How to sue an insurance company?

by ty_ger88 » Fri Sep 14, 2007 02:20 pm

Many a times you may be unhappy with your insurance company for not paying you your dues or for delaying your payments or for any other reason. Your insurance company does not always have the upper hand. There are laws to protect you if you have a dishonest insurer.

When can you sue your insurance company?

You can sue your insurance company on grounds of:
  • Bad faith and
  • Breach of contract

If your insurer tries to trick you by not paying up a legitimate claim you can put up a civil suit against the company for having acted in bad faith. A company shows bad faith when it unreasonably denies a legitimate claim. This may mean that:
  • The company has failed to carry out proper investigations
  • Undue delay in processing a claim
  • Disregarding the rights of the policyholder
  • Inadequate compensation provided against claim filed

You can sue your insurance company for the full amount of benefits that has been denied to you as well as for any economic loss or emotional distress that you may have had to suffer as a result of the refusal. If your insurance company has been dishonest you may also get punitive damages. This is a means to make the insurance company behave more responsibly in future correspondences.

It is good to keep all paper works organized so that you can find them as soon as you need them. You may think of an old receipt as unimportant but it might hold great importance when you have a case standing against your insurer for bad faith or breach of contract.

Related Readings

I'm confused, please help. Here's my story and question. I'll try to make it short. My car was hit about a month ago. I was not in the car. It was parked on the side street. The driver of the truck that hit me left a note with all of his information. Now, it has been almost a month, and his insurance is not doing much. At first, they promised to have the damage estimated, but then nothing was sent to the car shop where my car located. I ended up going through my own insurance company. The problem is before I went with my insurance company, I had rented a car and had discussed this with the other insurance company. They said they would reimburse me all the fees. Now, they're not answering my calls. They keep on telling me that the agent is busy and will get back to me. It has been 4 days since I faxed in my car rental bill. What can I do? Can I sue them? Would you tell me how to sue an insurance company? The bill was paid for by my credit card, and I don't want to owe interests on it. Please help. Thanks.

Total Comments: 380

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:14 pm Post Subject: workmans comp

my husband had a brain aneurysm on the job in 4/08 (he owns the company and did have w/c insurance.) Our insurance agent was called in 6/08 and told of the situation and asked about a claim. Customer was pretty much brushed off when the question was asked, they were not sure !!!! Anyway, now I find out that it should have been filed and is now too late. I would have no problem suing my agency, I have been with them 40 yrs. and I pay them to work for me not the insurance companies. Do I have a case against them?

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 02:15 am Post Subject: Bad Insurance

I am absolutley distrought and seeking advice anywhere I can find it.

The Story: I traded cars 5 months ago and called my insurance company to make the switch on the policy. now everything was done over the phone and all my payments are taken out by direct deposit. None the wiser I went about my merry business.

Today I was involved in an MVA and called them. They said they have record of me calling several times to get the quote and even my bank called to get a copy of the policy but that I never told them to make the switch and so my car was not listed on my policy. I know this is bull crap but I never had to log on to pay my bill or anything and sure enough when I did after the accident my policy now says that my old car is on the policy.

They said they are reviewing to case to see if they will offer me coverage or not.

This is absolutley rediculous and on top my totalled car that I loved with all my heart I have to deal with the fact that I am out my 5k down payment and might still owe the bank another 7k not to mention whatever the other drivers decide to sue us for.

Any suggestions on where to go and what to do about this?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 04:56 pm Post Subject: suing life insurance

can you sue your life insurance, on the grounds of dropping your coverage you had for 19 years because you is sick. The company claimed the never received the monthly payment and lasped the coverage. Then claimed for the past two months, they are seeing if the can renew coverage.

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:47 pm Post Subject:

If you haven't paid your premium, of course the company can cancel the policy. They cannot cancel the coverage just because you were, or are "sick." No state allows that, or every insurance company on the planet would cancel coverage for anyone that appears that they are costing the company more than they are taking in in premium.

InsTeacher 8)

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 11:55 pm Post Subject: sue insurance company

what motion do i file to sue insurance company in minnesota ps i dont think you can sue for bad faith anymore not sure though let me knoe if anyone canm help thank you

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 12:11 am Post Subject:

What I need to do in court or where to go to sue my homeowner insurance? No small claim.

Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 09:22 am Post Subject: Talk to an agent

Talk to an agent and let the professionals handle it. It's not always required to know everything. Leverage their expertise.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:08 pm Post Subject: Workers Comp in Connecticut

Can I sue the Insurance Carrier for Bad Faith while I am involved with Workers Comp? They refused several treatments ordered by Doctors including one they sent me to and also refused to answer as to why the refused when asked by my counsel The also released information that was not true about my work status

Thanks

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 08:06 am Post Subject: copy of homeowners aduster report

they have denied my claim and will not give me a copy they say it is in the "product file" i live in nj

thank you bob pisani

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 09:29 pm Post Subject: Florida Insurance

February 13, 2012
Hello , I live in Florida and the home owners insurance has gone completely mad. My story of woes ;
In 1994 I signed with a VA. Loan of $45,000 @ 12% ; and the home/property met the appraisal for that Home owners insurance $600.00 a year. About a year later refinanced for lower rate new loan became $48,000 @ 7%. 2004 ,big hurricane; insurance companies start leaving Florida- I believe mine left or got run off. In 2006, I ended up with Citizens Insurance, at cost of $3000.00 a year. These numbers are rounded off. The each year increase is about $500.00 to $700.00 . A couple of years ago American Integrity took over policy said they would be lowering the price significantly ( dropped about $20.00) . January 2012 , $4603.00 for the year. I have put my foot down and getting personal loans to pay off mortgage , in order to stop paying this over priced insurance. My other concern is that this insurance pricing has devalued my home . I will not be able to sell this place unless I tear the house down. Can I sue for the lost value ? Who should be named in the suit? The banks that insist on the insurance ( now, Wells Fargo) , Citizens set the rating and cost base, American Integrity kept raising the rate. I know this a small amount of information on which to base an answer , but I am not sure how or where to start. Something better needs to be done here in Florida. I am sure that I am not the only one in this situation (as the bank manger tried to indicate).

Sincerely,
Donald M
.Lakeland, FL
(863)327-7786

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