You have a right to expect the insurance company to hold up its end of the bargain. When that doesn’t happen, get in touch with a Long Beach insurance bad faith lawyer.
When you’ve been paying your insurance premiums for years, you expect your insurance company to provide you with benefits when you need them—that’s what they’re there for, isn’t it? Unfortunately, insurance companies often deny deserving claims. This is considered “bad faith.”
Insurance companies are often in it only for themselves, and they will look for any excuse to deny your claim—sometimes even behaving unethically to do so. When an insurance company denies your claim for reasons that are not in line with your policy’s exclusions, it is engaging in a breach of contract. You can pursue compensation.
No matter the type of insurance, if you believe you have a legitimate claim, but your insurance company is refusing to pay, reach out to a Long Beach bad faith insurance lawyer at Haffner Law for help. We will investigate your case and fight to get you the fair compensation you deserve.
When Your Insurance Company Isn’t Operating in Good Faith
All insurance companies are required by law to act in good faith in their dealings with you, the policyholder. This means they must investigate your claim in a fair manner, communicate with you regularly, and pay you the compensation you’re owed.
If they don’t follow through with the terms they agreed on in the contract they made with you, they can be held legally responsible for acting in bad faith.
Bad Faith Dealings
When you file a claim with your insurance company, you don’t expect to have to go to war to get your benefits. What you expect is that your insurance company will take a look at the evidence in your claim, which could come from various sources, and pay out your benefits in a reasonable amount of time.
The following are some of the practices bad faith insurers often engage in:
- Misrepresenting important facts relating to your insurance policy when you file a claim
- Failing to respond at all or in a timely manner when you’re trying to submit a claim
- Failing to promptly investigate your insurance claim
- Refusing to pay a claim without first conducting a fair and reasonable investigation into your claim based upon all the available information
- Neither confirming nor denying your claim within a reasonable amount of time after proof of loss statements have been provided
- Attempting to settle your claim using an application that was altered without notice to you or without your consent
- Not offering you a prompt and reasonable explanation for the denial of your claim
- Increasing your premiums for no reason or because you were involved in an accident that was not your fault
Filing a Bad Faith Claim in Long Beach
When you’ve been the victim of bad faith dealings with your insurance company, what can you do? You are probably feeling upset, confused, angry, and perhaps a little hopeless. You need your benefits; otherwise, you wouldn’t have paid for them in the first place. So where do you turn?
Whether the insurance company provided you with car insurance, health insurance, or homeowner’s insurance, if it fails to pay out on your claim and you believe it has acted in bad faith, work with a Long Beach insurance bad faith attorney. We know how to investigate whether the insurance company violated your rights.
Filing a bad faith claim is not an easy process, but your attorney will be more than familiar with it. We will do everything we can to get you the fair settlement deserve.
Long Beach Bad Faith Compensation
When you’re forced to file a bad faith claim to get the compensation you’re entitled to, you may be entitled to more than just your insurance benefits.
Bad faith insurance damages can include any financial losses you’ve suffered because of the insurer’s conduct, as well as compensation for emotional stress. You may also be eligible for punitive damages if your insurer acted particularly egregiously.
Call a Long Beach Bad Faith Insurance Attorney
When insurance companies act in bad faith, they can be held liable for their actions. They shouldn’t get away with paying out an unfair settlement or denying your claim altogether.
If you believe your insurance company has treated you unfairly, call a Long Beach bad faith insurance lawyer with Haffner Law. We have the resources, knowledge, and experience to investigate cases of bad faith insurance and hold insurers accountable. Call us at 1-844-HAFFNER (423-3637) or fill out the form below to get started.
