Source: https://coloradoinjurylaw.com/our-expertise/car-insurance-disputes/colorado-law-and-unfair-insurance-claim-practices/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 03:56:09+00:00

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Colorado Law And Unfair Insurance Claim Practices | Fuicelli & Lee, P.C.
2. An insurer should give equal consideration to the interests of the insured as it does to its own interests with neither interest being superior. Bailey v. Allstate Insurance Co., 844 P.2d 1336 (Colo. App. 1992), Egan v. Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, 598 P.2d 452 (Cal. 1979), cited with approval in Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. v. Trimble, 805 P.2d 419 (Colo. 1993).
3. An insurer should not deny a claim based on speculation or conjecture. Rawlings v. Apodaca, 726 P.2d 565, 572 (Ariz. 1986).
4. An insurer’s decision to deny a claim should be based on information known at the time of denial, not information later discovered. Pfeiffer v. State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Company, 940 P.2d 967 (Colo. App. 1996).
5. An insurer should exercise a quasi-fiduciary duty to its insured in the context of the a claim for uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits. Peterman v. State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co., 961 P.2d 487 (Colo. 1998). Handling uninsured or underinsured motorist claims should not be adversarial.
6. An insurance company should not deny a claim without substantial justification. Giampapa v. American Family Mutual Auto Insurance Company, 64 P.3d 230 (Colo. 2003).
7. A willful and wanton breach is a refusal to pay insurance benefits when due. This is established when an insurer acts without justification and in disregard of the plaintiff’s rights. Pham v. State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co., 70 P.3d 567, 572 (Colo. App. 2003). An insurer is responsible for non-economic damages caused by its willful and wanton denial of an insured’s claim for first-party benefits. Giampapa v. American Family Mutual Auto Insurance Company, supra.
8. An insurer must keep an insured reasonably apprized of the status of the insured’s claim for benefits. C.R.S. Section 10-3-1104(1)(h)(II)(V)(VI)(XIV).
9. An insurer should not investigate, evaluate or deny a claim based on biased, one-sided information. Rawlings v. Apodaca, supra, Mariscal v. Old Republic Life Insurance Co., 50 Cal.Rptr. 224, 227, (Cal. App. 1996).
10. An insurer must be honest with its insured and third-party claimants. Weigel v. Hardesty, supra.
11. An insurer’s attorney may be liable to the insured if the attorney engages in fraudulent or malicious conduct toward the insured. Weigel v. Hardesty, supra.
12. An insurer should provide its insured with factual reasons for why the insurer is denying or delaying payment of an insured’s claim for benefits. C.R.S. Section 10-3-1104(1)(h)(XIV).
14. An insurer should tender to its insured the amount of benefits to which the insurer agrees the insured should be paid for which the insurer does not dispute. Borland v. Safeco Insurance Co., 147 Ariz. 195, 709 P.2d 552 (1985).
16. An insurer should compensate an insured for financial losses, including interest on the benefits, caused to the insured by the insurer’s unreasonable delay in investigating and evaluating an insured’s claim. Bowen v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, 929 P.2d 14 (Colo. App. 1996).
17. An insurer should not take advantage of the insured’s vulnerable condition after experiencing a covered loss. Zilisch v. State Farm, supra.

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