IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.
Water through the ceiling, a disability check that quit arriving, and an adjuster who no longer calls back. If the company that sold you the policy is sitting on a covered claim, reach us at (303) 209-9395 and describe the problem.
No fee unless we winFederal Heights, Adams County
CGH Injury Lawyers represents Federal Heights 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.
When a burst pipe ruins your floors or an illness keeps you off the job, the insurance you bought for that moment should respond. A Federal Heights bad faith insurance lawyer can review whether your insurer’s delay, denial, or lowball offer rests on a reasonable basis.
CGH Injury Lawyers began in Denver in 2016 under the name Cheney Galluzzi & Howard. You can call (303) 209-9395 or fill out the form on our contact page.
A renter or homeowner files a water damage claim after a pipe gives way, and the insurer blames slow leaks and pays for almost nothing. A worker on long-term disability gets a letter cutting off benefits with no new medical evidence behind it.
Situations like these are what the bad faith laws address. What we examine is the insurer’s reason and whether that reason would hold up in front of a judge or jury.
You may be staying with family, paying out of pocket for a plumber, or putting medical bills on a credit card while the claim sits, and those costs belong in the conversation from the first call.
Bring whatever you have when you reach out. A policy declarations page, the denial or cutoff letter, and a rough list of dates will let us start reading the claim the way a court would.
Colorado law allows both a claim under statute and a claim based on court decisions. According to the Colorado Civil Jury Instructions, ch. 25, the statutory claim is “in addition to and separate from” the common-law claim, and your facts might support either one or both.
| Feature | Statutory bad faith | Common-law bad faith |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Sections 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116 of the Colorado Revised Statutes | Colorado Supreme Court precedent, beginning with Savio |
| Proof | No reasonable basis for delaying or denying a covered benefit | Unreasonable conduct and knowing or reckless disregard of that |
| Possible result | Double the covered benefit, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs. | Damages caused by the insurer’s handling |
The Colorado Supreme Court decided Travelers Insurance Co. v. Savio in 1985. Under that case, you show the insurer behaved unreasonably and also that it knew as much or acted in reckless disregard of it.
C.R.S. 10-3-1115(1)(a) makes it unlawful to unreasonably delay or deny benefits owed to a first-party claimant. The measure of unreasonable is simple: an action without a reasonable basis.
The jury instructions note that, unlike the common-law claim, the statutory claim doesn’t require proof of knowledge or recklessness.
The statute protects people claiming under their own coverage. If you were hurt by another driver and you’re dealing with that driver’s liability insurer, you generally aren’t a first-party claimant, though your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may bring you back within the statute.
Federal Heights is one of the cities Adams County lists on its Cities & Towns page. Adams County’s court is the Adams County Justice Center at 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601, within the 17th Judicial District.
A lawsuit’s proper court is decided case by case. Things like the county you live in and the places the insurer operates are part of that decision. We work that question out with you before a complaint is ever drafted, so the case starts in a court that can hear it.
Hospital records
The state trauma facility list has no entry for Federal Heights. It lists HCA HealthONE Mountain Ridge, in Thornton, as Level II and St Anthony North Hospital, in Westminster, as Level III, and a hospital chart from either can help when an insurer doubts your medical bills.
Local records worth requesting:
Federal Heights claims that can end up in a bad faith dispute include:
The firm readies each case as if it will be tried.
Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
We go through your policy, the correspondence, and the timeline of the claim.
Call (303) 835-9177 for help in Spanish.
This means reviewing the policy, the letters and emails, and the timeline of the claim.
The facts may support the common-law claim, a statutory claim under C.R.S. 10-3-1116, or both.
It goes to the insurer in writing.
Claims-file materials and your documents, with outside expert input where it helps.
For Federal Heights, that may be the district court for Adams County, at the Adams County Justice Center.
The underlying benefit is statutory damages and attorney fees where applicable.
We review the file before we put numbers on anything. Your policy limits, your losses, and the insurer’s conduct all shape what’s possible. The benefit the policy owed in the first place stays part of the claim, too.
The statute lets a first-party claimant whose claim was unreasonably delayed or denied sue to recover “reasonable attorney fees and court costs and two times the covered benefit” (C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1)). An unreasonably delayed benefit paid before judgment doesn’t reduce the doubled award, the jury instructions explain.
Jurors weighing this claim consider:
Punitive damages remain possible in some cases. Proof of bad faith alone does not establish punitive damages.
That’s a coverage position, and the wording of your policy decides whether it applies. The question is whether the insurer had a reasonable basis for applying it to your facts, and a plumber’s findings or dated photos can help show whether it did.
Colorado evaluates a denial by what the insurer had in front of it at the time, a rule the jury instructions attribute to Schultz v. GEICO Casualty Co.. If nothing new supported the cutoff, that matters.
Your insurer can take time to inspect a loss or have a doctor look at your records. When that review drags on with no report, no new questions, and no decision, a dated list of your contacts with the adjuster can help show whether the delay had a reasonable basis.
An insurer can contest a fairly debatable claim even if its decision turns out to be mistaken. That factor counts against bad faith, but it isn’t outcome-determinative without more, and a claim with no reasonable basis for denial isn’t fairly debatable.
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A common-law bad faith claim is a tort. The jury instructions apply C.R.S. 13-80-102, which gives two years from when you knew, or reasonably should have known, both the injury and its cause.
The Rooftop Restoration ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court means the one-year penalty-action limit in C.R.S. 13-80-103(1)(d) has no application to a statutory claim under C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1). Ask a lawyer which period governs your case.
A dispute over underinsured motorist benefits has its own starting point. The claim can’t accrue until you’ve obtained a judgment against, or settled with, the underinsured driver.
Yes, if the renter is claiming benefits under their policy. A bad faith insurance claim in Colorado under the statute belongs to a first-party claimant, and a renters policyholder claiming a covered loss fits that description.
It can be. Disability claims are first-party claims, and Colorado voids provisions in a disability or health policy issued in Colorado that reserve discretion to the insurer to interpret terms or determine eligibility (C.R.S. 10-3-1116(2)).
Once administrative remedies are exhausted, C.R.S. 10-3-1116(3) entitles a denied claimant under a health, life or disability policy issued in Colorado to de novo review in court and a jury trial. A lawyer can tell you whether that step fits your case.
Not under the statute. C.R.S. 10-3-1115(5) says it doesn’t apply to workers’ compensation insurance, and it also excludes title insurance and life insurance issued under article 7 of Title 10. Ask a lawyer whether any other claim fits your facts.
It depends on the facts, such as your county and where the insurer does business. For a Federal Heights policyholder, that may be the district court for Adams County, at the Adams County Justice Center.
The common-law claim is generally two years from when you knew or should have known of the injury and its cause. Other rules apply to the statutory claim and to underinsured motorist claims, so a lawyer should confirm your date.
Send what it reasonably asks for, and keep a copy of each item along with the date you sent it. If a request repeats something you already provided, say so in writing and attach the earlier copy.
No. We serve Federal Heights from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201. Call (303) 209-9395.
It's More Than Money.
If you’re stuck waiting on a claim, or a denial doesn’t make sense, a bad-faith insurance attorney can review it with you. Call (303) 209-9395, or reach out on the contact page.
Learn more on our pages for a Colorado bad faith insurance lawyer and a Denver bad faith insurance lawyer. A crash-related claim may also connect with our Federal Heights uninsured motorist lawyer and Federal Heights car accident lawyer pages, and our Federal Heights personal injury lawyers page covers the rest of our work there.
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. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always consult a licensed attorney for advice specific to your situation.
