IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.
The policy says the loss is covered, but the money hasn’t come, or it came up short. Tell us how your insurer has handled things by calling (303) 209-9395.
No fee unless we winNorthglenn, Adams County
CGH Injury Lawyers represents Northglenn 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 of phone tag with a claims department wears a person down, especially when a medical bill or a damaged roof won’t wait. A Northglenn bad faith insurance lawyer can sort out whether your insurer’s handling crossed from slow into unreasonable under Colorado law.
CGH Injury Lawyers was established in Denver in 2016 as Cheney Galluzzi & Howard, and Northglenn policyholders can reach us at (303) 209-9395. You’re also welcome to write through our 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.
Picture a health plan that refuses a surgery your doctor says you need, then takes weeks to answer your appeal. Or consider a homeowner claim for a hail-battered roof, which is paid at a fraction of the contractor’s bid and comes with no explanation of the math.
The details differ, and the statutory question stays the same: whether the insurer had a reasonable basis for its decision.
Neither situation requires you to know the law before calling. Tell us what happened in your own words, and we’ll connect it to the rules that apply. Rough notes and a few dates are enough to start.
A denied treatment or a short roof payment also has added costs. You may be paying a doctor out of pocket, living under a leaking ceiling, or taking time off work to chase the adjuster, and each of those belongs in the record of how the claim was handled.
Keep the papers the insurer sends, even the form letters. An explanation of benefits, a denial code, or a one-line email can show what the insurer knew and when, and an insurer’s decision is judged on the information it had when it made it.
A policyholder in Colorado may have a statutory claim, a common-law claim, or both. The jury instructions describe the statutory claim as “in addition to and separate from” the common-law one. Our Colorado bad faith insurance lawyer page covers both claims in more depth.
| The common-law claim | The statutory claim | |
|---|---|---|
| Rooted in | Travelers Insurance Co. v. Savio, decided by the Colorado Supreme Court in 1985 | C.R.S. 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116 |
| Burden | Show unreasonable conduct, and that the insurer knew or recklessly disregarded it | Show the delay or denial had no reasonable basis |
| Outcome if you win | Damages the conduct caused | Two times the covered benefit, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs |
Under C.R.S. 10-3-1115(1)(a), an insurer may not unreasonably delay or deny payment of a benefit owed to a first-party claimant. A delay or denial is unreasonable, the statute says, when the insurer had no reasonable basis for it.
The definition of a first-party claimant leaves out “a person asserting a claim against an insured under a liability policy.” A claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer therefore generally falls outside the statute, while a claim under your policy falls inside it. A Northglenn car accident lawyer can help with the claim against the driver after a crash, which runs separately.
Savio adds a second requirement beyond unreasonable conduct. You also have to prove the insurer knew its conduct was unreasonable or acted with reckless disregard for that fact, and the jury instructions note that the statutory claim skips this step.
Adams County includes Northglenn among its cities on the county’s Cities & Towns page.
For Adams County, the district court sits at the Adams County Justice Center, 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601, in the 17th Judicial District.
Which court fits your case turns on the facts, including where you live and where the insurer does business. We confirm the answer before filing anything.
Trauma care and records
Colorado’s designated trauma facility list has no trauma center in Northglenn. Among the facilities it lists nearby is HCA HealthONE Mountain Ridge in Thornton, a Level II facility, and emergency and inpatient records from a hospital like that can help show what treatment you needed if an insurer questions it.
Where Northglenn disputes begin
Claims that can turn into bad faith disputes for Northglenn residents:
The firm prepares each case as if it will go to trial.
Kevin Cheney, managing partner, is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
We go through your policy, the correspondence, and the timeline of the claim.
Our Spanish-language number is (303) 835-9177.
We read the policy, the correspondence, and the claim timeline.
We line the facts up against the common-law claim, the statute, or both.
The insurer receives a formal demand in writing.
We collect claims-file materials and documentation, adding outside expert input where it helps.
The case is filed where it belongs, which may be the district court for Adams County, at the Adams County Justice Center, depending on the facts.
We pursue the underlying benefit, statutory damages, and attorney fees where applicable.
Every case is valued on its own facts: the coverage, the losses, and how the insurer behaved. Numbers come into the conversation after we’ve read your file.
The policy benefit you were owed remains part of what we pursue, along with what the statute or the common law may allow.
C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1) lets a first-party claimant whose claim was unreasonably delayed or denied sue in district court for twice the covered benefit plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. If the insurer paid an unreasonably delayed benefit before judgment, the jury instructions say that payment doesn’t reduce the doubled amount.
A jury considering this claim can award:
Some cases also support punitive damages. The instructions caution that proving bad faith alone doesn’t establish a punitive claim.
We look at what the insurer relied on. If the decision ignored your doctor’s records or rested on nothing you can see, the reasonable-basis question comes into play.
When an appeal sits for weeks with no request and no decision, a dated record of your follow-ups can help show how long it sat.
Colorado lets an insurer challenge a fairly debatable claim even when its view turns out to be mistaken. The jury instructions treat debatability as weighing against bad faith, but without more it isn’t outcome-determinative, and a claim with no reasonable basis for denial isn’t fairly debatable.
When the insurer’s figure leaves out damage its adjuster saw, or it doesn’t explain how it reached the number, that goes straight to whether it had a reasonable basis.
The insurer’s decision is measured by the information it had at the time of the decision. The jury instructions cite Schultz v. GEICO Casualty Co. for that rule.
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Colorado’s jury instructions call common-law bad faith a tort that is barred under C.R.S. 13-80-102 “unless brought within two years” after you knew, or should reasonably have known, of both the injury and its cause.
For the statutory claim, the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision in Rooftop Restoration held that the one-year penalty-action limit in C.R.S. 13-80-103(1)(d) doesn’t apply to a claim under C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1). The period that does apply to your facts is something to confirm with a lawyer.
With underinsured motorist benefits, a bad faith claim for nonpayment can’t accrue until you’ve obtained a judgment against, or settled with, the underinsured driver. For more on that coverage, see our Northglenn uninsured motorist lawyer page.
It can be. A bad faith insurance claim in Colorado under the statute arises when your insurer delays or denies covered benefits without a reasonable basis, and health claims are first-party claims.
Yes, in some cases. After you exhaust administrative remedies, C.R.S. 10-3-1116(3) entitles a health, life or disability claimant denied under a policy issued in Colorado to de novo review and a jury trial in court.
Adams County lists Northglenn among its cities. Where a case is filed depends on the facts, and we confirm it before filing.
Generally not. C.R.S. 10-3-1115(6) says the statute doesn’t apply to life insurance issued under article 7 of Title 10, and it also excludes title insurance and workers’ compensation.
The statute excludes claims against someone else’s liability policy, so it generally won’t apply. Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is a different matter, and we can review that claim with you.
No. The jury instructions say an unreasonably delayed benefit paid before judgment can’t be used to reduce the statutory two-times award.
Keep your doctor’s notes, the request for treatment, and every letter the insurer sent about it, with dates. Comparing what the insurer had in front of it with what it decided can help show whether the decision had a reasonable basis.
No. Our office is at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, in Denver, and we work with Northglenn clients from there. Call (303) 209-9395.
It's More Than Money.
If your insurer has gone quiet, said no, or offered less than your policy promises, a bad-faith insurance attorney can review your claim. Call (303) 209-9395, or reach us through the contact page.
If your situation involves a different kind of injury, our Northglenn personal injury lawyers page covers it.
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.
