Bad
Faith Insurance Lawyer
A bad faith insurance lawyer is a legal professional who helps consumers who have been wrongly denied benefits by their insurance provider. Disability and other types of insurance providers are notorious for denying benefits to policyholders, even when the claim is legitimate and should therefore be covered. Insurance companies will come up with all sorts of excuses as to why they are unable to honor a policyholder's claim: forms were received too late, medical reports were never received, the ailment in question is not a covered disability, and much more.
An insurance provider has a legal duty to act in good faith and fair dealings when determining whether to honor or deny their policyholder's claims. To act in such a way means, in theory, that an insurance company must put the best interests of their clients above the company's interests. In practice, however, this is rarely the case. Some experts attribute the recent rise in bad faith insurance dealings to the 1970s and 1980s trend whereby insurers grossly oversold insurance policies to young professionals. These policyholders are now beginning to require the benefits provided by their policies. Consequently, numerous insurance companies have begun to systematically deny claims in bad faith.
Bad faith insurance dealings are considered a breech of the contract that exists between the insurer and the policyholder. To breech this contract provides valid grounds for the policyholder to file a civil legal claim to seek compensation from their insurance company. A bad faith insurance lawyer is highly experienced in representing the victims of bad faith insurance dealings. Through a civil lawsuit, a bad faith insurance lawyer can help aggrieved consumers seek the money they were entitled from the denied claim plus any additional losses.
In addition to restitution, a bad faith insurance attorney can also help secure punitive damages from the wrongful insurance company. In some civil cases, a judge may award punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages, if the action was deliberate or malicious. Punitive damages are intended to punish the defendant is such a way as to deter that party and others from committing such acts in the future. The professional services of a bad faith insurance lawyer are crucial to protecting the interests of wronged consumers.
The services of a professional bad faith insurance lawyer seem particularly crucial upon review of previous legal shortcomings in the field of bad faith insurance. One bad faith insurance lawyer recently exposed widespread bad faith dealings committed by some well known insurance companies. This bad faith insurance lawyer petitioned that the attorney general order punitive damages against the unfair insurance company. The attorney general ordered the payment of grossly meager damages, an amount argued to be insufficient at deterring the company from committing similar acts in the future.
A bad faith insurance lawyer can help consumers obtain the compensation they deserve from their insurers and seek punitive damages that will deter them from future actions.If
you would like more information on the elements of bad faith, please contact us to confer with a bad faith lawyer.
