Things Your Insurance Company Does Not Want You to Know About Bad Faith Claims

Following an accident, you expect your insurance company to stay faithful to their promises to help you ensure a proper recovery. Depending on your history with insurance companies, you may already know that certain insurance companies are much easier to deal with than others.

Insurance companies have a legal obligation to maintain good faith practices with their customers as they provide insurance services. If an insurance company fails to comply with this obligation, the insurance policyholder has the right to prosecute the company on a bad faith claim.

If the insurance company’s behavior was obviously flagrant, the claimant could claim compensation amount that is larger than the original policy value.

Bad Faith Insurance Claims Explained

By law, insurance companies and their adjusters are required to practice “good faith” while negotiating settlements. Good faith means that the insurance companies must abstain from carrying out fraudulent practices and unfair settlements.

As a policyholder, you have the legal right to file a bad faith insurance claim lawsuit against your insurance company if they act unethically toward you and your accident claim. However, this lawsuit is a separate entity from any personal injury claim you have filed for your accident.

Be sure to discuss your situation with an experienced Tulsa personal injury attorney in order to pursue the compensation you deserve, as successful bad faith insurance claims require special skills and a firm understanding of the legal system.

Bad faith practices often begin with unnecessarily long delays and claim denials. These are common tactics that insurance companies use to force their policyholders to settle lower than they would normally.

Below, we explain a few truths that you need to keep in mind when dealing with your insurance company following an accident. They will help prevent you from being taken advantage of and can help you pursue the compensation you deserve.

They Don’t Work for You

The way insurance companies speak about their clients makes it seem as if they are personally dedicated to seeing them return to their pre-accident lifestyles as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, insurance companies are for-profit corporations, meaning their biggest concern is protecting profit. At the end of the day, they are much more worried about keeping their shareholders happy than they are about you.

This isn’t to say that insurance companies are free of obligations, as they still do have many. Specifically, they must follow:

• The terms and guidelines of your insurance policy

• Applicable state and federal law

• Their duty to act in good faith

If your insurance company fails to adhere to these obligations, you may be eligible to file a bad faith insurance claim. Remember, an insurance agent is an agent of the insurer they work for, NOT the insured party.

They’re Likey Exaggerating the Urgency of Your Claim

Have you been offered a “limited time offer?” Is your insurance company making you feel rushed?

If so, you’re another victim of their common tactics. However, you don’t have to be.

Insurance companies will often make their clients feel rushed so that they will accept an early settlement, which is almost always set at a much lower value than they deserve.

It’s important to note that while you don’t need to rush, there is a deadline for filing your personal injury claim, which is known as the statute of limitations. But, the statute of limitations, in most cases, gives you two years to file, not days or weeks like your insurance company may make it seem.

They are More Than Capable of Paying You a Substantial Amount of Money

If you’ve been injured in an accident, you deserve the resources to make a proper recovery. While you may not be able to undo what has happened, you can pursue compensation to help make you whole again—and insurance companies have more than enough money to make this happen.

At Aizenman Law Group, our team of trusted Tulsa personal injury attorneys has recovered millions for our clients from insurance companies over the years. Not every claim is worth millions; however, it’s essential to understand that insurance companies are more than capable of meeting their obligations, and you should fully expect them to do so.

Working with an experienced Tulsa auto accident attorney will help ensure that you are able to pursue the compensation you deserve. We offer free consultations in order to ensure that those who have been wrongly injured have the ability to protect their rights, regardless of their financial situation.

Give us a call today 631-769-8431 to learn more about how we can help you recover over a free case evaluation.