The Role of Personal Counsel:
When your insurance company denies you the coverage you believe your insurance policy promised, you need personal counsel. The attorney assigned by your insurance company is the wrong attorney to give you advice. The insurance defense attorney, retained and paid by your insurance company, has a built-in conflict of interest. You need independent advice on whether your claim is covered.
Personal counsel is the policyholder's coverage counsel and adviser. Personal counsel works for you, the policyholder, at the intersection of the litigation with opportunities to influence plaintiff's counsel, insurance defense counsel, the insurer's claim representative/coverage counsel, and, when a settlement conference looms,the mediator.
Attorney Steven Taffet began his legal career in 1978, and is known to other attorneys as a legal expert in insurance law cases. Contact Taffet Law, P.C., when you have questions concerning your claim if you have been denied coverage by your insurance company.
The Must See Documents:
• Insurance policy
• Reservation of rights letters
• Coverage denial letters
• Complaint
Litigation Insurance:
Liability insurance is sometimes referred to as "litigation insurance" because most liability policies obligate the insurer to provide a defense against claims that arguably fall within the scope of coverage. These policies usually also obligate the insurer to pay to settle claims or to indemnify insureds against judgments.
Applicable Law:
The duty to defend and the duty to indemnify are separate and distinct. An insurer seeking to avoid its duty to defend an insured bears a heavy burden. Hecla Min. Co. v. New Hampshire Ins. Co. , 811 P.2d 1083, 1086 (Colo.,1991)
The duty to defend is broader than the duty to indemnify and the determination of whether an insurer has a duty to defend lies within the four corners of the complaint. Cyprus Amax Minerals Co. v. Lexington Ins. Co., 74 P.3d 294, 299 (Colo. 2003) An insurer's duty to defend arises when the underlying complaint against the insured alleges any facts that might fall within the coverage of the policy. Douglass v. Hartford Ins. Co. , 602 F.2d 934, 937 (10th Cir.1979).
Key Questions When Insurer Creates Risk of Excess Judgment :
• Was there a pre-litigation opportunity to settle within policy limits?
• Was there a pre-judgment opportunity to settle within policy limits?
• Did insurer fail to inform insured of opportunities to settle?
• Did insurer refuse authority to accept offer?
• Did failure to accept offer increase coverage - no limits?
E-mail us at Taffet Law, P.C. to address your insurance law needs and to deal with your insurance company. Free initial consultations are available.