It is critical to know the type and amount of insurance coverages that are available after a collision. This can impact the ability of the injured person to receive medical care, follow-up with treatment recommendations, and obtain the proper representation that they deserve.
Insurance companies know that and can benefit if an insurance policy that would otherwise provide coverage is never discovered or revealed. After-all if they still can collect the premiums on a policy, but if no claims are ever made on the policy (due to it never being disclosed) they will not have to make any payments.
The practice of hiding or not disclosing all policies until absolutely forced to was so rampant, that the Colorado Legislature recently passed C.R.S. § 10-3-1117 which requires transparency so that injured parties can fully understand the total amount of insurance coverage available to them. Among other requirements, this statute provides that an insurance company has to provide the following information when requested:
- The name of the insurer;
- The name of each insured party, as the name appears on the declarations page of the policy;
- The limits of the liability coverage; and
- A copy of the policy.
This request applies to all insurance policies, including excess or umbrella, that is or may be relevant to the claim. If you would like to read the full text of the new law, please click here.
Unfortunately, even in spite of C.R.S. § 10-3-1117, we have recently seen other methods or tactics insurance companies are using to avoid disclosing every insurance policy or coverage that may be available. If you or someone you know was in a car collision and the other person's insurance carrier is not telling you what coverages exist, please contact an attorney.
Travis Legal Offices, LLC has experience in working through the new bill and making sure that insurance companies follow it in every one of our client's cases. We are one of the few law firms in Colorado to actually sue insurance companies under § 10-3-1117 when they still fail to comply, despite the new law. Our team will investigate and uncover all insurance policies and coverages that apply to our client's cases, even if the insurance company does not want to disclose them. Please contact our firm if you have questions or believe that an insurance company is hiding important information about insurance policies. You deserve to know what coverages exist and they should not be able to collect premiums on a policy while also hiding that policy from the injured party who needs to make a claim under it.
