IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.
An unpaid claim can leave a hole in your budget and your plans. When the insurer that collects your premiums won’t give a straight answer, Colorado’s bad faith statute asks whether it had a reasonable basis for that. Reach us at (303) 209-9395 to go over the details.
No fee unless we winLongmont, Boulder and Weld Counties
CGH Injury Lawyers represents Longmont 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.
Your shop closed for repairs, and the business interruption payments stopped after a few weeks. Or your pickup was stolen, and the insurer still hasn’t settled the claim. A Longmont bad faith insurance lawyer can weigh each step the insurer took against the standard Colorado sets.
CGH Injury Lawyers works from its Denver office, and its number is (303) 209-9395. If writing is easier, send a message through 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.
For some, it’s a small business. A burst water heater or a fire closes the doors, and the insurer disputes the amount of income lost.
For others, it’s personal: a stolen vehicle, a health insurer denying a scan the doctor ordered, or disability benefits halted after years of payments. In each case, what matters is why the insurer did what it did.
If the insurer can’t point to a reasonable basis, the delay or denial may be bad faith under Colorado’s statute.
A short checklist makes the first conversation more useful:
Colorado lets you pursue a statutory claim and a common-law claim together or separately. Per the jury instructions, the statutory claim exists “in addition to and separate from” the common-law claim. Our Colorado bad faith insurance lawyer page walks through each claim in detail.
| Common-law claim | Statutory claim | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal authority | Travelers Insurance Co. v. Savio, 1985 | Colorado’s insurance code, sections 1115 and 1116 of article 3, title 10 |
| Standard | Unreasonable conduct, plus the insurer’s knowledge or reckless disregard of that | Unreasonable delay or denial, meaning no reasonable basis |
| Remedy | Compensation for harm the conduct caused | A suit for two times the covered benefit, reasonable attorney fees and court costs |
Your insurer can’t unreasonably delay or deny paying benefits it owes you as a first-party claimant (C.R.S. 10-3-1115(1)(a)). The statute defines “unreasonable” as acting without a reasonable basis.
First-party claimants are policyholders and businesses claiming their own benefits. The law carves out people claiming under someone else’s liability policy, so a claim against another driver’s carrier generally isn’t a statutory bad faith claim, while one on your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may be. After a crash, the claim against the driver who hit you is a separate matter, and our Longmont car accident lawyer page covers it.
The Savio standard has “two elements.” The conduct was unreasonable, and the insurer knew that or recklessly disregarded it, a higher bar than the statute sets.
The statutory action is in addition to, and doesn’t limit, other actions available by statute or common law (C.R.S. 10-3-1116(4)). Some policies sit outside the statute altogether. Among its limits, it doesn’t apply to workers’ compensation, title insurance, or life insurance issued under Article 7 of Title 10.
The City of Longmont says it’s located along the northern Front Range in Boulder and Weld counties. Which court hears a case against your insurer depends on the facts, such as where the insurer does business and where you live.
Boulder County courts
Boulder County is the 20th Judicial District. The Judicial Branch lists the Boulder County Combined Court at 1777 6th St., Boulder, CO 80302, and a Longmont location, the Boulder County Combined Court - Longmont, at 1035 Kimbark St.
Weld County courts
Weld County is in the 19th Judicial District. According to the Weld County Courthouse listing, the Weld County Centennial Center at 915 10th Street, Greeley, CO 80631, handles all court business.
Hospitals
Two Longmont hospitals appear as Level III on the state’s designated trauma facility list: Longmont United Hospital, part of CommonSpirit, at 1950 Mountain View Ave., and UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital at 1750 E. Ken Pratt Boulevard. When an insurer questions a medical bill, records from those stays can help show the care was needed.
City records
The city’s page on obtaining fire and police reports is worth knowing about:
Put in any records request early so the report is ready when the insurer asks for it. Because the city’s page notes that ambulance billing records need a signed HIPAA release, sign one early if an ambulance was part of your care.
The firm prepares every case as if it will go to trial.
Managing Partner Kevin Cheney belongs to the American Board of Trial Advocates.
CGH Injury Lawyers, once known as Cheney Galluzzi & Howard, opened in 2016.
Our Spanish line is (303) 835-9177.
The policy, the claim correspondence, and the timeline come first.
We sort out whether it’s a common-law claim, a statutory claim, or both.
The insurer gets a formal written demand.
Claims-file materials and documentation, plus outside expert input where it helps.
We file where the case belongs, which could be in Boulder County or Weld County depending on your facts.
That may include the underlying benefit, statutory damages, and attorney fees where applicable.
We’ll talk about value after we’ve seen your file. The policy limits, your losses, and the insurer’s conduct all shape it, and so does which claim the facts support.
Section 10-3-1116(1) lets a first-party claimant whose claim was unreasonably delayed or denied sue in district court for two times the covered benefit, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The jury instructions note that paying an unreasonably delayed benefit before judgment doesn’t reduce the two-times amount.
Colorado’s damages instruction for common-law bad faith includes:
Punitive damages. Possible in some cases. Still, under the instruction notes, bad faith by itself doesn’t establish a punitive damages claim.
The question is what the insurer knew when it decided. The jury instructions, citing Schultz v. GEICO Casualty Co., say a denial is evaluated on the information the insurer had at that time.
Insurers may contest fairly debatable claims even when the decision to deny coverage turns out to be mistaken, and debatability weighs against bad faith. Without more, though, the jury instructions say it isn’t outcome-determinative or necessarily sufficient to defeat a bad faith claim as a matter of law, and a claim with no reasonable basis for denial isn’t fairly debatable.
Under the statute, the question is whether the insurer had a reasonable basis for its own number, such as an accountant’s review or an inspection, or simply picked a lower one.
Your insurer may be right to ask. Your log of what you sent, with dates, can help show how the insurer’s requests compare with what it already had.
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Under the jury instructions, common-law bad faith is a tort, and C.R.S. 13-80-102 bars it unless it’s filed within two years after the injury and its cause were known, or should have been known with reasonable diligence.
Statutory claims are handled differently. The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision in Rooftop Restoration, Inc. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co. held that the one-year limit in C.R.S. 13-80-103(1)(d) doesn’t apply to a C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1) action. Have a lawyer confirm your deadline for your own facts.
Keep the insurer’s first denial letter and any later letters, because their dates help show when the clock may have started.
A bad faith claim over unpaid underinsured motorist benefits has special timing. The jury instructions say it can’t accrue until you have a judgment against the underinsured driver or have settled with that driver. A Longmont uninsured motorist lawyer can help you work out what has to happen first.
Yes. The statute’s definition of a first-party claimant includes corporations, associations, partnerships and other legal entities asserting benefits owed under a policy. A business can bring a bad faith insurance claim in Colorado over its own coverage, such as a commercial property or business interruption claim.
It depends on the facts, including where the insurer does business and where you live. Options may include the district court for Boulder County, at the Boulder County Combined Court, or the district court for Weld County, at the Weld County Centennial Center in Greeley.
Under a health, life, or disability policy issued in Colorado, after you’ve exhausted administrative remedies on a denied claim, C.R.S. 10-3-1116(3) entitles you to de novo review by a court with jurisdiction and a jury trial.
No, a health or disability policy issued in Colorado cannot let the insurer decide eligibility on its own terms. A provision reserving discretion to the insurer to interpret terms or determine eligibility is void under C.R.S. 10-3-1116(2).
No. Among its limits, C.R.S. 10-3-1115 doesn’t apply to workers’ compensation insurance, title insurance, or life insurance issued under Article 7 of Title 10.
The City of Longmont’s reports page explains how to request fire and police reports. It notes that criminal justice records requests may take weeks and even months, so ask early.
You may. The statute covers unreasonable delay, not only denial, and the jury instructions say an unreasonably delayed benefit paid before judgment can’t be used to reduce the statutory two-times award under C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1). The timeline of the delay is what we’d review first.
No. We serve Longmont clients from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. Reach us at (303) 209-9395.
It's More Than Money.
A bad faith insurance attorney can sit down with your policy and the insurer’s letters and tell you where the claim stands. Call (303) 209-9395 or share what happened on our contact page.
For anything beyond an insurance dispute, start with our Longmont 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.
