Bad Faith Litigation Lawyer

If you are involved in an automobile accident with a work vehicle that wasn’t your fault, you may think the only way you can get compensated for damages suffered by your business is from the insurance companies involved.

That’s not necessarily true. You may be able to file a commercial property claim against the driver’s insurance company. In addition, if you are unhappy with the settlement your insurance company offers, you may be able to file a claim against that company for additional damages.

This is because until recently, the laws stated that insurance companies were only obligated to act in good faith when their own clients submitted claims. Now, many state laws have extended this obligation to include other circumstances, adding new responsibilities for the insurance providers to fairly handle claims from anyone. It makes no difference that the claimant does not have a policy with that particular insurance provider.

When an insurance provider does not follow the laws in a specific jurisdiction concerning

Its legal obligations towards its clients, as written in the text of the insurance policy, it is said to be acting in bad faith. Situations that illustrate insurance provider examples of acting in bad faith include:

• Denying a legitimate claim
• Not paying a claim in a timely manner
• Asking repeatedly for unnecessary or unreasonable paperwork to delay processing your claim
• Waiting an unrealistic amount of time to deny a claim
• If a settlement is rewarded, failing to pay out the claims
• Not hiring an attorney to work on your behalf if someone has filed a claim against you

State’s requirements for acting in bad faith are not the same. Your attorney, like a bad faith litigation lawyer in Chicago, IL, will be able to tell you the regulations that apply to your state and who you can bring claims against. 

If your insurance provider does not act in good faith when working with you, you may be able to file an additional claim against the insurance provider because of their actions. This lawsuit will go along with your initial claim that you submitted to the insurance provider for injuries and property damage caused by the automobile accident.

Consult an Attorney

Filing a bad faith claim against your insurance company is difficult and requires an attorney experienced in bad faith insurance claims.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from Childress, Lockus, & Plunkett for their insight into bad faith.