Insurance Companies Acting in Bad Faith
The insurance company is regulated by state and federal laws and when they do not act in accordance with your policy this can be acting in bad faith. When you obtained insurance from the company there were assurances made in the event of a claim, but when you made the claim the insurance company put the claim off or denied it, this is considered bad faith.
Insurance Policy Holders Can Get Justice with a Class Action Lawsuit
The class action lawsuit could be the answer after you have been treated badly by an insurance company. In most cases when one insurance policy holder is treated unfairly there are often many more policy holders that have been treated the same way. The class action lawsuit can hold the insurance company responsible for their bad faith claims handling of their policy holders.
Bad faith claims handling often includes common events by the insurance company and these can be:
- Requirements that are not appropriate is a tactic that might be used by the insurance company. When this occurs they might agree to the claim, but might require that you use a body shop or contractor of their choice. The policy holder must agree to this for their claim to be paid and might not know if the work to be done will be quality work. This contractor or body shop might have an agreement with the insurance company to do the work at a lower cost.
- Low estimates or a settlement is something the insurance company might do, with the knowledge that the claimant will accept it rather than fight for a higher settlement. When this is a pattern by the insurance company and many people have been affected by it, this is considered bad faith.
- A slow decision is another tactic that can be used by the insurance company. They are required by law to respond to a claim within a reasonable amount of time, this is usually within 30 days, depending on the state and the type of claim. This is a strategy by the insurance company to cause the claimant to accept a lower settlement or to give up on the claim. When a slow decision by the insurance company is a general practice it is considered bad faith and they are breaking the law.
If you are affected by the insurance company acting in bad faith the Ehline Law firm wants to know. The chances are you are not the only person that has been affected by these bad faith practices and the way to hold the insurance company responsible is with a class action lawsuit.