Larimer County side
Larimer County is in the 8th Judicial District. The Judicial Branch places both the county court and the district court in the Larimer County Justice Center, located at 201 LaPorte Ave, Suite 100, Fort Collins, CO 80521.
IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.
Windsor Bad Faith Insurance Lawyers for Policyholders in Weld and Larimer Counties
You did what the policy asked: reported the loss, answered the adjuster, and sent the receipts. If your insurer still hasn’t paid, has said no, or has offered much less than the damage is worth, call (303) 209-9395 to talk it over with a lawyer.
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(303) 209-9395
Windsor, Larimer and Weld Counties
Why policyholders call us
CGH Injury Lawyers represents Windsor 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.
- 5.0-star Google rating
- ABOTA trial advocate on the team
- Trial-ready, not settlement-shy
- No fee unless we win
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ABOTA trial advocate on the team
Trial lawyers, not a settlement mill
8 attorneys, bilingual EN / ES
Windsor sits in two counties, and that can affect where a lawsuit over your claim is filed. A Windsor bad faith insurance lawyer can pull the claim file apart and show whether your insurer had a legitimate basis for holding back what the policy promises.
CGH Injury Lawyers takes on Windsor matters out of Denver. Get in touch at (303) 209-9395 or through the contact page.
This page provides general informational content 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.
What This Page Covers
- Claim problems that can lead to a Windsor bad faith dispute
- Colorado’s statutory and common-law bad faith claims, side by side
- The two county court systems that serve Windsor and nearby trauma centers
- The steps we take and the recovery the law allows
- Insurer defenses and the limits on how long you have to act
Key Takeaways
- Fair dealing is required. Colorado’s pattern jury instructions say an insurer owes its policyholders a duty of “good faith and fair dealing.”
- You aren’t limited to one theory. A single course of conduct can support a statutory claim and a common-law claim at the same time.
- Doubled benefits are possible. The remedy statute, C.R.S. 10-3-1116, lets you seek twice the covered benefit, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs.
- Windsor spans two counties. Larimer County lists Windsor as a town in both Larimer and Weld counties, and each has its own district court.
- Get your deadline checked. A lawyer should confirm how much time you have on each claim.
Claim Problems That Can Start a Windsor Dispute
Picture a house fire that forced your family into a rental, followed by months of back-and-forth over the contents list and living expenses. Or consider a crash with a driver who had too little coverage, and now your underinsured motorist carrier won’t make a fair offer.
A long-term disability payment that suddenly stopped, or a health plan that refused a treatment your doctor prescribed, can raise the same issue. Each one turns on a single statutory point, namely, whether the company could justify its handling with a reasonable basis.
We start by listening, then we read the documents, including the denial letters, estimates, and any notes you kept from calls with the adjuster. You’ll get a candid view of whether the facts support a bad faith case, or whether the dispute is an ordinary disagreement over coverage.
Common law vs. statute
Statutory and Common-Law Claims Compared
Colorado treats these as different legal claims. The Colorado Civil Jury Instructions, ch. 25 call the statutory action “in addition to and separate from” first-party common-law bad faith, and one lawsuit can carry both. More on how the two fit together is on our Colorado bad faith insurance lawyer page.
| Issue | Statutory claim | Common-law claim |
|---|---|---|
| Rule of law | Colorado’s insurance code, sections 10-3-1115 to 10-3-1116 | Travelers Insurance Co. v. Savio, decided in 1985 |
| Proof needed | No reasonable basis for delaying or denying a covered benefit | Unreasonable conduct, together with knowledge or reckless disregard of its unreasonableness |
| Money available | Double the covered benefit; reasonable attorney fees and court costs are added | Damages the insurer’s conduct caused |
Under the statute
Colorado’s insurance code makes it unlawful to put off or refuse, unreasonably, benefits due to a first-party claimant (C.R.S. 10-3-1115(1)(a)). The yardstick is whether the insurer had a reasonable basis for its action.
Only first-party claimants are covered, and the definition carves out anyone making a claim on another person’s liability policy. A demand on someone else’s auto carrier therefore generally falls outside the statute, while a claim on your uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage can fall inside it. After a crash, the injury claim against the other driver is separate, and a Windsor car accident lawyer can help with it.
Under the common law
Savio requires more. Beyond unreasonable conduct, you must prove the insurer knew its conduct was unreasonable or acted with reckless disregard for it. This extra element makes the Savio claim tougher than the other.
Where the statute stops
Among other limits, subsections (5) and (6) of C.R.S. 10-3-1115 leave workers’ compensation, title, and life coverage out. For health and disability plans issued in Colorado, C.R.S. 10-3-1116(2) voids any term that hands the insurer discretion over reading the policy or judging eligibility.
Local Knowledge
Windsor’s Two Counties and Their Courts
Larimer County’s list of its cities and towns marks Windsor as a town in both Larimer and Weld counties. That split can matter, because the proper court for a lawsuit depends on the facts, including the county you live in and where the insurer does business.
Weld County side
Weld County is in the 19th Judicial District. The Weld County Courthouse is at 901 9th Ave, Greeley, CO 80631, and the Judicial Branch says all court business is handled in the Weld County Centennial Center, 915 10th Street, Greeley, CO 80631.
Trauma centers near Windsor
No facility on the Colorado health department’s designated trauma facility list is located in Windsor. The list places Medical Center of the Rockies, a Level I trauma center, in Loveland, and UCHealth Greeley Hospital, a Level III facility, in Greeley; records from wherever you were treated can help show what care was needed if an insurer questions a medical bill.
Windsor's bad faith cases can begin with:
- A fire or smoke claim where contents and living expense payments stall
- An underinsured motorist claim on your own policy after a crash
- A long-term disability benefit ended without a documented reason
- A health insurance denial for care your doctor ordered
Why CGH
Working With CGH Injury Lawyers
Trial preparation
We prepare every case as if it will go to trial.
ABOTA
Kevin Cheney, the firm’s Managing Partner, is an American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) member.
Background
The firm was founded in Denver in 2016 under the name Cheney Galluzzi & Howard, and its office is at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201.
Spanish line
For help in Spanish, call (303) 835-9177.
How we handle your case
How a Windsor Bad Faith Case Moves Forward
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Reading the record
We review your coverage, the insurer’s correspondence, and the timeline of the claim.
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Choosing the claims
We match your facts to the common-law claim, the statutory claim, or both.
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Sending a demand
The insurer receives a formal written demand.
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Building proof
We gather claims-file materials, your documentation, and outside experts when their input would help.
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Filing in the right place
Depending on your facts, a Windsor case could go to district court in Larimer County or in Weld County; we settle which one before anything is filed.
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Seeking what applies
We go after what you were owed, statutory damages, and attorney fees where applicable.
Compensation
What the Law Lets You Recover
The value of a claim depends on the policy, your losses, and how the insurer behaved. Amounts are part of the conversation once the file has been read.
Statutory recovery
If your claim was unreasonably delayed or denied, the statute lets you seek twice the covered benefit, with reasonable attorney fees and court costs (C.R.S. 10-3-1116(1)). If the insurer pays an unreasonably delayed benefit before judgment, the jury instructions say that payment doesn’t reduce the two-times award.
Common-law recovery
Colorado’s damages instruction for common-law bad faith covers:
- Noneconomic losses or injuries
- Physical impairment or disfigurement, when proven
- Economic losses already suffered or probable in the future
Punitive damages. Some cases allow them. Still, the jury instructions warn that showing bad faith doesn’t by itself entitle you to punitive damages.
Insurer defenses
How Insurers Defend These Claims
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“Reasonable minds could differ on coverage”
That’s the fairly debatable defense. An insurer may challenge a fairly debatable claim even if its denial proves mistaken, and the jury instructions say this weighs against bad faith but “without more, this factor is not outcome-determinative.” Without a reasonable basis for the denial, the claim doesn’t qualify as fairly debatable.
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“We based our decision on the facts available”
An insurer’s choice is weighed against what it knew at the moment it chose, a principle the jury instructions take from Schultz v. GEICO Casualty Co. We document exactly what the insurer had and when.
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“Additional living expenses have run out”
We read the limits and terms of your policy’s loss-of-use coverage closely. When payments stop while the home still isn’t livable, we check whether the policy’s terms support the cutoff. We also line up each payment against the dates the house could not be lived in.
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“Your contents list isn’t supported”
When the insurer keeps rejecting receipts, photos and statements that answer its questions, we lay out each submission and each response side by side.
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Deadlines and next steps
Deadlines That Apply in Windsor
Common-law claims. This claim is a tort, and the jury instructions apply C.R.S. 13-80-102 to it. A suit must be filed within two years from the time you learned, or with reasonable diligence would have learned, of the injury and its cause.
Statutory claims. Rooftop Restoration, a 2018 ruling of Colorado’s top court, took section 10-3-1116(1) actions outside the one-year penalty-action limit found in C.R.S. 13-80-103(1)(d). The start date of your clock can be contested, so have a lawyer confirm your deadline.
Underinsured motorist claims. UIM cases run on a later clock. The jury instructions say a bad faith claim over unpaid UIM benefits can’t accrue until you’ve obtained a judgment against, or settled with, the underinsured driver.
A Windsor uninsured motorist lawyer can look at where your claim stands on that timeline.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the test for a bad faith insurance claim in Colorado?
Statutory bad faith asks whether your insurer held up or refused benefits it owed you with no reasonable basis (C.R.S. 10-3-1115). A common-law bad faith insurance claim in Colorado adds a second element, the insurer’s knowledge or reckless disregard of its unreasonableness.
Does it matter whether I live on the Weld or Larimer side of Windsor?
It can. Your home county is one of the facts that shapes venue, along with the insurer’s business locations, so the Weld or Larimer line may point the case to one district court or the other. We confirm the right court before filing.
My UIM carrier won’t pay. Is that bad faith?
Under the statute, it may be bad faith if the delay or denial had no reasonable basis. The claim is on your uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, a policy that covers you, so the statute can apply. A bad faith claim for nonpayment of UIM benefits can’t accrue until you’ve obtained a judgment against, or settled with, the underinsured driver.
What if my insurer finally pays after months of delay?
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.
Can a denied disability claim go to court?
It can. Once the plan’s administrative remedies are used up, C.R.S. 10-3-1116(3) gives a health, life, or disability claimant, denied under a policy issued in Colorado, a fresh, de novo look by a court and the right to a jury.
The other driver’s insurer lowballed me. Is that bad faith?
Generally not under the statute. A person claiming on someone else’s liability policy isn’t a first-party claimant, so statutory bad faith is tied to coverage that insures you.
Does CGH Injury Lawyers have a Windsor office?
No. The firm is based in Denver at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, and Windsor clients work with us from there. Call (303) 209-9395.
Keep Reading
Related pages
It's More Than Money.
Speak With a Windsor Bad Faith Insurance Attorney
Sitting down with a bad-faith insurance attorney lets you go through the policy and the insurer’s letters line by line. Call (303) 209-9395 or send a note through our contact page.
Our Windsor personal injury lawyers page lists the other cases we take.
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.