Insurance Bad Faith

An insurance company must understand the terms of its own policy and investigate to determine if there is potential coverage under the policy. The key terms in insurance policies are often subject to judicial interpretation, so sometimes understanding the policy may require understanding the law, including such matters as federal and state statutes and particular local rules of law.  Orlando lawyer, Hew Woodward, can help you interpret the insurance policy and Florida’s bad faith claims handling statutes, so that you understand your rights.

An insurance company must understand the terms of its own policy and investigate to determine if there is potential coverage under the policy. The key terms in insurance policies are often subject to judicial interpretation, so sometimes understanding the policy may require understanding the law, including such matters as federal and state statutes and particular local rules of law.  Orlando lawyer, Hew Woodward, can help you interpret the insurance policy and Florida’s bad faith claims handling statutes, so that you understand your rights.

An insurance company must objectively, honestly and fairly investigate a claim before it denies or underpays a claim.  It cannot reasonably and in good faith deny payments to you without a prompt and thorough investigation of the claim before issuing a claim denial.  An investigation in good faith requires an honest attempt to discover the answers to questions that have been raised, in a timely manner.  The insurance company is required to investigate a claim thoroughly and objectively, not simply in order to prove that there is no coverage.  Your insurance company cannot jump to a conclusion on the basis of particular evidence and then perform a perfunctory investigation to prove-up its conclusion.  The duty to investigate persists even after your insurance company has discovered facts that, in the insurer’s judgment, tends to disprove coverage.  The failure to investigate is evidence of an unreasonable denial of a claim.

The insurance company must also promptly conclude its investigation and cannot unreasonably withhold payments that are due and owing under the insurance policy.  The insurance company is required to provide payment of all undisputed amounts due and owing on a claim in a timely manner. The insurance company cannot unreasonably delay payment or issue low-ball payments on a claim.  When you submit a claim to the insurance company, it owes you a duty to thoroughly and objectively investigate the claim, and promptly issue payment on all amounts due and owing under the policy.

The reasons that an insurance company may unreasonably deny or delay payment on your claim may be attributed to greed, improper training, or failure to supervise its adjusters.  The insurance company’s bad faith may entitle you to additional damages, beyond the recovery of the benefits under the insurance policy.  Orlando lawyer, Hew Woodward, can review your claim and help you evaluate the insurance company’s conduct.

If your insurance company has failed to act in good faith by denying payment to you, or has unreasonably delayed payment to which you are entitled under the coverages of the policy, then you may have grounds to receive financial compensation for damages caused by such conduct.  The Woodward Law Firm has recovered damages for insurer bad faith in Central Florida and throughout the State of Florida.  Whether in the courtroom or during settlement negotiations, we can provide valuable insight to help you evaluate bad faith damages against an insurance company.