IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.
Waiting on an insurer that won’t decide, or holding a denial that makes no sense, wears you down. Colorado’s bad faith statute gives policyholders real remedies when their own insurer acts without a reasonable basis. Call (303) 209-9395 to talk it through.
No fee unless we winLouisville, Boulder County
CGH Injury Lawyers represents Louisville 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 disability checks stopped, or the storm claim on your roof came back at half the contractor’s bid. A Louisville bad faith insurance lawyer can compare what your insurer did with what Colorado law requires of it.
CGH Injury Lawyers serves Louisville from its office in Denver. Phone us at (303) 209-9395, or share a short summary of the claim on our contact page.
The content on this page is provided 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.
Bad faith can be a stolen car claim where the insurer keeps asking for keys and title documents you already sent, or a small business's interruption claim needs “further review” for months.
For a disability policyholder, it can be benefits cut off after one short file review. For a homeowner, it can be an adjuster’s estimate that leaves out half the damage.
None of that is automatically bad faith. It may support a statutory claim when the insurer had no reasonable basis for what it did.
Start a folder now if you haven’t already. These items make a review faster:
Colorado treats the statutory claim as its own action. The jury instructions describe it as “in addition to and separate from” the common-law first-party claim, and one set of facts can support both. You can read more about the two on our Colorado bad faith insurance lawyer page.
| Statutory claim | Common-law claim | |
|---|---|---|
| Rule | Sections 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116 of the insurance code | Travelers Insurance Co. v. Savio (Colo. 1985) |
| You must show | The insurer delayed or denied a covered benefit with no reasonable basis. | The insurer acted unreasonably and knew it or recklessly disregarded that. |
| Harder or easier | Easier, because it requires only unreasonable conduct | Harder, because it adds a knowledge element |
| Possible outcome | Two times the covered benefit, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs | Damages caused by the conduct |
Under C.R.S. 10-3-1115(1)(a), an insurer “shall not unreasonably delay or deny payment” of what it owes a first-party claimant. Subsection (2) defines unreasonable action as action “without a reasonable basis for that action.”
A first-party claimant asserts benefits owed under a policy, and the term excludes a person claiming against an insured under a liability policy. Your claim against someone else’s auto insurer generally falls outside the statute, while a claim on your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage can fall within it. A Louisville car accident lawyer handles the separate claim against a driver who caused a crash.
Savio added a mental-state element to unreasonable conduct. You have to show the insurer knew its conduct was unreasonable or recklessly disregarded that it was.
If a health, life, or disability claim under a policy issued in Colorado was denied in whole or in part and you’ve exhausted the plan’s administrative remedies, C.R.S. 10-3-1116(3) gives you the right to de novo review by a court with jurisdiction. You’re also entitled to a jury trial.
The City of Louisville appears on Boulder County’s list of incorporated municipalities. The proper court for a suit against your insurer is a fact question, shaped by things like the company’s business location and your residence.
Courthouse
Boulder’s Boulder County Combined Court, located at 1777 6th St., Boulder, CO 80302, serves the 20th Judicial District, which is Boulder County. The Judicial Branch also lists a second county location, the Boulder County Combined Court - Longmont.
Hospitals
On the state’s list of designated trauma facilities, Louisville’s AdventHealth Avista (100 Health Park Drive) is designated Level III. The same list shows Good Samaritan Hospital at 200 Exempla Circle in Lafayette as Level II. If your insurer challenges a medical charge, the records from those visits can help show what treatment was needed.
Fire district
The Louisville Fire Protection District is based at 895 Via Appia Way, Louisville. Its website lists ambulance service, car seat inspections, CPR, and first aid classes and wildfire home assessment requests. For a fire loss, its response records may be worth requesting, since they can help fix when the fire started and what crews found when they arrived.
Each case is prepared as if it will be tried.
Kevin Cheney, Managing Partner, is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
CGH Injury Lawyers, formerly Cheney Galluzzi & Howard, was founded in Denver in 2016.
For Spanish, call (303) 835-9177.
We review your policy, the insurer’s correspondence, and the claim’s timeline.
The facts may fit the common-law claim, the statutory claim, or both.
We send a formal demand to the insurer.
We gather claims-file materials and documentation, adding outside expert input where it helps.
A Louisville case may go to the district court in Boulder County, and we verify the venue before filing.
That can include the underlying benefit, statutory damages, and attorney fees where applicable.
Once we’ve gone through your file, we can talk about numbers. The recovery depends on the claim you bring, the benefit the policy covers, and the losses you can prove.
Under C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1), a first-party claimant whose claim was unreasonably delayed or denied can bring an action in district court for two times the covered benefit, with reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The jury instructions add that an unreasonably delayed benefit paid before judgment doesn’t reduce that award.
The jury instruction for common-law bad faith lets the jury award:
Punitive damages. These can be available in some cases, though the jury instruction notes say proof of bad faith does not by itself establish a punitive damages claim.
When questions repeat or stop producing anything new, a dated timeline of the claim can help show whether the delay still had a reasonable basis.
According to the jury instructions, which cite Schultz v. GEICO Casualty Co., the insurer’s decision is evaluated based on the information it had when it made the decision.
Timing arguments depend on the policy language and the facts. We check what the policy actually requires and whether the insurer had a reasonable basis for the position it took, based on the information it had at the time.
A fairly debatable claim can be challenged by an insurer, even if the denial turns out to be mistaken. Under the jury instructions, that weighs against bad faith but isn’t outcome-determinative without more, and a claim is not fairly debatable when the insurer lacked a reasonable basis to deny it.
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Common-law bad faith is a tort, and the jury instructions apply C.R.S. 13-80-102’s two-year limit, counted from when both the injury and its cause were known or should have been known with reasonable diligence.
On the statutory side, the Colorado Supreme Court held in Rooftop Restoration, Inc. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co. that the one-year limit in C.R.S. 13-80-103(1)(d) does not apply to actions under C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1). The date your time began to run can be contested, so have a lawyer confirm your deadline. Bring the first denial letter to that conversation, since its date is part of the analysis.
With underinsured motorist coverage, the jury instructions state that a bad faith claim for nonpayment can’t accrue until you’ve obtained a judgment against, or settled with, the underinsured driver. How that coverage works is explained on our Louisville uninsured motorist lawyer page.
Colorado limits that. A health or disability policy issued in Colorado can’t contain a provision reserving discretion to the insurer to interpret its terms or determine eligibility, and such a provision is void under C.R.S. 10-3-1116(2).
A bad faith insurance claim in Colorado involves your own insurer’s handling of a claim for benefits. Under the statute, the question is whether it unreasonably delayed or denied payment, meaning without a reasonable basis.
Generally not. The statute excludes a person claiming against an insured under a liability policy. A claim under your own UM or UIM coverage stands on different footing.
You can, where the facts support both. C.R.S. 10-3-1116(4) says the statutory action is in addition to other actions available by statute or common law.
Venue turns on details such as the insurer’s place of business and your home address. A likely option is the district court that sits in the Boulder County Combined Court on 6th Street in Boulder.
Yes. You don’t need a final denial to speak with a lawyer, and the timeline is easier to reconstruct while it’s fresh.
Possibly. The statute covers unreasonable delay as well as 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).
No. Our office is in Denver, at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, and that’s where we handle Louisville matters. Our number is (303) 209-9395.
It's More Than Money.
If your claim is stuck or has been refused, a bad faith insurance attorney can review it with you and explain what Colorado law allows. Call (303) 209-9395 or reach us on the contact page.
The rest of our work in the area is on our Louisville 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.
