We're property damage attorneys for Colorado policyholders, working with a Colorado-licensed attorney of counsel. From hail and wind to wildfire smoke, frozen pipes, fallen trees and house fires, we take on insurance companies that delay, deny and underpay claims across the state. Free claim review.
No fee unless we win: if there is no recovery you owe no attorney fee, but you may be responsible for costs, and for the other side's attorney fees if a court orders it.
Why this is happening
Colorado homes take damage from every direction. Hail is the state's signature peril — the Division of Insurance says it accounts for about half of what Front Range and Eastern Plains homeowners pay in premium. Wildfire reaches farther into neighborhoods: the Aspen Acres Fire, which started June 29, 2026 in Custer County, destroyed 324 homes in Custer and Pueblo counties. Winter brings frozen and burst pipes, and high winds bring down trees and strip roofs. After a big storm, adjusters rush through neighborhoods. Damage gets called cosmetic. Estimates come in low. Files quietly close. And the pressure starts to sign off before the full repair scope is even visible.
You don't have to accept that. Your policy is a contract, and Colorado law says an insurer may not unreasonably delay or deny payment of a covered claim. When a carrier falls short of that standard, the policyholder gains leverage. We read the policy line by line, document what the loss is actually worth, and build the case around where the claim handling fell short.
"Within two weeks of hiring them, the adjuster came back out. Within two months, my claim was paid in full, about 4× what the carrier originally offered."— Marcus T. · Wind Claim
What we handle
If the damage is to your home or building and your insurer isn't paying what it should, we should talk.
From the Front Range to the Eastern Plains, Colorado roofs take hail almost every summer. After a storm, carriers approve a few slopes instead of a replacement, call dented shingles and metal "cosmetic," pay for shingles but not the underlayment, or let a percentage wind and hail deductible swallow the claim. We dispute those shortcuts, document the full hail and wind damage — roof, siding, gutters, windows and outdoor HVAC units — and handle roof claims statewide.
A January cold snap can split a supply line inside an exterior wall or burst a pipe in a home left empty over the holidays. Water heaters fail and appliance lines leak year-round. Carriers like to call these losses "gradual," "poor maintenance" or a failure to keep the heat on. Most policies treat sudden, accidental water damage differently from a slow leak — and the facts usually tell the difference when they're documented before the evidence is repaired away.
Homes still standing after a wildfire can be full of smoke odor, soot and ash — in the ductwork, insulation, carpet and everything you own. Carriers often offer a surface cleaning when the house needs more, cut off living expenses early, or push back on contents lists. We document the smoke and ash damage, the contents and the time you're out of the home, and push for what the policy actually covers.
A house fire leaves damage well beyond the burned rooms — smoke in the ductwork, contents lists that run to hundreds of items, and code-required upgrades during the rebuild. A tree or limb through the roof brings structural, interior and debris-removal costs carriers like to trim. We document structure, contents and upgrades so the settlement matches the rebuild your policy promised.
A denial letter is the carrier's opening position, not a court ruling. Many Colorado denials rest on a rushed inspection, a misread exclusion, a late-notice argument or a cause-of-loss theory the facts don't support. We review the letter against the policy and tell you plainly whether it can be challenged.
When the offer doesn't come close to real repair costs, or the insurer drags its feet without a reasonable basis, you don't have to take it as final. We document the shortfall, hold the carrier to the policy it wrote, and use the remedies Colorado law gives policyholders — in negotiation, appraisal or court.
Other Colorado claims we handle
Colorado claim guide
Plain-English answers to the questions that decide most Colorado property claims. Every claim turns on its own policy and facts, so use this as a starting point — not legal advice for your situation.
Colorado law says an insurer may not unreasonably delay or deny payment of a covered claim to its own policyholder (C.R.S. §§ 10-3-1115 & 10-3-1116). A policyholder whose covered benefits were unreasonably delayed or denied may sue for two times the covered benefit, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. It is a remedy the law allows, not a promised result — whether the insurer acted unreasonably turns on the facts of how the claim was handled.
Colorado Division of Insurance Regulation 5-1-14 generally requires an insurer to pay or deny a valid and complete claim within 60 days of receiving it, unless there is a reasonable dispute about whether or how much it owes. A missed timeline doesn't decide the claim on its own, but it becomes part of the record we build.
Colorado generally allows three years to sue for breach of an insurance contract, and a homeowner's policy cannot shorten that period. A bad-faith claim generally must be brought within two years, and courts have applied two years to the statutory delay-and-denial claim as well. HOA and commercial policies can carry shorter suit clauses, and some deadlines run from the date of the loss rather than the date of the denial. Check your policy and talk to a lawyer before any deadline passes.
Many Colorado policies now carry a separate wind and hail deductible figured as a percentage of the dwelling limit instead of a flat dollar amount — 1% or 2% of a $500,000 limit is $5,000 or $10,000. Your declarations page says which deductible applies to which cause of loss. Question an estimate that rounds the damage down to fit under the deductible, or a hail deductible applied to a loss hail didn't cause.
Many insurers now add a cosmetic-damage exclusion, which leaves out hail dents that don't affect how a roof or siding works, or a roof payment schedule, which pays a reduced percentage based on the roof's age. Whether hail damage is only cosmetic is often a question of fact, and the endorsement's exact wording matters. If your policy has either one, the adjuster's report should say how it was applied.
Some Colorado policies require hail and wind damage to be reported within a set time — often 365 days from the storm. Check your policy's conditions section. Hail damage isn't always visible from the ground, and a late-notice denial is still worth having reviewed: what the policy requires, when you found the damage and what the insurer did with your report all matter.
After a declared wildfire disaster, Colorado law gives homeowners added protections. One example from HB 22-1111: when a primary residence is a total loss, the insurer must offer to pay at least 65% of the contents coverage limit without an itemized inventory. The Division of Insurance reminded insurers of these rules on July 6, 2026, after the Aspen Acres Fire.
The Colorado Division of Insurance's Consumer Services Team takes complaints online at doi.colorado.gov and by phone at (303) 894-7490, or (800) 930-3745 outside the Denver metro area. The Division can contact your insurer, require a response and act against unfair claim practices — but it can't act as your lawyer, decide the facts of a disputed claim or award damages. Many homeowners file a complaint and talk to an attorney at the same time.
Why homeowners choose us
We don't represent insurance companies. Ever.
That's not a marketing line, it's a structural choice.
Some firms represent insurers one day and policyholders the next. We don't. Colorado homes are insured by national carriers and regional companies alike — and when we take on a claim, the carrier knows we have no relationships to protect on the other side.
We work on contingency — no fee unless we win. No retainer and no hourly bill; our fee is a percentage of what we recover. If there is no recovery you owe no attorney fee, but you may be responsible for costs, and for the other side's attorney fees if a court orders it. We walk you through exactly how fees and costs work, in writing, before you sign anything, so there are no surprises.
Colorado claims are handled with Steven Flaxman, Of Counsel to Property People Law and a Colorado-licensed attorney (Colorado Attorney Registration No. 52294). We consult by phone and video across the state — Denver and the metro area, Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Grand Junction and the Western Slope, the mountain towns and the Eastern Plains.
How it works
Most Colorado homeowners are surprised how little they have to do once an attorney is involved — even with carriers used to policyholders who don't push back.
Free, confidential conversation. Bring your policy, the carrier's denial letter or estimate, and any photos you took before repairs began. If you've filed a complaint with the Colorado Division of Insurance, bring that file too — the Division can press the carrier for a response, but it generally can't decide what your claim is worth or order a payment the carrier disputes. That's where we come in.
We send independent adjusters, roofers and engineers to document the real scope — the hail damage adjusters call cosmetic, the smoke and ash a surface cleaning won't fix, and the frozen-pipe and appliance losses carriers want to call gradual.
We send the carrier a documented demand that lays out exactly what the loss is worth and where the claim handling fell short. Many cases resolve here — once a carrier sees the full exposure, the offer changes. If your policy's appraisal clause fits the dispute, we'll tell you.
If they still won't pay fairly, we file suit in Colorado state court or federal court, with the resources to take it all the way.
Recent results
Every case is different, but these are the kinds of recoveries our attorneys secure for policyholders when we push back on a lowball offer or wrongful denial.
These results were obtained for clients in other states, not in Colorado. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is evaluated on its specific facts and policy terms.
What clients say
"I was about to accept $11,000 from my carrier for a roof I'd been quoted $38,000 to replace. Property People Law got me $46,500 and handled the whole thing. I literally never spoke to the adjuster again."
"They were calm, clear, and didn't talk down to me. Within a day I knew what my options were. Six months later my house was actually fixed, not patched."
These client experiences come from clients in other states, not in Colorado, and describe individual results. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome; every claim turns on its own facts.
Common questions
Get the denial letter, your full policy with its endorsements, and the adjuster's estimate or report, and don't throw out damaged materials yet. A denial letter is the insurer's opening position, not a final decision. Many denials can be challenged when the inspection was rushed, an exclusion was misread or the cause of loss was wrong. Colorado suit deadlines keep running after a denial, so call sooner rather than later.
Colorado Division of Insurance Regulation 5-1-14 generally requires an insurer to pay or deny a valid and complete claim within 60 days of receiving it, unless there is a reasonable dispute about whether or how much it owes. An insurer also may not unreasonably delay payment of a covered benefit. If your claim has stalled for weeks without a clear explanation, it is worth having the file reviewed.
Don't sign a release or cash a check marked as final payment until you understand what it covers. Ask for the insurer's estimate in writing and compare it line by line with your contractor's. We document the shortfall with independent experts, press the insurer to reconsider and, where the policy allows, use appraisal or court to resolve the amount.
Under C.R.S. §§ 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116, a policyholder whose covered benefits were unreasonably delayed or denied may sue for two times the covered benefit, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. Whether the insurer acted unreasonably depends on the facts of how the claim was handled. It is a remedy the law allows, not a promised result, and many claims resolve before it comes to that.
Colorado generally allows three years to sue for breach of an insurance contract, and a homeowner's policy cannot shorten that period. A bad-faith claim generally carries a two-year deadline, and courts have applied two years to the statutory delay-and-denial claim. HOA and commercial policies can contain shorter suit clauses. Deadlines can run from the date of the loss, so check your policy and talk to a lawyer well before any deadline.
Instead of a flat amount, the deductible is a percentage of your dwelling coverage limit — for example, 2% of a $400,000 limit is $8,000. It usually applies only to wind and hail losses; other causes of loss use the regular deductible. Check your declarations page, and question an estimate that seems built to land just under the deductible.
Not necessarily. Some policies carry a cosmetic-damage exclusion for hail dents that don't affect how the roof or siding works; many don't. If yours does, the question becomes whether the hail caused functional damage — cracked or bruised shingles, lost granules, broken seals or water entry. An independent inspection often answers that differently than a quick adjuster visit.
It depends on your policy wording and the facts. When replacement shingles or siding can't reasonably match what is left, many policyholders argue that a uniform appearance is part of restoring the property, and insurers often resist. We review the policy language and document the matching problem with your contractor's findings.
With replacement cost coverage, many insurers first pay actual cash value — the replacement cost minus depreciation — and release the held-back depreciation after the repair is done. Policies often set a time limit for completing repairs and claiming it. Track that deadline, keep your receipts and contracts, and have the depreciation figure checked: it is often overstated.
Many Colorado property policies let either side demand appraisal when the only dispute is the amount of the loss. Each side picks an appraiser, and an umpire decides what they can't agree on. Appraisal can be faster than court, but it usually doesn't decide coverage questions or how the insurer handled the claim, and it has costs of its own. We tell you whether it fits your dispute before you invoke it.
Colorado licenses public adjusters, who can document and negotiate a claim for a percentage fee. A lawyer can do that and more: advise you on coverage, pursue the delay-and-denial statute and take the dispute to court. If the insurer has already denied the claim, is raising coverage defenses or has stopped responding, a lawyer is usually the better fit.
We handle Colorado property damage claims on a contingency-fee basis — no fee unless we win, no retainer and no hourly bills. Our fee is a percentage of what we recover. If there is no recovery you owe no attorney fee, but you may be responsible for costs, and for the other side's attorney fees if a court orders it. We explain exactly how fees and costs work, in writing, before you sign anything. The first call and the claim review are free.
Colorado claims are handled with Steven Flaxman, Of Counsel to Property People Law and a Colorado-licensed attorney (Colorado Attorney Registration No. 52294). Consultations are by phone and video, so homeowners anywhere in Colorado — from Fort Collins to Pueblo to Grand Junction — can get a claim review without traveling.
Yes. We represent HOAs, condo associations, business owners and property owners with commercial property claims — hail, wind, fire, water and business interruption losses at multifamily buildings, offices, retail centers, warehouses and churches across Colorado. Commercial policies can contain shorter suit-limitation clauses, so these claims should be reviewed early.
Ready to talk?
Tell us what happened. Your policy and the carrier's response are reviewed with a Colorado-licensed attorney — and we'll tell you straight whether we think you have a case worth pursuing. Free, confidential, no obligation. We handle home and business property insurance claims. We don't handle car or auto accident claims.
