The policyholder may recover fees and costs in proving coverage, but not fees incurred proving bad faith. Brandt v. Superior Court, 37 Cal. 3d 813 (1988). May be proved to a judge or jury. But a subtraction must be made for time spent pursuing bad faith. Keeping accurate time records is advisable. Problems arise when the case is handled on a contingency basis and no time records are kept. See Cassim v. Allstate Ins. Co., 33 Cal. 4th 780 (2004) for complicated calculations in this situation.

There is no specific allocation method for subtracting time spent in pursuing bad faith from time spent in pursuing coverage.