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:
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:
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.
- 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.
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- Sue for breach of contract
- Can you sue for liability claims?
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.
Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 03:16 pm Post Subject: Can i sue an insurance company?
last week i purchased an insurance policy with freeway. the total was supposed to be around $600 (601.94 maybe). Two days later i receive another bill from a different insurance company anchor saying that my next bill is due in 20 days. so i called and i find out that i have to pay an additional 200 dollars the same week, but i paid 100 dollars for the down payment already. So my total is like $376 for the first month for a 2007 toyota 4runner with liability. I went back there 3 days after to cancel or prorate the policy because i cannot afford it, then they told there is a broker fee of $200 that i need to pay to cancel it after less than 3days.
Ive been reading lots of bad comments about this company online. What can i do about it? can i sue them?
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 08:17 am Post Subject:
then they told there is a broker fee of $200 that i need to pay to cancel it after less than 3days.
No agent can charge a broker fee. No broker can charge a fee without first disclosing that fee in a written agreement, signed by you in advance.
Are either of those things true? Are you dealing with an agent unlawfully charging a fee? Are you dealing with a broker that did not have you sign a written agreement in advance (and, of course, gave you a copy of that agreement at that time)?
Here in CA, AIS (Auto Insurance Specialists) was discovered by the Dept of Insurance to have been unlawfully charging broker's fees on top of premiums. They received a CEASE AND DESIST order from the Commissioner, and now their radio ads state, "We don't do business with insurance companies that charge broker fees."
Well, that, too, is misleading. No insurance company charges broker fees. What AIS doesn't state in their ads is, "We no longer charge those fees because we got caught doing it unlawfully." But they are still licensed as a broker, and could charge broker fees with a signed written agreement.
can i sue them?
This is the USA. You can sue anyone for anything. Doesn't mean you will win. We need to know the answer to the question(s) posed above to be able to give you better guidance. In CA, Freeway Insurance Services is licensed as a BROKER. So they cannot charge any fees without the written agreement, signed in advance.
If you did not sign such a written agreement, or it was misrepresented to you merely as "part of the paperwork", you can get help from the Dept of Insurance through its complaint process.
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 04:31 pm Post Subject: Homeowers insurance with USAA
I filed a claim after we had a bad storm here in Atlanta. Lighting hit my house and several of my electronics and appliances were fried. I had a license tech come and inspect everything. Nothing could be saved or repaired and he put this in his estimate. Most of the stuff was less then a year old and I still had the receipts for everything. I sent USAA receipts and estimate. I took all the stuff to the dumb, the tech told me is was a fire hazard and to get rid of the stuff. USAA asked if I had pictures or receipts. I told them I had all the receipts. After I sent them everything, they called me back a week later asking if I stuff had the damaged items. I told them no. Then after three more weeks of them stalling me (telling me my claim is still under review) They sent me a later saying that because I threw everything away, they may not pay my claim. (and gave me a local agents number to call) Even though I provided them with receipts and a estimate from a certified, licensed tech. Then a week later they send me another letter saying they are going to drop me from my home and auto insurance because I have a felony on my record......which is almost 12 years old. I feel USAA is not being fair. What can I and should I do???
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 09:59 pm Post Subject:
You need to file a complaint IMMEDIATELY with the Georgia Dept of Insurance.
http://www.oci.ga.gov/ConsumerService/Complaint.aspx
Although a prior felony conviction may be significant, and could possibly be considered a material misrepresentation if they asked you a question about it in the application for insurance and you responded with an incorrect answer, which could allow USAA to cancel your coverage, you don't state how long you have been insured with them.
If you've been insured with them for more than a couple of years, that action, taken now, is unreasonable, even if not prohibited by the letter of the law.
It could be considered an example of "postclaims underwriting" which is generally prohibited in most states. You've paid premiums, which is what they wanted, you had a claim, which is what they expected, and now they've decided to look for any little reason to deny your coverage. If they find that reason in your application, it may allow them to void the policy as of the date of misrepresentation -- meaning before the policy took effect.
Given the millions of dollars of storm-related damage in Georgia in April and May, insurers are probably looking for any excuse to minimize the effect on their balance sheets. That's not how insurance is supposed to work.
Now, if USAA plans on cancelling you based on "material misrepresentation", they would also have to refund all the premiums you ever paid, because if you had never been insured with them, you never would have paid them anything in premiums. They cannot cancel and keep the money. If they are cancelling you simply because you filed a claim, unless the loss is excluded under the policy, then they'll have to pay the claim first.
USAA asked if I had pictures or receipts. I told them I had all the receipts. After I sent them everything, they called me back a week later asking if I stuff had the damaged items.
Well, that's just plain old, unadulterated BS. You only need to prove that you had the items, if they question it, and your receipts are good enough. They would probably never ask someone whose home burned to the ground or was shredded by a tornado if they still had the items. And the fact that you had someone come to look at the stuff and would certainly testify as to its presence and condition following the storm, they are on very shaky ground trying to avoid a claim on the grounds that they can't see it for themselves.
Use the link above to file a complaint with the Dept of Insurance. They'll help you as much as possible.
On May 2, 2011, a press release from the GA Dept of Insurance included this statement:
Also today, Commissioner Hudgens signed Directive 11-EX-5 which states:
“…the Georgia Insurance Department directs insurers to exercise leniency in dealing with affected individuals whose premium payments may appear tardy due to the disruption of mail service and loss of property. Likewise, insurers that processed lawful cancellation or nonrenewal notices during the previous 10 days are encouraged to comply with the spirit of the cancellation or nonrenewal laws to ensure that policyholders impacted by legal adverse underwriting decisions have sufficient time to address their insurance needs.”
The Directive covers policyholders in Bartow, Catoosa, Coweta, Dade, Floyd, Greene, Lamar, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Pickens, Polk, Rabun, Spalding, Troup, and Walker Counties.
If you're in one of those counties, the Dept of Insurance will definitely go to bat for you as much as possible.
Almost one month prior, the GA Dept of Insurance included the following information in another storm-related press release:
Commissioner Hudgens would like to remind Georgians to inventory their belongings in case of a disaster. For iPhone users this task can now be handled through an App called Scr.APP.bk provided by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. This App will allow iPhone users to take pictures of their items, scan barcodes, add purchase price and date, and even provides great tips regarding disaster preparation and insurance.
By going to the Department of Insurance website (www.oci.ga.gov) and following the simple instructions on how to download the application, Georgians will have a catalog of their belongings. Also on the website, iPhone users can watch a demo video.
Keep us posted on how things are going, or come back to ask more questions.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 01:50 am Post Subject: fire
Last September I bought a house on land contract.I had to have insurance on the house with the man,s name that I bought the house from on the policy cause I had,nt paid for the whole house yet,no problem.December of last year I had a small fire in the bathroom.The insurance company was on me so bad,thinking I had something to do with it,I got so scard I told the insurance company I will sign off all there ressponability for the claim if they leave me alone,so I did,a month or so later they found out it was an accident,since I signed off on the claim so they would leave me alone I did,nt get a dime,they paid the second person on the claim all the money for all the damage to my cloths and furiture damage,can I go back on the insurance company for the way they treated me? samwithrow@yahoo.com
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 10:00 am Post Subject:
since I signed off on the claim . . . can I go back on the insurance company for the way they treated me?
Why would you do this? If you don't understand something at the time (as in "I did not cause the fire, so I don't know why 'the insurance company was on me so bad.'"), why not seek some advice before you sign-away your rights? That's like telling the judge, "I didn't really do anything, your honor, but the policeman scared me so much, I told him I would sign the ticket just so he would leave me alone. I didn't think he was going to arrest me."
I did,nt get a dime,they paid the second person on the claim all the money for all the damage to my cloths and furiture damage
This is not exactly the way homeowner's insurance works. The insurance company might make a check payable to the lienholder for damage to their property (the dwelling structure), since they have an insurable interest, but they would not normally pay that person for damage to your PERSONAL PROPERTY (clothes and furniture) because he has no insurable interest in that stuff. But, in most cases, when you are the insured, if they are making a payment for damage to the dwelling itself, the check usually is written in your name AND the lienholder's name.
can I go back on the insurance company for the way they treated me?
If you truly believe that the insurance company INTIMIDATED you or COERCED you into not filing a claim, then you can make a complaint with your state's Dept of Insurance. If the Dept of Insurance finds any wrong doing, they will assist you in resolving the matter.
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 05:02 pm Post Subject: Hit & run ( FL )
someone hit me, and ran, did not find driver ,I on;ly had 2 letters of plate. I have pip & pd only, I can not afford an attorney , I have a dec of $ 1000, what can I do, please help........Thanks
Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 09:34 pm Post Subject: Insurance law suit
I am suing an insurance company for not paying a claim can I sue certain employees as well
Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 09:40 pm Post Subject: insurance lawsuit
sue certain employees as well
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 06:33 am Post Subject:
Sue employees of the insurance company? Why?
Generally, the answer is no, you sue the corporation not the employee.
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