When you pay for insurance, you’re buying peace of mind. You trust that if anything goes wrong, your insurance company will step up, providing financial support to cover your losses as agreed upon in your policy. But what happens when your insurer doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain? That’s where the concept of a bad faith insurance claim comes into play. Let’s dive into what this means for you and how you can navigate such situations.
What Is a Bad Faith Insurance Claim?
When you file an insurance claim, you expect your insurance company to treat you fairly and pay what you’re owed. However, sometimes they don’t. This is called a “bad faith insurance claim.” It happens when your insurance company denies your claim or doesn’t pay you properly on purpose, not by accident. If you’re facing this, know that you’re not helpless. You can challenge their decision and possibly get more than you originally thought. It’s important to understand your rights and stand up for them, ensuring you get the fair treatment and compensation you deserve from your insurance provider.
How to Know If You Have a Legitimate Insurance Bad Faith Claim
In most cases, claim denials are not a result of bad faith. There are valid circumstances where your policy may simply not cover the type of damage you suffered. However, if your claim was denied, it is a good idea to thoroughly review your insurance policy. Insurance policies are long, complicated documents with lots of types of damages that aren’t covered. These contracts are meant to be complicated because it helps minimize claims that the insurance company must honor. Complicated policies with lots of exceptions also help protect insurance companies from situations where they may be vulnerable to a lawsuit.
Examples of a Bad Faith Insurance Claim
Dealing with insurance can be tough, especially if it feels like your insurance company isn’t playing fair. This is called a “bad faith” insurance claim. It’s when the insurance folks seem to be finding ways not to help you out when they really should. Here are some ways they might do this:
- Saying “no” to your claim for no good reason, even when it seems clear you should get help.
- Offering you much less money than you need or should get.
- Not bothering to check out your claim properly.
- Looking for excuses to deny your claim instead of helping you.
- Refusing to settle or solve a problem, leaving you to deal with possible big troubles on your own.
If any of this sounds like what you’re going through, talking to a lawyer could be a good idea. They can tell you if the insurance company is really not being fair and what you can do about it.
Damages in a Bad Faith Case
If you win a bad faith insurance case, you’re in line for some money back. How much and what kind depends on a few things like the laws in your area, how the insurance company messed up, and how their actions cost you money or stress.
Here’s what you might get:
- Money for any real financial loss because the insurance company didn’t process your claim right.
- Money to cover legal costs, like court fees and paying your lawyer, so you can hold the insurance company responsible.
- Extra money (punitive damages) to make the insurance company think twice before doing something wrong again.
- Any fines set by laws meant to stop insurance companies from treating people unfairly.
- Interest on the money the insurance company should have paid you earlier but didn’t.
- Money for the stress and trouble (emotional distress) all this caused you.
Settlements in Bad Faith Insurance Lawsuits
Do not walk away from a valid insurance claim without a fight. Bad faith can significantly impact your ability to recover benefits the company owes you under your policy. If you believe an insurance company is breaching its legal duties of care to you, contact a West Virginia bad faith attorney to discuss a claim against the insurer for acting in bad faith.
The attorneys at Manchin Injury Law will explain your legal options and work to obtain the compensation you need and deserve after an insurance company has acted in bad faith. Talk to our lawyers about your bad faith case today by contacting us online or by calling us.
Keep in mind that we take personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis — you pay no legal fees unless we succeed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are some situations where an insurer can be liable for bad faith?
An insurance company can get into trouble for not being fair with your claim. This means if they don’t look into your claim properly, say no to something they should pay for, or offer you too little money, that’s called bad faith. They are supposed to be honest and fair with you, making sure you get what your policy says you should.
What is a bad faith denial of a claim?
Insurance companies can say no to claims if what happened isn’t covered by your policy. But, if they turn down your claim for no good reason when it should be covered, that’s not okay. That’s a bad faith denial. It means the insurance company isn’t being fair, and you might have to take them to court to get what you’re owed.
What damages can be recovered in a bad faith claim?
If you win a bad faith claim against your insurance company, you can get back money for the trouble they caused. This includes the cash they should’ve paid you in the first place, plus interest for taking so long. Sometimes, you can also get extra money (punitive damages) to teach the insurance company a lesson, especially if they broke rules about how to handle claims fairly.
