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Colorado Supreme Court affirmed that an insurer violated its statutory duty under CRS § 10-3-1115 by unreasonably delaying payment of covered underinsured motorist benefits while disputing other claim components, upholding the jury award for the insured driver.
Insurance—Underinsured Motorist Benefits—Unreasonable Delay/Denial of Payment. The Supreme Court held that under CRS § 10-3-1115 insurers have a duty not to unreasonably delay or deny payment of covered benefits, even though other components of an insured's claim may still be reasonably in dispute. Here, an insurer issued multiple underinsured motorist insurance policies that covered a driver who was injured by an underinsured motorist. Though the insurer agreed that its policies covered the driver's medical expenses, it refused to pay them because the insurer disputed other amounts (including lost wages) that the driver sought under the policies. A jury found that the insurer violated CRS § 10-3-1115, which provides that an insurer "shall not unreasonably delay or deny payment of a claim for benefits owed to or on behalf of any first-party [insured] claimant." Because the Court of Appeals properly upheld the driver's jury award, the Court affirmed its judgment.
This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.
The Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction over a certified question of law from the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado to determine whether there should be an arbitration-specific exception to Colorado's traditionally defined doctrine of equitable estoppel. The Court held that Colorado's law of equitable estoppel applies in the same manner when a dispute involves an arbitration agreement as it does in other contexts. The Court recognized that under Colorado law, equitable estoppel requires proof of four elements—one of which is detrimental reliance. Thus, a nonsignatory to an arbitration agreement can only assert equitable estoppel against a signatory in an effort to compel arbitration if the nonsignatory can demonstrate each of the elements of equitable estoppel, including detrimental reliance.
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