Insurance companies are supposed to offer financial help to a policy holder. A company that hesitates to carry out that function might be guilty of using bad faith practices. Fortunately, policy holders can learn how to recognize such practices.
Signs that a lawyer should be contacted:
The policy holder has been denied coverage for a claim, even though the insurance company did not carry out any investigation. The coverage has been denied, but the policy holder has received no explanation for that action. Such an explanation needs to be offered in writing. After a settlement has been reached, the claimant has not received any payment from the defendant’s insurance company. The insurance company should state the date for release of the compensation, and then it should follow through with that promise.
The policy holder is told that modifications to the held document have made a particular claim invalid. No insurance company has the right to make changes to a customer’s policy without explaining the reason for such changes. When the insurance company seeks to explain the reason for its action, it offers a statement that differs from what has been stated in the policy or in the laws passed by the government.
How a lawyer can help with fighting such examples of bad faith?
• Personal Injury Lawyer in Kitchener can review the policy, to check for evidence that the insurance company has not done what was promised in that same policy.
• Lawyer can file a claim of bad faith, on the part of the policy holder, and against the insurance company.
• Lawyer can gather the evidence that should have been uncovered during an investigation.
• An attorney can investigate the nature of the negotiations that led to a settlement, and the exact provisions in that same settlement.
• An attorney can search for a copy of the original policy, in order to check for modifications to that same document.
• Lawyers can search for information on other transactions made by the same insurance company. Had it demonstrated a habit of pursuing bad faith practices?
• Lawyers can search for an expert witness, if such a witness could disprove the insurance company’s stated reason for the denial of coverage.
• An attorney’s experience can be used to look for discrepancies between what the insurance company has said and what has been stated in the policy sold to the person that was denied coverage.
• An attorney can gather details on the incident that led to the filing of a claim. Do those details confirm or contradict the statements made by the insurance company?
• An attorney’s experience can serve as a guide, regarding how best to approach the effort to show the utilization of bad faith practices.