A fire destroys your home, or someone sues you because he/she got injured while visiting your business. In both cases, you expect your insurance company to cover at least some of the damages. However, insurance companies improperly refuse to pay valid claims all the time, acting in bad faith.
How can you recognize Insurance Bad Faith?
Any insurance company has certain duties to perform, such as:
- Investigate your claim fairly, honestly and promptly;
- If your company was sued by someone, provide and cover your defense costs;
- Evaluate the damages and come with a fair settlement offer;
- Approve or deny the claim with a valid explanation and within a reasonable amount of time;
- Pay the approved claim to you in time, or if you were sued and found liable, it should cover the claims as described in your insurance policy.
If the company:
- fails to fulfill these duties,
- uses deceptive practices to deny claims or
- misrepresents the terms of coverage from your policy,
this constitutes insurance bad faith.
In other words, the insurance company breaches the insurance policy, basically the contract signed with you or your business. In this case, you can file a complaint and even start a lawsuit.
Contact us online today, and our experienced attorneys will review the facts and the circumstances of your insurance case, as well as the denial reasons given by the company. If needed, we can file a bad faith insurance claim on your behalf.
