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: Wed Jun 05, 2013 04:14 am Post Subject:

I am now rather poorley and would like to sell the car as money is tight. any help / advice appreciated

You are in the UK. You'll have to ask a local solicitor for information.

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:41 am Post Subject: insurance co charged my home policy with auto claim

insurance co charged my home policy with auto claim. auto was broke in and deductible didn't make it, but the company charged my home owners policy with the claim. Therefore I couldn't get any other company to sell me a home owners policy because of a $000 claim

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:30 am Post Subject:

Did you have a question? You should file a complaint with your state's Dept of Insurance. You should not be declined for homeowners insurance on the basis of just one claim.

Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:19 pm Post Subject: Insurance denied

I never got a property owners policy on a rent house I own. The house was full of furniture but no one was living there. I as well as my previous tenant had belongings in the house and checked on the premises several times a week to make sure it was secure and safe from intruders but when it burned ins. denied me cause of a little phrase that says the house was vacant. I thought that if you had furniture in a house and repairing it you would not have to report to your agent that it was unoccupied, but since we were there nearly every day shouldn't it be covered?

Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:54 pm Post Subject:

I thought that if you had furniture in a house

You thought wrong. Every property policy has a vacancy clause or provision that specifically denies coverage when a property has not been occupied for a minimum length of time.

The presence of furniture is not occupancy. The presence of living, breathing human beings is. When human beings have not lived in the dwelling for more than 60-90 days (and this is not the same as "working" there), coverage for vandalism and malicious mischief (VM&M) will not exist.

If the property burned for some other reason, such as negligence on the part of a construction worker or a gas leak or an electrical short, the vacancy provision does not apply.

Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 05:48 am Post Subject:

..and repairing it you would not have to report to your agent that it was unoccupied, but since we were there nearly every day shouldn't it be covered?



First, see my sig (I think I've posted this at least 50 times in this thread).

Second, are their any exceptions to this exclusion? Read the policy and focus on the "repairing" part.

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 07:15 pm Post Subject: Self Insured Company-SC

I need professional help. I was driving to work Tuesday morning July 9. I stopped at a red light at approximately 6:50am. I was the first car at the red light in the lane going straight across the highway. The lane beside me was turning left, and that light changed. All of a sudden I was hit pretty hard in the rear. It flipped my head where I was looking at the inside roof of my car at the time of impact. I had no idea what happened. I put the car in park and exited with my right hand on my neck. A yellow cab was sitting behind me. The driver rolled down his window and asked if I was ok, or did I need EMS. I told him I was probably Ok, and not to call EMS. i drive a pontiac SSEI Bonneville that isn't new, but in excellent shape. The driver got out and asked me if I wanted to let it go. I said no, that I was calling 911. The city police came and filled out an accident report citing the Cab as in fault.The cab company general Mgr. came out and asked me would $1000.00 settle everything. I said no, that I wanted my car estimated, and I would go to the Dr. for a check. I got my copy of accident report and left. I called my Dr, and went to get my neck and back checked. I went to my Dr and he prescribed me muscle relaxer and pain pills along with antiinfamitory. I went to a body shop and had the damage estimated and it came to $1,555.00.
I called the cab co and asked for the claim# , they told me I had to go to MACCO Paint and have them estimate it. I told them I wasn't going to MACCO, and they said I had to. I called my insurance Company and asked them to cover it and get it from the Cab Co. who said they were self insured.
I asked my insurance company about the Medical charges for the neck exam, and was told that the medical was the responsibility of the Cab Co. Is all this legitimate?

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 09:39 pm Post Subject:

You have a couple of different issues to address.

they told me I had to go to MACCO Paint and have them estimate it. I told them I wasn't going to MACCO, and they said I had to.

No one can require you to use a particular vendor for repairs. Not an insurance company, and not the at-fault party. Of course, the cab company probably sends all of its vehicles to MAACO, so they might get a slight discount on the repairs.

I called my insurance Company and asked them to cover it and get it from the Cab Co. who said they were self insured.

If you have collision coverage, that's part of what you're paying for. The alternative would be to simply sue the cab driver and cab company for your damages, if they are truly self-insured. I doubt that they are. This is a combination of personal injury liability and property damage liability loss. As a common carrier, they are probably required by the licensing authority to have insurance.

I asked my insurance company about the Medical charges for the neck exam, and was told that the medical was the responsibility of the Cab Co. Is all this legitimate?

In the same way that the damage to your car is their responsibility, so too are your injuries. If you have medical payments coverage in your auto policy, while the "responsibility" rests with the cab company, your med pay could cover the cost of any medical expenses (up to the policy limit) -- but it depends on whether your policy's med pay provision is primary or secondary coverage. In CA, it would be secondary ("excess") coverage.

You must present a claim for payment to the cab company and driver (one or both could be responsible for your loss), and have that claim rejected before you can sue. But you'll probably have to sue to collect anything. What you cannot recover is what your own insurance company paid to repair your vehicle -- that's their business to conduct.

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 08:36 pm Post Subject: who do I talk to for law suit against Ins comp

My 2008 Ford Escape was hit by someone's tire!! I went through My Insurance company, they repaired the bumper and fixed the eternal parts but the bumper paint is different from the rest of the car bringing down the value!! They gave me diminished value payment of only 20.00 and did not reimburse for the rental car I needed while my car was being repaired. Who do I talk to in order to sue the insurance company?

Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 09:02 pm Post Subject:

See my sig.

Who do I talk to in order to sue the insurance company?



First... your company paid you Diminishment of Value? I've never heard of that before. Auto policies state that they will pay for repairs or the value of vehicle. Loss of value is neither of those things. So I'm guessing your carrier did not pay you $20. Perhaps the other carrier paid that amount? Clear this up and we can go from there on this matter.

Also, I'm guessing this is a metal bumper? No one pays to blend a plastic bumper as they dry at different rates then metal so the are never going to match the surrounding areas anyway.

Lastly, you really think your vehicle lost any value because the bumper was not blended? If someone gave me $20 for this reason I'd consider I just got $20 I was not owed.

Who do you take to in order to sue an insurance company? Is this your carrier or the other persons (see above)? If it's your's you "talk" to your local court house (as this is where you file a suit) or someone who can represent you in a lawsuit.

Seriously.... your new paint does not match the old/faded 2008 paint? I'm guessing you'd expect the carrier to paint the entire vehicle to match... and then probably file a Diminishment of Value claim as the entire vehicle had been repainted?

Again, your carrier should not owe to match the paint or for a DV claim.

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