Boulder Insurance Bad Faith Lawyer

Insurance companies have an obligation to handle your claims reasonably. Unfortunately, even if you pay your premiums and do everything right, sometimes insurers don’t fulfill their end of the bargain. When this happens, you may be able to bring legal claims against them. If your case involves personal injury, our personal injury attorneys can provide expert assistance.

A Boulder insurance bad faith lawyer at Daniels & Scriven, PC can help you understand the different legal remedies you could pursue and can fight hard on your behalf to get you compensation if an insurer treats you unfairly. 

To find out more about your rights and about how our firm can put our four decades of experience to work for you, call (720) 863-6006  to schedule a free consultation today. 

What is Insurance Bad Faith?

Insurance companies have a “duty of good faith and fair dealing.” Essentially, what this means is, they must act reasonably and appropriately in processing your claims. If they don’t, you can take them to court to get compensation.

Some examples of insurance bad faith include:

• Failure to investigate claims
• Unreasonable delay in investigating or making payment on a claim
• Failing to negotiate a reasonable settlement 
• Denying a claim without legitimate reason
• Misrepresentation the terms of the insurance policy 

These and other failures to act fairly can result in an insurer being held legally liable for losses caused by their actions.

Colorado Laws on Insurance Bad Faith

Under CO Code § 10-3-1115 (2021), the law stipulates that “a person engaged in the business of insurance shall not unreasonably delay or deny payment of a claim for benefits owed to or on behalf of any first-party claimant.” A first-person claimant is the person who is insured by the policy and entitled to benefits. 

Plaintiffs whose insurance companies unreasonably delay or deny payments can make a claim under this statute and recover compensation. Under CO Code § 10-3-1116 (2021) “a first-party claimant… may… recover reasonable attorney fees and court costs and two times the covered benefit.” 

This law also indicates plaintiffs can bring other claims based on bad faith as well. This can include breach of contract claims, as well as common law bad faith claims. Common law claims that are based on past legal decisions. The Colorado Jury Instructions provided in bad faith claims require the plaintiff to prove:

• The plaintiff sustained losses that should have been covered by the insurance policy. 
• The defendant insurance company acted unreasonably, often by denying the plaintiff’s claim without justification. 
• The defendant knew that their conduct was unreasonably or acted with reckless disregard to whether their conduct was unreasonable
• The conduct of the defendant caused losses, injuries, or damages to the plaintiff

If you can prove these elements of a common law bad faith claim, you should be entitled to recover economic damages as well as non-economic damages such as compensation for emotional distress. Willful wrongdoing by a defendant insurance company can even sometimes lead to punitive damage equal to the actual damages incurred. 

Getting Help from a Boulder Bad Faith Lawyer 

When insurance companies fail to treat you fairly, you need a tough advocate on your side. For more than 40 years, the Boulder bad faith lawyers at Daniels & Scriven, PC have been going up against some of the biggest insurance companies in the business. Give us a call at (720) 863-6006 to find out more about how we can fight for you.