IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.
Your health plan refused the scan your doctor ordered, or your car was totaled, and the settlement offer won’t buy a comparable one. When your insurer won’t give a straight reason, Colorado law may let you hold it accountable. Phone (303) 209-9395 and tell us where things stand.
No fee unless we winLone Tree, Douglas County
CGH Injury Lawyers represents Lone Tree 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.
Months after a covered loss, you may still be sending forms, waiting on callbacks and reading letters that explain nothing. A Lone Tree bad faith insurance lawyer can examine the claim from start to finish and tell you whether the insurer’s conduct gives you a claim under Colorado law.
CGH Injury Lawyers works from its Denver office; the firm was founded there in 2016 and was formerly known as Cheney Galluzzi & Howard. You can call (303) 209-9395 or write to us on the contact page.
This page provides content for general informational purposes only and does not constitute 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.
Take a totaled car. The insurer’s valuation lands well below what similar cars sell for, and the adjuster won’t explain how it got there.
Health claims can be just as hard to move. A plan might refuse an MRI or a surgery your doctor ordered, or a disability carrier might stop payments while it “reviews” a file that hasn’t changed.
What connects these situations is the insurer’s reason for denying the claim. The statute asks whether that reason had a reasonable basis.
You don’t need to know which claim fits before you call. Bring the policy and the letters, and we’ll sort out the legal questions with you.
Two separate claims exist in Colorado, and you may be able to bring both. The civil jury instructions state that the statutory claim is “in addition to” the common-law claim for first-party bad faith. For a longer look at each one, see our Colorado bad faith insurance lawyer page.
| Topic | Statutory claim | Common-law claim |
|---|---|---|
| What the law requires | A covered benefit was delayed or denied without a reasonable basis | Unreasonable conduct, plus knowledge of it or reckless disregard of it |
| Origin | C.R.S. 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116 | The Savio decision from the Colorado Supreme Court |
| Difficulty of proof | Lower, because no knowledge element applies | Higher |
| Remedy | The right to seek two times the covered benefit, reasonable attorney fees and court costs | Damages the insurer’s conduct caused, and punitive damages in some cases |
Under C.R.S. 10-3-1115(1)(a), an insurer “shall not unreasonably delay or deny payment” on a claim for benefits that a first-party claimant is owed. Conduct counts as unreasonable when there was no reasonable basis for it.
First-party claimants are people who claim under their own policy. A person with a claim against an insured under a liability policy doesn’t qualify, so another driver’s carrier generally isn’t reachable through this statute. Our Lone Tree car accident lawyer page explains the separate claim against an at-fault driver.
In Travelers Insurance Co. v. Savio, the Colorado Supreme Court set out two elements. The insurer’s conduct was unreasonable, and the insurer knew that or recklessly disregarded it.
The City of Lone Tree incorporated in November 1995, as recorded on its city history page, and Douglas County lists it among the local governments in the county.
District court
Douglas County is part of the 23rd Judicial District. The county’s court location is the Douglas County Courthouse at 4000 Justice Way, Ste. 2009, Castle Rock, CO 80109, though where a lawsuit is filed depends on the facts, such as where the insurer does business and where you live.
Hospital
HCA HealthONE Sky Ridge, at 10101 RidgeGate Pkwy in Lone Tree, appears as Level II on the state health department’s trauma facility list. If a health or auto insurer questions a bill for emergency care, the records from your treatment can help.
Fire and rescue
Lone Tree is on South Metro Fire Rescue’s list of the cities it serves. Non-medical requests go through its records request page, and a fire report may help show how a kitchen or garage fire started when a property insurer questions the loss.
Lone Tree claims that can lead to a bad faith dispute include:
Each case is built as though it’s headed to trial.
Kevin Cheney, who leads the firm as managing partner, belongs to the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Our Spanish line is (303) 835-9177.
Our office is at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205.
We go through the coverage, the correspondence, and the dates to see what the insurer did and when.
The facts are matched to common-law bad faith, the statutory claim, or both.
We send the insurer a written demand.
Claims-file materials, documentation, and, where it helps, outside expert input.
We file where the case belongs after confirming the right court for your facts.
We pursue the underlying benefit, statutory damages, and attorney fees where applicable.
Your policy, your losses, and the insurer’s handling of the claim all shape what a case is worth. Numbers come after we’ve reviewed all three.
C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1) lets a first-party claimant whose claim was unreasonably delayed or denied sue in district court to recover reasonable attorney fees, court costs, and two times the covered benefit. The jury instructions add that the insurer can’t reduce the two-times figure with an unreasonably delayed payment made before judgment.
Colorado’s instruction on actual damages allows:
Punitive damages. These can be available in some cases. The jury instruction notes say proof of bad faith doesn’t by itself establish a punitive damages claim.
In a health or disability policy issued in Colorado, a clause reserving discretion to the insurer to interpret terms or determine eligibility is void (C.R.S. 10-3-1116(2)).
We ask the insurer to show its comparisons and test them against real listings for similar vehicles. Photos of your car’s condition and receipts for recent repairs or upgrades help as well.
Under the statute, a health or disability insurer needs a reasonable basis for a denial. Under a health or disability policy issued in Colorado, after you’ve exhausted the plan’s administrative remedies, Colorado lets a court review the claim de novo, meaning from scratch, and gives you the right to a jury trial (C.R.S. 10-3-1116(3)).
An insurer may challenge a “fairly debatable” claim, and that factor weighs against bad faith. The jury instructions add that, without more, it is “not outcome-determinative” and isn’t necessarily sufficient to defeat a bad faith claim as a matter of law. If the insurer lacked a reasonable basis, the claim wasn’t fairly debatable.
The insurer’s decision is measured by the information it had when it made it. The jury instructions rely on Schultz v. GEICO Casualty Co. for that principle. The claim file, lined up by date, can help show what the insurer had in front of it at that moment.
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Common-law bad faith is a tort, the jury instructions explain, and C.R.S. 13-80-102 bars it “unless brought within two years” once you’ve learned of the injury and its cause, or would have learned of them with reasonable diligence.
On the statutory side, the Colorado Supreme Court decided Rooftop Restoration in 2018. It held that the one-year statute of limitations for penalty actions, C.R.S. 13-80-103(1)(d), doesn’t apply to an action brought under C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1).
A UIM bad faith claim for nonpayment waits on the underlying case. It can’t accrue until you’ve won a judgment against the underinsured driver or settled with that driver. A lawyer should confirm the deadline on your claim.
Our Lone Tree uninsured motorist lawyer page provides a more detailed explanation of that coverage.
It’s a challenge to the way your insurer handled a claim for benefits. The statutory version asks whether a covered benefit was held up or refused with no reasonable basis (C.R.S. 10-3-1115), and the common-law version also requires proof that the insurer was aware its conduct was unreasonable or acted in reckless disregard of that.
Possibly. Under the statute, a low valuation can become a bad faith issue when the insurer had no reasonable basis for its figure. The offer, set beside the market evidence and the insurer’s explanation, can help show whether it did.
It can. Health claims are first-party benefit claims, and in a health policy issued in Colorado, a clause giving the insurer discretion over the policy’s meaning or your eligibility is void under subsection (2) of C.R.S. 10-3-1116.
The venue turns on the facts, for instance, your home county and the places the insurer conducts its business. One possible court for a Lone Tree resident is the district court for Douglas County, at the Douglas County Courthouse in Castle Rock, in the 23rd Judicial District.
Generally not. The statute doesn’t reach someone pursuing a claim under another person’s liability policy, though a claim on your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is a different matter.
In some cases. The jury instruction notes explain that proof of bad faith alone doesn’t establish a claim for punitive damages.
Please send your declarations page and full policy, the denial or offer letter, and any documents the insurer used to justify its figure. For a vehicle, include the valuation report and the listings you found for similar cars.
No. Our office is at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. Call us at (303) 209-9395.
It's More Than Money.
A bad faith insurance attorney can review your policy and the insurer’s letters and tell you where you stand. Call (303) 209-9395, or contact us through the contact page.
Our Lone Tree personal injury lawyers handle other injury claims too.
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.
