When you suffer a personal injury and your insurer acts in bad faith, the expenses you’re left with can turn your life upside down. What is bad faith? How do you know if your insurer is acting in bad faith? What should you do about bad faith insurers?
Don’t worry – we have the answers to your questions and have put together a list of red flags to watch out for.
Let’s get started.
What is Bad Faith?
People pay their insurance premiums for a reason – because their policy is supposed to cover their personal injuries under covered circumstances. When an insurer improperly handles a personal injury claim in an effort to avoid paying out, they are acting in bad faith. However, sometimes insurers don’t cover their clients’ injuries because the circumstances of the accident are not covered by their policy. So, how do you know if your insurer is acting in bad faith? Keep an eye out for these red flags after filing a claim.
Pushing You to Sign
When your insurer asks you to sign something, you should always speak with your personal injury attorney before providing your signature. Sometimes, insurers will attempt to trick or coerce personal injury victims into signing forms that claim fault even if the victim was not to blame for the accident to avoid having to cover their personal injury costs.
“You’re Not Covered”
It’s sad, but true – sometimes, insurers lie. If you get injured in a car accident that is supposed to be covered by your insurance, sometimes insurers will lie and say you aren’t covered for it because they don’t expect their clients to actually review their policies to check.
Unnecessary Delays
Missouri’s statute of limitation on personal injury claims resulting from car accidents is five years. This is set so that there is an adequate amount of time for the personal injury victim to discover underlying injuries from the collision that weren’t found right away. At times, insurers will intentionally delay the claims process for the statute of limitations to run out so they don’t legally have to cover you, or for the claim to be forgotten about.
Improper Investigation
When a policyholder submits a claim, the insurance company is required to conduct a thorough investigation. In order to avoid providing the financial coverage that the policyholder is owed, some insurers may fail to investigate properly and try claiming that the injuries were from a preexisting condition or that the personal injuries sustained aren’t severe enough to warrant an adequate settlement.
Lowballing
If insurers aren’t able to find a way to deny the personal injury victim coverage for their car accident, they will sometimes offer a settlement that is much lower than it should be. Your personal injury settlement should be enough to cover all of your personal injury expenses, not just the current medical bills. The settlement should also cover future injury related expenses such as surgery, physical therapy, lost wages during recovery, prescriptions, etc. This is why it’s so important to have a skilled car accident attorney on your side to calculate the value of your car accident injury, and fight for the settlement you deserve.
What Should You Do About Bad Faith Insurers?
If you suspect that your insurance company is giving you the run around and acting in bad faith, the first thing you should do is contact a personal injury lawyer. Your lawyer will help you submit a bad faith claim, gather evidence to prove your claim, guide you through the legal process, and fight for the financial compensation you deserve. Don’t represent yourself in any personal injury case. There are legal forms, terminology, and courses of action that must be accounted for that a personal injury attorney has experience with and knows what to do to get you the settlement you need to cover all of your personal injury related expenses.
If you suspect your insurer is acting in bad faith, contact The Pottenger Law Firm as soon as possible to schedule your no-cost initial consultation for free legal advice from an experienced Kansas City attorney near you. We’ll fight for the compensation you deserve and see to it that your legal rights are protected.
