When you file an insurance claim after sustaining damage to your property, as a policyholder you expect your insurance company to treat you fairly. However, oftentimes the insurance company will act in bad faith by when it either fails or refuses to hold up its end of the bargain.

As a policyholder that has incurred damage to their property, you need to understand insurer bad faith so that you can identify the signs and act accordingly to avoid being taken advantage of by the insurance company.

What is Insurer Bad Faith?

Bad faith insurance can come in many forms, but regardless of how it happens you, as a policyholder, cannot let it slide. Insurance companies are businesses that are geared towards profitability and more often than not, and the insurance company will put its profits ahead of your interests.

If you even suspect you are experiencing insurer bad faith, you will want to consult with a property damage attorney to review your insurance claim and if necessary, hire a lawyer to advocate on your behalf. If not, the insurance company can easily give you the run around by misrepresenting the language of the insurance contract to you, the policyholder, and subsequently provide you with a lower compensation than you deserve.

Insurer Bad Faith Tactics

Since the average policyholder is not an insurance expert, it can be very easy for the insurance company to treat you unfairly without you understanding how this happened. A difference of opinion between the policyholder and the insurance company’s adjuster could become an insurer bad faith tactic if the and the insurance companies’ adjuster does not provide an explanation or justification for their findings.

Moreover, an act of negligence or misrepresentation on the part of the insurance company’s adjuster could also be considered bad faith as the insurance company is obliged to explain why they refuse to cover a part, or all, of your insurance claim.

Below are some of the most common bad faith insurance tactics used by insurance companies to give the policyholder the run-around.

1.      Lack of Communication

An insurance company is acting in bad faith if it avoids communicating with its own insured’s clients in an attempt to avoid responsibility. The insurance company may fail to acknowledge that it has received your claim or may fail to timely move along with your damage assessment and make payment.

You should expect nothing less than open, frequent, and easy communication with your insurance company. If not, you will want to hire a property damage attorney to review your claim and fight back against insurer bad faith.

2.      Delaying Payment on a Valid Claim

Your insurance company could also be acting in bad faith by using any means necessary to delay your payment on a valid claim. Usually, this results in slowing down the process that would lead to a fair settlement. You as the insured property owner will be under stress and pressure to finish the claim for less than fair compensation of the claimed damages because of the insured’s need to initiate or complete necessary repairs. If you have filed a valid insurance claim and your insurance company makes unreasonable demands for further evidence and documentation, or is otherwise implementing tactics to delay your claim you can be sure that they are acting in bad faith.

3.      Denying a Claim without Reason

While the insurance company does have the right to deny your claim, it must also provide sufficient reasoning and justification for this decision. If your insurance company outright denies your insurance claim without providing any reason, this is an example of insurer bad faith. Often claims that are denied are in fact wrongfully denied for a garden variety of reasons. If that happens you, you will need a property damage attorney to review your claim and advise you accordingly.

While you do have the right to challenge this decision, in this case, you will need a property damage attorney to advocate on your behalf.

4.      Changing or Cancelling Your Policy

If your insurance company changes or cancels your insurance policy without notifying you, this is also an example of insurer bad faith. The insurance company will normally do this under the pretense that the original policy terms have been revised and that your claim is therefore not covered under this “new” policy you have never seen or had notice of.

5.      Pressuring You to Accept an Unfair Offer

Another bad faith insurance tactic is when the insurance company pressures the policyholder to accept an unfair offer. The company may do this by having the adjuster misrepresent your insurance contract’s language to you and persuade you that no settlement is available other than the one they are offering.

In this case, you will want to hire a property damage attorney to review your insurance claim and uncover the actual amount you are owed by the insurance company.

6. Requiring a Written Release

Amazingly some carriers will pressure unrepresented insureds to sign a written document that release the insurance company from all further liability in exchange for the insureds accepting nominal payment.  Many insureds are surprised to find out that once they sign the release document that are unable to pursue additional payment for any damages – even damage that was no evident at the time they signed the release. A written release is not a requirement for payment under a policy of insurance. If the insurance company determines the damages are from a covered loss then the insurance company has a duty to issue undisputed payment to the insureds without requiring the insureds to sign a release.

If you are ever asked to sign a release from your insurance company in exchange for payment you must reach out to the Property Damage Attorneys at CLO for a free policy review and claim analysis.

Consumer Law Office – Handling Property Insurance Claims From Start to Settlement

If you suspect that your insurance company is acting in bad faith, get in touch with one of our property damage attorneys at Consumer Law Office. CLO is a boutique client-centric law firm geared towards protecting the rights of policyholders. We work with construction experts, restoration professionals, and other experts to determine all the necessary facts and help you get paid fast and fairly.

So whether your insurance company is delaying your payment, denying your claim, miscommunicating information, or pressuring you to accept an unfair settlement, highly experienced and aggressive attorneys at Consumer Law Office are here to help. We work to remind insurance companies that they are not as untouchable as they like to believe and in the case of insurer bad faith, we are ready to take your insurance company to court to subject them to punitive damages.

Visit our website or contact us today at 305-940-0924 to receive a FREE consultation and FREE policy review.