You shop around for the best possible insurance within your budget and pay your monthly premiums responsibly, so naturally, you expect your insurance coverage to be available to you when you need it. Unfortunately, insurance companies are in the business to make profits, which means they may actively protect those profits, even at your expense. While some of their tactics may be exasperating, they don’t always amount to bad-faith practices; however, when an insurer fails to uphold the terms of its contract with you, it’s legal bad faith. If you believe your insurer is unfairly delaying, denying, or undervaluing your claim, speaking with a skilled bad faith insurance lawyer in Marysville can help you understand your rights and determine whether the insurance company has violated its legal obligations.
Understanding the signs of bad faith insurance practices is the first step toward protecting yourself.
Offering a Fast, Premature Settlement
An early indicator of potential bad-faith tactics by an insurance company occurs when an insurance adjuster quickly reaches out after the accident or incident with a premature settlement offer. Often, the insurer intentionally makes this type of fast offer before you know the full extent of the damages you’re facing. Early settlement offers purposely underestimate the final value of your claim. Accepting an early offer requires signing away your right to a lawsuit.
While a lowball early settlement offer alone isn’t necessarily a bad-faith practice, it can indicate underhanded tactics ahead in your claim, including those that might rise to the level of legal bad faith by violating a contract.
Ignoring or Needlessly Delaying Action In Your Case
Insurance companies have every right to investigate claims and dispute cases they believe aren’t legitimate. Still, when an insurance company ignores your valid claim, it can be a sign of bad-faith practices. Common tactics that warn of bad-faith practices by an insurer include the following:
- Failing to return calls
- Ignoring emails
- Delaying their investigation
- Changing insurance adjusters and restarting the investigation
- Requesting redundant paperwork
Insurance companies sometimes ignore or delay progress on a claim to push it closer to a deadline or statute of limitations, hoping the claimant will settle for a lowball offer out of frustration. Also, keeping your compensation in their accounts as long as possible means it earns interest for the insurer rather than for you.
Denying a Claim Without a Clear, Valid Reason
When an insurance company denies a claim, the insurer must provide a valid reason showing why the claim isn’t covered under the terms of your policy. Vague denials and unclear conclusions that aren’t based on the exact language of the policy are not a legitimate basis for denying a claim. It’s a sign of bad faith practice when an insurer denies your claim and does not give you a clear, accurate reason for the denial, or gives you no reason at all.
In some cases, the insurer may outright deny your request for documents that state the reason for denying your claim.
Misrepresenting the Terms of Your Contract
Delaying progress on a claim is frustrating and can be a sign of bad-faith practices, but delays themselves do not always amount to legal bad faith. However, sometimes an insurance company misrepresents the terms of a contract, such as by misstating coverage limits or misrepresenting the language of your policy. Misrepresenting the terms of a contract is a bad-faith insurance practice.
How Can an Insurance Bad-Faith Attorney From Wells Trumbull Help?
When an insurance company acts in bad faith by violating the terms of its contract with you, you have the right to seek a legal remedy through a bad faith insurance claim. A successful claim recovers the initial compensation owed to you under the terms of the policy, plus additional compensation for your distress. In cases of egregious actions, such as threatening a policyholder, the court may award punitive damages.
Call Wells Trumbull to speak with a bad-faith insurance lawyer for a free evaluation of your case.