What Is Insurance Bad Faith?

• January 17 2022
• |   Insurance

What is Insurance Bad Faith? You purchase insurance to protect yourself and your family against unforeseen risks and to give you peace of mind in the event of a loss. You pay your insurance premiums. When you suffer a loss, you count on your insurance company to live up to its end of the bargain – pay your claim.

Your Insurance Company Must Treat You Fairly

The insurance company must always give your interestes at least equal consideration to their own interests. A bad faith case arises when your insurance company puts its interests ahead of your interests. If your insurance company unreasonably denies your claim, unreasonably delays payment of your claim or unreasonably underpays your claim, it many now owe you for more than just the coverage it originally agreed to in the policy. The insurance company may also owe you for the harm and inconvenience it caused you by denying or delaying payment.

When your insurance company acts in bad faith, you can sue the insurance company for both breach of contract and the tort claim of bad faith. In addition to contract damages, damages available under a tort claim for bad faith can include foreseeable financial losses, emotional distress, and attorney’s fees incurred by the insured to compel the insurance company to pay the policy benefits. If your insurance company acted with malice, oppression or fraud, you may also recover punitive damages. Punitive damages are meant to punish the insurance company, and are not available in a breach of contract lawsuit.

An insurance company cannot make up reasons to deny and/or delay an insurance claim when the insurance company specifically says it will provide insurance coverage in your insurance policy. Each claim must be looked at individually and fairly as part of the claims handling process.

Leverty & Associates Law Chtd. represents individuals and businesses in bad faith litigation. Not every denied claim amounts to insurance bad faith. Insurance bad faith lawsuits are involved. Insurance laws and regulations are complex. It takes an experienced bad faith law firm with the resources and special knowledge of insurance laws, regulations and insurance claim practices to evaluate the claim denial and determine whether the insurance company’s actions might amount to bad faith. Leverty & Associates Law Chtd. has the unique resources and background to properly evaluate the insurance company’s actions. If you think your insurance company is treating you unfairly, contact Leverty & Associates Law Chtd. at (775) 624-5276 for a FREE CONSULTATION. We want to help you understand your rights when dealing with an insurance company.