerly Cheney Galluzzi & Howard, from the Denver office the firm opened in 2016. Phone (303) 209-9395 or reach out on the contact page, and have your claim number handy if you can.
What This Page Covers
- The obligation your insurer carries, and the two lawsuits Colorado allows over it
- El Paso County's court, the hospitals, and the fire records that can matter locally
- How a Colorado Springs case moves from first call to filing
- The money the law lets you seek
- Insurer defenses and the time limits on suing
Key Takeaways
- Good faith is a legal duty. Colorado's pattern jury instructions on insurance bad faith describe good faith and fair dealing as a duty insurers owe their insureds.
- The legislature added a second claim. Next to the long-standing common-law claim sits a statutory one, and a single bad claim experience can support both.
- Unreasonable is measured by the insurer's basis. A delay or denial without a reasonable basis is unreasonable under 10-3-1115(2).
- The statute lets you seek two times the covered benefit. You can also seek reasonable attorney fees and court costs (10-3-1116(1)).
- Check the two-year limit. That's the general limit for the common-law claim, so get a lawyer's read on your own date.
What Colorado Springs Policyholders Are Up Against
A grease fire guts your kitchen, and the insurer's adjuster prices the cabinets at a figure no local shop will match. Your car is stolen, and weeks later the company is still "verifying" a loss you reported the same night. A long-term disability benefit you depended on ends with a letter that doesn't point to anything new in your medical file.
Those situations feel different, but the statute puts them through the same test. We look at what the insurer knew, what it did and what reason it gave, and then tell you whether the reason holds up.
Common law vs. statute
Colorado's Two Bad Faith Claims, Side by Side
One claim grew out of case law and the other was written into the insurance code. The jury instructions call the statutory claim "separate" from the common-law claim for first-party bad faith, so they can travel together.
| Statutory claim | Common-law claim | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal home | 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116 | Travelers Insurance Co. v. Savio (Colo. 1985) |
| Your burden | Show the insurer lacked a reasonable basis to delay or deny | Show unreasonable conduct and that the insurer knew it or acted with reckless disregard. |
| Remedy | Two times the covered benefit plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs | Compensation for the harm the conduct caused |
Under the insurance code
The code forbids an insurer to unreasonably delay or deny paying benefits it owes a first-party claimant (10-3-1115(1)(a)). The yardstick for unreasonable is short: the company acted without a reasonable basis.
Only a first-party claimant gets this protection, meaning a person claiming benefits under the policy. The law expressly excludes "a person asserting a claim against an insured under a liability policy," so a claim you make against someone else's insurer generally won't qualify.
Under Savio
The Savio court required two showings: that the insurer behaved unreasonably and that it either knew as much or acted in reckless disregard of it. The instructions note the statutory claim drops that second showing.
Local Knowledge
El Paso County: Court, Hospitals and Fire Records
The El Paso County Assessor lists the City of Colorado Springs among the county's incorporated cities and towns. Which court hears a case against your insurer is a fact question, shaped by things like your residence and where the company does business.
Hospital records
When an insurer questions a medical charge tied to your claim, the ER and inpatient chart can help show what care you needed. Penrose Hospital, at 2222 N Nevada Ave in Colorado Springs, appears as a Level II facility on the state trauma facility list.
Fire reports
For a fire claim, the Colorado Springs Fire Department's contact page sends requests for fire and incident reports to its Incident Records Department, and a fee applies to each report. That report can help show what crews found when an insurer disputes the cause or the scope of the loss.
Colorado Springs claims that turns into disputes can include:
- A fire or smoke claim where the adjuster's estimate falls short of contractor bids
- A stolen vehicle claim stuck in verification
- A disability or health benefit that's denied or stopped
- Your own uninsured motorist claim after a crash on the way to work
Why CGH
Reasons to Call CGH Injury Lawyers
Trial preparation
Every case gets prepared as if it will be tried, and Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
Case review
We go through your policy, the correspondence, and the timeline of the claim.
Spanish-language help
Our Spanish line is (303) 835-9177.
Our Denver office
CGH Injury Lawyers is at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver.
How we handle your case
From First Call to Filing
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We read the policy and the paper trail
Coverage terms, correspondence, and dates tell us how the claim was actually handled.
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We pick the legal theory
The facts may support the statutory claim, the Savio claim or both.
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We make a formal demand
The insurer receives a written demand setting out the claim.
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We build the proof
That means the claims-file materials, your documents, and, if it helps, input from an outside expert.
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We file in the proper court
For a Colorado Springs policyholder, that may be the district court for El Paso County, at the El Paso County Judicial Building, once we've confirmed it fits your facts.
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We seek what the law allows
That can mean the unpaid benefit, the statutory award and attorney fees where the law provides them.
Compensation
Money You May Be Able to Recover
We read the policy and the file before any talk of numbers. What the law allows depends on which claim you bring.
The statutory claim
Section 10-3-1116(1) lets a first-party claimant whose claim was unreasonably delayed or denied sue to recover two times the covered benefit, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs. The notes to the jury instructions add that paying an unreasonably delayed benefit before judgment doesn't reduce the two-times award.
The common-law claim
Colorado's damages instruction for common-law bad faith lets a jury weigh:
- Economic losses, now and probably in the future
- Noneconomic losses or injuries
- Physical impairment or disfigurement, if proven
Punitive damages can come into play in some cases. The instruction notes caution, though, that proving bad faith doesn't by itself establish a punitive damages claim.
Insurer defenses
How Insurers Defend These Cases
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The timing defense
An insurer's call is judged by the information it had when it made that call. The jury instructions cite Schultz v. GEICO Casualty Co. for this, so we reconstruct what the company had in front of it on the day it decided.
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The "fairly debatable" defense
Colorado lets an insurer challenge a claim that's fairly debatable, even if its denial ends up being mistaken. The instructions treat that as a factor weighing against bad faith that, without more, is not outcome-determinative. If there was no reasonable basis, the claim wasn't fairly debatable.
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The "open investigation" defense
Your insurer can look into a claim before it pays. If the investigation has no new questions, no new inspections, and no end date, a clear timeline of those months can help show whether the delay had a reasonable basis.
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The paperwork defense
Your insurer can ask for proof of loss. When the company asks for the same records again and again, a log can help show what you sent and when.
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Deadlines and next steps
Time Limits on a Colorado Springs Claim
Common-law bad faith is a tort, and the instructions apply C.R.S. 13-80-102 to it: the claim is barred "unless brought within two years" after you knew, or through reasonable diligence should have known, of the injury and its cause.
The statutory claim is not subject to the one-year limit on penalty actions. The Colorado Supreme Court decided that in Rooftop Restoration, Inc. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co., the one-year limit in 13-80-103(1)(d) does not reach a claim under 10-3-1116(1). A lawyer should confirm your deadline before you rely on any date.
If the dispute is over underinsured motorist benefits, the clock works another way. A bad faith claim for nonpayment of UIM benefits can't accrue until you've obtained a judgment against, or settled with, the underinsured driver.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a bad faith insurance claim in Colorado?
A bad faith insurance claim in Colorado challenges the way your own insurer handled a claim for benefits. The statutory version asks whether the insurer unreasonably delayed or denied benefits owed, meaning without a reasonable basis (10-3-1115). The common-law version also requires that the insurer knew its conduct was unreasonable or recklessly disregarded that.
My disability benefits were cut off. Can that be bad faith?
It can be if the insurer had no reasonable basis for ending them. Colorado also voids any provision in a disability or health policy issued in Colorado that reserves discretion to the insurer to interpret the terms or determine eligibility (10-3-1116(2)). Under a health, life, or disability policy issued in Colorado, a denied claimant who has exhausted administrative remedies is entitled to de novo review and a jury trial (10-3-1116(3)).
The insurer finally paid after months. Is the case over?
Not necessarily. The jury instructions note that an unreasonably delayed benefit paid before judgment can't be used to reduce the statutory two-times award. We can still look at whether the delay had a reasonable basis.
Can I bring a bad faith case against the driver who hit me?
Not under the statute, generally. It excludes a person asserting a claim against an insured under a liability policy. A claim on your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is different, because that coverage is yours.
My stolen car claim has been pending for weeks. Does the statute apply?
It can. A theft claim on your own auto policy is a claim for benefits under coverage you bought, and the statute protects first-party claimants. Under the statute, the question is whether the insurer had a reasonable basis for holding up payment.
Where would a Colorado Springs bad faith case be filed?
Where a case is filed depends on the facts, such as where the insurer does business and where you live. For a Colorado Springs policyholder, the district court for El Paso County, at the El Paso County Judicial Building, is one possibility we would check.
Is your firm located in Colorado Springs?
No. CGH Injury Lawyers works from its Denver office, at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver. Colorado Springs clients call (303) 209-9395.
Keep Reading
Related pages
It's More Than Money.
Speak With a Colorado Springs Bad Faith Insurance Attorney
Bring the denial letter, your policy, and whatever you've sent the insurer, and a bad faith insurance attorney can tell you where the claim stands. Call (303) 209-9395 or reach us through the contact page.
Our Colorado bad faith insurance lawyer overview explains the practice area, and a Denver bad faith insurance lawyer page covers our home city. If a crash set this off, look at our Colorado Springs car accident lawyer and Colorado Springs uninsured motorist lawyer pages. Everything else we handle locally is on the Colorado Springs personal injury lawyers page.
Prefer to read first? See how Colorado bad faith law works.
CGH Injury Lawyers · 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205
Cheney Galluzzi & Howard, LLC, d/b/a CGH Injury Lawyers. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case turns on its own facts, injuries, and available insurance coverage. This site is for general information and is not legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.