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: Wed Sep 15, 2010 09:31 pm Post Subject: renewal of home insurance policy
I have recently recieved my credit card bill and noted that the company I had my home insurance with for the period Aug 2009 -Aug 2010 have taken monies by using my credit card which I had used to pay for last years payment. I contacted this insurance company to query why they had taken this payment because I had not authorised the payment. The insurance company said they had sent me a reminder in July 2010, 28 days before my policy was due for renewal by post. I explained that I had not received the renewal notice and wrote them that I wanted my monies back because I had already taken out alternative home insurance. However, the insurance company are refusing to give me back my money and say that they want proof that I have taken out alternative insurance. I explained that it was none of their business whether I had alternative insurnace and surely they should have had 'the duty of care' to at least have called me to confirm that I did wish to renew with them, rather than rely on the postal system, which is not entirely reliable. However, I am now stuck with two lots of insurance and in fact the payment that has been taken by last years insurance company has charged me more than double to last years price and my current one. I construe this to be theft from the insurance company. Please advise me if i should lodge a claim in the small claims court.
Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2010 05:00 am Post Subject:
First... _start a new thread_!
Lets look at the tail end of this... you can cancel a policy at any time. Simply write them a letter asking to have it cancelled and/or telling them to honor your prior written request to cancel the policy. You should also file a complaint with your states Dept. of Insurance in order to make sure that your carrier is doing this correctly. So you can basically cancel it now and the difference would be a few dollars.
Or you could press the issue the same way and have them back date the cancellation.
Question... if you have other insurance, why not simply provide them proof? My guess is that you have a mortgage company and your old carrier is simply attempting to provide protection to this mortgage company 1) so that they don't get into hot water and 2) because for some reason they are looking at back dating the cancellation.
Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2010 06:44 am Post Subject:
The insurance company said they had sent me a reminder in July 2010, 28 days before my policy was due for renewal by post. I explained that I had not received the renewal notice
In most states, the only requirement imposed on the insurance company is to put the notice in the mail, postage paid, to the last known address of record. Beyond that, tt's up to the USPS to deliver it. Your renewal notice may or may not have been delivered to you. It's easy to say you never got it, even though you probably did.
Regardless of whether you received a renewal notice or not, you most likely have a contractual responsibility to notify the insurance company in advance of any premium due date that you do not intend to renew and/or to cancel or change any prior authorization for payment via credit card or automatic bank draft. It's easier to do on some insurance company websites than others .
If you have obtained replacement insurance, then provide a copy of the declaration page to them as requested. You may even discover they will cancel the policy and refund all your money without a cancellation fee or deduction for earned premium.
As tcope has said, the insurer is most likely trying to protect itself from any liability to pay a claim.
As for "theft" on the part of the insurance company, there is no basis for such an accusation. When you previously authorized the use of your credit card for the prior payment, there was probably an acknowledgment that it would be used for future automatic payments unless you revoke the authorization.
You can always file a complaint with the Dept of Insurance. Whether it will be "justified" or not depends on the actual facts and circumstances.
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 06:29 am Post Subject: lapsed my life insurance
I had my life insuranse over 16 months and it was automatic payments. Before I moved to different state, I reqest a form to change my bank information with my agent. 2 months later, the insurance company sent me notice that my policy lapsed for nonpayment. I have proof that I have money in my account and they did not send the payment to the bank. I called them and they said, " We forgot to sent the payment." What I can do now?
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 12:11 pm Post Subject:
If you are still insurable, you simply need to apply to "reinstate" your policy. It will probably require a new application and some underwriting (maybe not), and payment of all past due premiums. You will continue your policy in force as if nothing had ever happened.
I have money in my account and they did not send the payment to the bank. I called them and they said, " We forgot to sent the payment." What I can do now?
I can't tell who "they" is -- the insurance company or the bank. If the insurance company failed to debit your account through its own failure, then you should not have to go through the "reinstatement" process, but merely write a check for the missing payments.
Might be best to handle this through a local agent of the insurance company if there is one. They'll know who to contact and can get this resolved for you fairly quickly, or help you file a reinstatement application if necessary.
Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:17 am Post Subject: Best Auto Insurance
Remember. Each car must be insured on it's own and each cars premium is figured separately, I know people who have used and recommend Best Auto Insurance Rate Review
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 11:53 pm Post Subject: insurance
call me at 972-271-9093
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 02:31 pm Post Subject:
Why?
Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 08:37 pm Post Subject: commissions unfairly taken
my insurance manager took a portion off my downline.i am a insurance agent whom was hired by united health care to recurit agents.i am paid off of overrides and renewals and new business.i never signed any release forms.i am current with my certification.i want all my agents ,pass pay and damages. i want to sue correctly.what is the best type of lawyer to hire.the n.c. insurance agent.lccrews2007@inbox.com
Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 09:10 pm Post Subject:
You need an employment law specialist with experience dealing with commission-based persons. You will need plenty of documentation to support your position -- prior statements showing overrides, etc. Very complex, but can be won.
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