Frequently asked questions

Yes. You send the declarations page, the full policy including every endorsement, and any letters the insurer has sent you. A lawyer reads all of it and tells you what we see. There is no charge for that and no obligation to hire us afterwards. If we take the case on, it is on a contingency fee basis — we do not make money unless you recover funds.

No. A denial letter is one company's reading of one document, written by someone whose employer pays the claim. It is not an adjudication. A large share of the denials we review rest on a policy term quoted without the exception that follows it, or on an exclusion that does not reach the facts. Insurers also reconsider denials regularly — particularly once the file is reviewed by counsel.

It depends on what kind of claim it is, and your policy may shorten the deadline by contract. Breach of an insurance contract in Colorado generally carries a three-year limitation period, and statutory bad faith claims under C.R.S. § 10-3-1116 have their own timing rules. Many commercial property policies contain a suit limitation clause of two years or less from the date of loss. Because the answer turns on your specific wording, treat every deadline as sooner than you think and get the policy read. See our guide to Colorado claim deadlines.

A coverage dispute asks whether the policy promises to pay. Bad faith asks whether the company behaved reasonably in deciding. Colorado has both a common-law bad faith claim and a statutory remedy under C.R.S. §§ 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116, which allows recovery of two times the covered benefit plus reasonable attorney fees where a benefit is delayed or denied without a reasonable basis. The statutory claim does not require proving the insurer knew it was unreasonable — that is a meaningful difference. Read more on our bad faith page.

You almost certainly have to — it is a policy condition, and refusing can cost you the claim. But it is a sworn document, and an understated or incomplete figure can follow you through the rest of the case. Get the number right before you sign it, and ask for an extension in writing if you need one. Our guide to the sworn proof of loss walks through it.

Appraisal is a contractual process for resolving disagreements about the amount of a loss, not about whether it is covered. It is often faster and cheaper than litigation. It can also be a trap: an appraisal award may resolve valuation in a way that undercuts a larger coverage or bad faith claim. Never demand appraisal without understanding what it forecloses. See our explainer on the appraisal clause.

Both. Most of our volume is commercial — business income, commercial property, builder's risk — but the same statutes and much of the same policy language govern residential first-party claims. Hail and wildfire losses on homes are a regular part of the practice.

Probably not. Most coverage disputes resolve through negotiation, appraisal or mediation. They resolve, though, largely because the insurer can see the file is ready for court and that the firm across the table has tried these cases. We prepare every matter as if it will be tried, which is usually why it is not.

An investigation that never ends is not an investigation. Colorado law requires a reasonable basis for delaying payment of a benefit, and open-ended document requests without an explanation of what is still in question begin to look like a lack of one. Document every request and every response, and put a written request for a coverage decision on the file.

Not necessarily. Accepting an undisputed partial payment usually does not release the rest of the claim, and supplemental claims are common once repairs reveal the true scope. What matters is what you signed. If you executed a release, bring it to the review — releases are read narrowly and are not always as broad as they look.

Yes, and you are entitled to it. Insurers must provide a complete certified copy of the policy on request, including all endorsements in force on the date of loss. That request is one of the first things we send, because endorsements change the base form more often than not.

Whatever you have. Ideally: the declarations page, the full policy, the denial or reservation of rights letter, the insurer's estimate, and a one-paragraph summary of the loss with dates. If you only have one of those, send that one — we will tell you what else to ask for.