We Represent Policyholders. Never the Insurance Companies.
407 7th St NW Albuquerque, NM 87102
info@collinsattorneys.com
When you pay your premiums, you are buying peace of mind. You expect that if disaster strikes, whether it’s a car accident on I-25, monsoon hail damage to your roof, or a medical emergency, your insurance company will step up. Instead, too many Albuquerque residents face delays, silence, or outright denials.
At Collins & Collins P.C., our Albuquerque insurance bad faith lawyers know that a denied claim is more than an inconvenience; it is a financial crisis. We are not a high-volume settlement mill. We are a litigation firm dedicated to holding insurers accountable when they violate the New Mexico Unfair Claims Practices Act.
If you believe your claim was wrongfully denied or mishandled, do not accept the insurer’s word as final. We offer a free case review to determine if the insurance company has acted in bad faith.
When your Albuquerque insurer denies a valid claim, you’re dealing with an opponent who has more lawyers and more money than you do. They know it. Their strategy is to wait you out. New Mexico law is supposed to prevent that.
Insurance bad faith cases in Bernalillo County are filed in the Second Judicial District Court at 400 Lomas Blvd NW in downtown Albuquerque, the largest trial court in New Mexico. This is where policyholders challenge insurers who denied catastrophic claims involving wrongful death, permanent disability, total property loss, or denied medical treatment.
In some cases, insurers move the case to federal court at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico (333 Lomas Blvd NW). That happens when the insurer and policyholder are from different states, and the claim exceeds $75,000. They have 30 days after being served to do it, so we prepare every case for either venue from the start.
You can also file a complaint with the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance at (855) 427-5674 or through their website. OSI can’t make the insurer pay, but a formal complaint puts the denial on record and can trigger a regulatory review. It helps in court.
Collins & Collins, P.C. is located at 407 7th St NW in downtown Albuquerque, blocks from both courthouses. We are an Albuquerque-based litigation firm that handles every case in-house from investigation through trial, not a referral service. We represent policyholders throughout Albuquerque, from the North Valley to the East Mountains, Rio Rancho to the South Valley.
If your insurer wrongfully denied a catastrophic claim, call (505) 242-5958 for a no-obligation case review.
Insurance bad faith is a legal cause of action that arises when an insurance company violates the “Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing.” Under New Mexico law, every insurance contract contains an unwritten promise that the insurer will treat you fairly and honestly, placing your interests on the same level as their own.
When an insurer puts profits over policyholders by looking for ways to deny a valid claim rather than looking for ways to pay it, they have committed a tort. This means you may be entitled to damages that go far beyond the original value of your claim.
In New Mexico, the landmark case State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Sloan established that policyholders can seek punitive damages when an insurer acts with reckless disregard for the policyholder’s rights. These damages are not meant to compensate you, but to punish the insurance company and deter them from treating other New Mexico families unfairly.
Our team litigates bad faith claims across Albuquerque and Bernalillo County involving various types of policies.
We handle disputes involving Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, where your own insurer fights you as if you were the adversary. This often happens after serious accidents on local corridors like Paseo del Norte or I-40.
Common auto bad faith patterns include refusing to pay valid UM/UIM claims, lowballing total loss valuations, and delaying payment to force worse settlements. Under the New Mexico Unfair Insurance Practices Act (NMSA § 59A-16-20), insurers that misrepresent policy terms or refuse to pay without investigating may face legal consequences.
When an insurer denies a valid life insurance death benefit claim, the damage goes beyond money. The beneficiary is already grieving. The insurer’s denial forces the family into litigation at the worst possible time. Some common bad faith tactics include rescission based on minor application errors, denying coverage under exclusions that don’t apply, and delaying payment past deadlines.
We represent clients when health insurers deny necessary treatments within networks like UNM Health or Presbyterian, or when disability carriers terminate benefits without proper medical evidence.
A denial that ignores your treating physician’s documentation without a credible medical basis may be bad faith. New Mexico’s Unfair Insurance Practices Act applies to health insurers. The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) applies to some employer-sponsored plans and limits certain remedies.
From monsoon hail damage and windstorms to wildfire smoke claims and other covered losses, even New Mexico homeowner’s insurance policies are often broad and cover complex losses. We fight insurers who deny valid homeowner’s insurance claims using “wear and tear” exclusions to deny valid storm damage claims or refuse to pay for necessary code upgrades (like stucco matching). These patterns include claiming arson without evidence, disputing the cause of damage to avoid coverage, and demanding documentation that no reasonable person would keep. Under New Mexico law, attorneys’ fees may be recoverable when the insurer acts unreasonably.
If you or a loved one suffered permanent harm or death and the insurer has denied, delayed, or underpaid a valid claim without a legitimate basis, we will review your case at no cost.
We do not handle minor injury disputes or cases where the underlying damages are modest.
Insurance companies often try to frame bad faith as a simple “clerical error.” However, New Mexico Statute § 59A-16-20 clearly defines unfair practices. If your insurer has engaged in the following conduct, you may have grounds for a lawsuit.
Insurers have a duty to conduct a reasonable investigation before denying a claim. Denying coverage without inspecting the damage, interviewing witnesses, or reviewing medical records is a primary indicator of bad faith.
While some processing time is normal, dragging a claim out for months without explanation is a tactic designed to wear you down. This often involves rotating claims adjusters or repeated requests for documents you have already provided.
Common deceptive practices under New Mexico law include:
We prepare every case for trial in the Second Judicial District Court or the Federal Court. This “litigation-ready” approach forces insurance companies to take your claim seriously.
We strip the claim file apart. We look for internal emails, adjuster notes, and procedure manuals that reveal whether the insurer followed its own rules. Our team analyzes the policy language to expose where the denial contradicts your coverage.
We issue a formal legal demand. In many cases, we also assist in filing complaints with the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance (OSI). This establishes a record of the insurer’s conduct.
If the insurer refuses to resolve the claim fairly, we file suit. Through the discovery process, we can force the insurance company to turn over internal documents they tried to hide, exposing the systemic issues behind your denial.
Unfairly denied or delayed? Albuquerque Insurance Bad Faith Lawyers fight for your payout. No obligation Case Review.
We do not handle minor injury disputes or cases where the underlying damages are modest.
When an insurer wrongfully denies your claim in New Mexico, you recover more than the policy amount. Bad faith is a tort, not just a contract breach, which means New Mexico law allows four types of damages:
Contract Damages: The amount your policy owed. If your insurer denied an $85,000 roof claim, contract damages are $85,000. If they refused a $150,000 uninsured motorist claim, contract damages are $150,000. This is the floor.
Compensatory Damages: Real costs of the denial caused. Interest on loans you took out to pay for repairs. Lost income while your property was uninhabitable. Out-of-pocket medical bills. New Mexico also awards damages for emotional distress. The anxiety and stress caused by the wrongful denial. You don’t need to prove a physical injury to recover emotional distress damages in bad faith cases.
Punitive Damages: As established in the Sloan case, juries can award punitive damages when the insurer acted with reckless disregard for your rights. These damages punish the insurer and deter future misconduct. The amount depends on the insurer’s conduct and financial resources. If your insurer denied a death benefit without investigating and discovery shows the denial was baseless, juries can award punitive damages on top of contract damages.
Attorney’s Fees: Under NMSA § 39-2-1, if your attorney proves the insurer acted unreasonably, the court orders the insurer to pay your attorney’s fees separately. This means your damages aren’t reduced by legal fees. The standard is lower than for punitive damages. Just that the insurer acted unreasonably in denying the claim.
Choosing the right insurance bad faith attorney determines whether you recover what your policy owes. Insurance companies know which firms settle quickly and which ones litigate through trial. At Collins & Collins, P.C., founding attorney Parrish Collins has built a practice that holds insurers accountable when they deny valid claims. Every case is prepared for court from day one.
Call (505) 242-5958 for a free case review.
In New Mexico, a claim denial is not always the final word. When your insurer denies or delays payment without a clear and consistent explanation, the focus should shift to how your claim was handled and what options you still have.
What you do next can directly affect your ability to challenge the denial:
Our experienced New Mexico insurance bad faith lawyers can review how your claim was handled and determine whether the insurer crossed the line. The issue is not simply that your claim was denied, but whether the insurance company acted fairly when you needed coverage.
The insurance company has teams of lawyers working to protect their profits. You deserve a team dedicated to protecting your rights.
At Collins & Collins P.C., we handle bad faith claims on a contingency fee basis. This means we do not charge hourly fees. We only get paid if we recover compensation for you. If the court orders fee-shifting, the insurer may even be responsible for our legal fees.
Do not let the 4-year clock run out on your rights.
Call us at (505) 242-5958 or fill out our consultation form for a free, confidential review by an experienced Albuquerque bad faith attorney.
Do not let the 4-year clock run out on your rights. Call us or fill out our consultation form for a no-obligation, confidential review by an experienced Albuquerque bad-faith attorney.
We do not handle minor injury disputes or cases where the underlying damages are modest.
Four years. The statute of limitations for an insurance bad faith claim in New Mexico is generally four years from the date the bad faith conduct occurred (often the date of the wrongful denial). This is distinct from the three-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims. Do not wait; evidence disappears, and missing this deadline bars you from recovery.
Yes. Bad faith claims focus on insurer conduct rather than coverage alone and carry a higher level of scrutiny. These cases are treated seriously because they involve whether an insurer failed to meet its obligations in handling a claim.
First-party bad faith involves your own insurance company (e.g., your homeowner's insurance or your own auto policy) failing to treat you fairly. Third-party bad faith occurs when an insurer fails to defend you against a lawsuit from someone else or fails to settle a claim against you within policy limits, exposing you to personal financial liability.
Yes. An insurer stating it followed the policy does not automatically rule out bad faith. The issue is whether the insurer’s conduct was reasonable and honest when applying the policy to the claim.
Yes. Insurance bad faith standards apply regardless of the size or scope of the insurance company. Both national carriers and smaller regional insurers are expected to handle claims fairly.
Filing a bad faith claim does not automatically prevent someone from obtaining insurance in the future. Each insurer evaluates risk differently, and pursuing accountability does not, by itself, disqualify someone from coverage.
Yes. Because bad faith is a tort, you can recover damages for the anxiety, stress, and emotional suffering caused by the insurer’s refusal to pay. You do not need to prove a physical injury to recover emotional distress damages in a bad faith case.
It is illegal for an insurer to retaliate. New Mexico law prohibits insurance companies from raising rates or canceling coverage solely because a policyholder exercised their right to dispute a claim or hire an attorney. If they do, that action itself may be considered further evidence of bad faith.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by negligence, medical malpractice, or injustice in New Mexico, Collins & Collins, P.C. is here to fight for the compensation you deserve. Your first conversation is always free and confidential.
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