Bad Faith Life Insurance Lawyer
No one should have to deal with a life insurance company acting in bad faith. But if you find yourself in this situation, our attorneys have the experience to stand up to insurance companies and fight on your behalf.
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Life insurance policies are intended to provide financial assistance to a person’s loved ones following his or her death. Unfortunately, however, life insurance companies are also in the business of making money. Sometimes, a life insurance company’s desire to make profits conflicts with the interests of its customers. When a life insurance company purposely takes steps to avoid paying out a valid claim, this is known as bad faith. Luckily, any time an insurer fails to deal honestly with a customer (typically a policyholder or beneficiary), he or she may have grounds to file a bad faith insurance claim against the insurer. At Life Legal, our experienced life insurance attorneys know how difficult a life insurance claim denial can be, particularly when the denial is due to bad faith on the part of the insurer. Therefore, when you come to us for help with your claim denial, we will do everything we can to obtain a successful result on your behalf. If you are the victim of a bad faith denial, please contact Life Legal today.
Common Bad Faith Insurance Claim Tactics
There are several types of actions that can constitute bad faith by a life insurance company. Common types of life insurance bad faith include:
- Denying a claim without providing a reason: Insurance companies must provide a reason for claim denials. If your insurance company denied your claim without giving you a reason, or it denied your claim for an invalid reason, then you may be able to file a claim against your insurance company for bad faith.
- Failing to conduct a prompt and full investigation: Insurance companies must conduct prompt and full investigations into all valid claims made by their customers. If your insurance company failed to do so, it may have acted in bad faith.
- Offering less money than a claim is worth: Insurance companies routinely offer policyholders less compensation than their claims are worth. Any time an insurance company does so, this is a sign that they may be acting in bad faith.
- Refusing to pay a legitimate claim: If your insurance company refuses to pay your valid claim, it may be acting in bad faith.
- Threatening customers: If your request for compensation has been met with threats from your insurance company, you should contact a bad faith lawyer immediately.
- Misrepresenting policy language or the law: Insurance companies sometimes intentionally misrepresent policy language or the law in an effort to deny valid claims. However, as part of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, insurers must be truthful in their dealing with customers. Therefore, if you believe your insurer has intentionally misled you regarding your policy or the law, you should contact an attorney for help.
- Putting profits over a policyholder’s valid claim: An insurance company should never avoid paying a policyholder’s valid claim in the pursuit of profits—doing so is textbook bad faith.
- Delaying payment of a legitimate claim: When an insurance company approves a customer’s claim, it should pay the approved claim in a timely manner. If your claim has been approved, but you are still awaiting payment, then you should consult with a bad faith insurance lawyer to discuss your rights.
- Refusing customer requests for documentation: Finally, life insurance companies must comply with customer requests for documentation following a claim denial. When an insurer fails to comply with requests for information, this may constitute bad faith.
Obtaining Your Settlement in a Bad Faith Claim
Winning an insurance bad faith claim can be an uphill battle. Insurance companies usually have large legal teams, and will use them to intimidate customers into accepting lowball offers or nothing at all. However, despite their power, insurance companies often decide that settling a case is far more cost-effective in the long run than engaging in a prolonged court battle. Therefore, if your life insurance claim has been denied in bad faith, then the best thing you can do to obtain your settlement is hire an experienced life insurance claim lawyer to represent you. When you hire a lawyer, you level the playing field and greatly improve your odds of a successful result.
Take The First Step Today
If you believe that your insurance company denied your claim in bad faith, the first thing you should do to initiate a case is contact an experienced bad faith insurance attorney. Your lawyer will discuss your situation with you and assess whether it appears that your insurer denied your claim in bad faith. If your attorney believes that bad faith played a part in your denial, he or she will likely attempt to negotiate with the insurance company. If your attorney’s discussions with the insurance company are successful, then the insurer will likely agree to settle the matter by providing you with financial compensation. However, if the insurance company continues to maintain its position that the denial was warranted, then your attorney will proceed by filing a bad faith insurance claim against the company.
Contact Our Bad Faith Attorneys For a Free Consultation
If a life insurance company has denied your claim in bad faith, you may have grounds to file a bad faith insurance claim against the insurer. However, to do so effectively, you need an experienced bad faith insurance lawyer on your side. At Life Legal, we will fight hard to help you obtain the financial compensation you deserve. When you come to us for assistance with your denied claim, we will guide you through the claims process and work hard to prove that your denial was a result of bad faith. With Life Legal on your side, you can rest assured that you will always know where your case stands, you will always be kept informed about important developments in your case, and you will always have direct contact with the attorney who is handling your case. Please contact us today to schedule a free consultation with one of our talented attorneys.
Bad Faith Insurance Claim FAQs
When an insurance company denies a customer’s claim in bad faith, then the customer may file a claim against the insurer. There are many ways that an insurance company can act in bad faith, including:
- Refusing to pay a policyholder’s legitimate claim
- Refusing to investigate and process a policyholder’s claim within a reasonable period
- Misrepresenting an insurance contract’s language to a policyholder to avoid paying a claim
- Failing to disclose policy exclusions and limitations to a policyholder before he or she purchases a policy
- Making unreasonable demands on a policyholder to prove a covered loss
Insurance companies don’t always act in the best interests of their customers. One such example is when an insurer denies a customer’s legitimate claim. There are a variety of reasons insurance companies do this, and most of them are financially motivated. If your insurer has denied your legitimate insurance claim, you can file a lawsuit for bad faith. In the lawsuit, you must explain what the insurance company did or failed to do that constitutes bad faith. If your lawsuit is successful, you may be entitled to damages. However, to increase your odds of success in a lawsuit against your insurer, you should enlist the services of an experienced attorney.
When you file a legal action against your insurer for denying a legitimate claim, you may be entitled to multiple types of relief. Depending on the type of case, bad faith claims potentially allow a customer to recover future damages owed under the policy, attorney’s fees, consequential damages, emotional distress, and punitive damages. These damages can be broadly categorized as follows:
- Contract damages: Contract damages usually include the benefits due under the policy. Consequential damages (i.e., economic damages caused by the insurer’s bad faith conduct), which are defined as financial losses that were within the parties’ reasonable expectation at the time of contracting, may also be recoverable when appropriate.
- Tortious (extracontractual) compensatory damages: In a bad faith action, a customer may recover tortious compensatory damages based on an insurance company’s tortious conduct. This includes damages for economic loss and non-economic harm, such as emotional distress. Attorney’s fees are also included in this category.
- Punitive damages: Finally, in an action against an insurance company involving bad faith or other tortious conduct in which there is clear evidence of oppression, fraud, or malice on the part of the insurance company, the customer may be entitled to punitive damages.