Bad Faith Claims

Possible Examples of Insurance Company Bad Faith

The following actions should raise a red flag to alert you that the insurance company might be dealing with you in bad faith:

• Issuing a woefully inadequate “lowball” settlement offer while you are still recovering in the hospital.
• Attempting to intimidate you.
• Advising you that you don’t need a lawyer.
• Attempting to get you to sign documents that the insurance company knows you don’t understand
• Second-guessing your doctor’s judgment on whether a particular medical treatment was necessary.
• Delaying settlement hoping that you will miss the statute of limitations deadline.
• Misrepresenting facts as a tactic to deny your claim (For example, they may falsely say “your homeowner’s insurance policy doesn’t cover dog bites.”).
• Misrepresenting policy limits.
• Forcing you to file a lawsuit by refusing to settle even when liability is clear.
• Failure to offer justification when they deny your claim.

They may also:

• Ask trick questions and use your answers against you. (For example, the insurance adjuster might insist on knowing the exact minute that a car accident occurred. But if you tell them, they may try to accuse you of causing the accident by checking the time instead of watching the road).
• Use false pretenses to gain access to your social media accounts and then distort the contents to question the seriousness of your injuries.

There are hundreds of other insurance company tactics that might suggest bad faith dealing. When in doubt, consult with a lawyer.