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.
Related Readings
- Suing your insurance company
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- How to sue car insurance company?
- Suing insurance company for bad faith
- Truck driver suing insurance company
- Suing for liability claims
- 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 Jun 02, 2011 03:53 pm Post Subject:
You should start a new thread.
Do you have proof that your roof was damaged? Courts require proof. Some else replacing their roof is not proof. Have you read your policy? It contains an appraiser provision that you can envoke. Obtain a copy of your policy and read that section.
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 08:18 pm Post Subject:
I aked for a second opinion and they are sending the same adjustor for it
While the same adjuster can change his/her mind about a claim, that is NOT the same thing as a "second opinion". A second opinion means "a new mind" -- a different person's opinion.
If you believe the insurance company is not being fair in its assessment of your damages, you can always file a complaint with the state's Dept of Insurance.
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 04:02 am Post Subject:
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 04:04 am Post Subject:
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 04:05 am Post Subject: Home Owners insurance
My boyfriend rents his house out to tenants who left a pot on the stove and the entire house covered in soot. He has been dealing with his home owner's insurance for the past 2 months now, unsuccessfully. They act like they don't get his emails, they'd take a week to return his phone calls and then when he'd call back they would't answer. They continue to deny his estimates for cleaning and also for lost rent (for which they are offering only a week of payment). It has been 2 months now, only because the insurance company has been dragging their feet in getting back to him on every issue. He didn't want to start the cleaning until he got an aggreement from them that the house was unliveable due the soot covering every surface, and cleaning the house would have wiped away the evidence. They still won't agree. He has finally started the cleaning and now has reports from at least 2 companies that the house was unliveable to support his claim.
Any help would be appreciated as my poor boyfriend has suffered a lot of emotional stress from this whole thing.
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 08:17 pm Post Subject:
Well, aside from the insurance company's failure to properly handle the claim report on a timely basis (something that should be reported to the Dept of Insurance), depending on the coverage in the policy, mostly his claim is against the former tenant, if he can find them.
Lost rent is probably not covered at all, and the cost of the cleaning service may or may not be covered. The uncovered claims are a direct responsibility of the former tenant, and usually awarded in Small Claims Court.
my poor boyfriend has suffered a lot of emotional stress from this whole thing.
Then your boyfriend might want to get out of the LANDLORD business, because this sort of thing is common, and there are others that are far worse. No insurance company will cover his emotional stress or distress as a landlord.[/quote]
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 09:48 pm Post Subject: Pet insurance
I bought "injury only" insurance on our dog. She as injured chasing a feral cat in our backyard and the ASPCA insurance refused to cover the $3000 bill saying this was a genetic disorder. Should I take them to SCC and sue? We were really put on hard times over this and will never be comfortable purchasing any kind of insurance after this.
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 03:29 am Post Subject:
this was a genetic disorder.
Chasing the cat is a genetic disorder? Or the nature of the injury to your dog was due to a genetic disorder? You don't say what the injury to the dog was.
As with any form of insurance, whether life insurance, homeowner's, health, auto, you need to read the contract to know what is and is not covered. You are not forced to keep something that does not meet your needs, and you have a short period of time (10-30 days), called a "free look period", in which to make that determination and, if not satisfied, to return the policy for a full refund.
It's too late for that now, but you still need to read your contract before you attempt to take the ASPCA to court. If the injury to your dog is not covered according to the terms of the contract, you will be wasting your time and money to go to court. If the injury does not appear to be "excluded", then by all means press your claim, but try resolving it with the insurance company first.
If they are claiming "genetic disorder", get an opinion from your veterinarian as to the nature/cause of the injury. If his/her opinion supports your claim, go for it and don't give up!
You can email or fax a copy of the policy to me for analysis. Click on the link below to send me an email for more instructions.
Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2011 01:14 pm Post Subject: Loan requests without my permission or approval
Can Life Insurance companyies,like Mass Mutual give out Loan Requests without my permission or approval on my policies?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 09:10 am Post Subject:
Only the policyowner may lawfully initiate policy loans or withdrawals. It's the responsibility of the insurance company to make sure who it is that is requesting the money and to whom they are paying it, but it doesn't prevent them from paying money to the wrong person as the result of forgery or fraud.
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