Insurance Bad Faith

Insurance Bad Faith

Auto insurance companies are businesses whose primary purpose is to make a profit. A profitable insurance model involves taking in more premiums than the company pays out in claims. Otherwise the company will lose money and ultimately fail. Unfortunately an insurer may act in bad faith to minimize its costs and maximize its profits at the stake of its policyholder or claimants.

Attorney Bill Berenson has dedicated his almost 40-year long career representing auto accident victims. He remains committed to keeping the insurance companies in check. He demands that insurers treat policyholders and claimants with fairness. If the insurer acted in bad faith, his law firm holds it financially accountable.

Conduct that may be Bad Faith

You dutifully paid your automobile insurance premiums each month. Now your insurance company is refusing to abide by its end of the agreement. This is a common bad faith scenario.

Bad faith refers to an insurer’s conduct that results in unfair treatment of the policyholder. It may involve a variety of unacceptable and unlawful actions such as

• Purposely misrepresenting the terms of the policy
• Failing to disclose the correct policy limits, exceptions and exclusions
• Concealing unfavorable policy terms in small print or convoluted language
• Unreasonably delaying a decision or an investigation
• Failing to respond to time-sensitive demands
• Denying a claim based upon inappropriate or unproven criteria
• Making unreasonable demands on the injured person
• Engaging in improper litigation conduct
• Withholding relevant material information to trick the insured into accepting less than the claim’s true value
• Using harassing or deceptive tactics to compel the claimant to settle
• Refusing to make reasonable efforts to settle the claim for a fair amount

Proof of Bad Faith

You were not paid as fast or as much as you had hoped. The investigation of a complicated accident case seems to be dragging on. Conversely, the insurance company offered you an exceedingly low settlement immediately.

These situations are red flags of bad faith. However a negative result without more may not be bad faith. Instead, you must prove that the insurer intentionally engaged in the conduct to reach those results.

Berenson Injury Law investigates what happened and collects evidence of the insurer’s wrongful actions. Based upon this evidence, we demand the insurance company follow the law. In some cases, our attorney’s demands are enough to prompt corrective action from the insurer. If appropriate, we may file a bad faith lawsuit against the company.

What You Should do if an Insurer Acts in Bad Faith

You have options to hold the insurer accountable for acting in bad faith. First, the Texas Department of Insurance reviews complaints filed against insurance companies. The TDI can compel the company to make a good faith effort to resolve the claim. The licensing agency may also take further action against a company that repeatedly harms consumers.

You may also file a civil lawsuit on both your damages claim and your bad faith claim. Be prepared for the insurer to claim its decisions were made in good faith. To counter this assertion, you should keep a record of the dates, times and content of all correspondences, phone calls, messages, emails and discussions with agents. Maintain a folder of documents associated with your claim filing and the insurer’s responses and actions. This information is helpful when Berenson Injury Law begins an investigation on your case.

Learn More About What Auto Insurance You Need in Texas

If you believe your insurance company is acting in bad faith, schedule a no-risk free case evaluation with our Fort Worth car crash attorney at Berenson Injury Law. We can review your claim and advise you on pursuing a bad faith claim against the company.