Insurance Claims

It is a galling experience to pay insurance premiums for years and suffer an injury or loss that seems clearly covered by your policy, only to have your insurance company deny the claim.

Most insurance companies make an effort to be fair. But some well-known companies do not seem to follow the principle of treating the insured in good faith, as would be expected. In Florida, some of the worst instances of unfair claim denial — lawyers call it insurance bad faith — are by smaller insurance companies, companies you may have been doing business with for years.

Some of these companies think it is obviously in their advantage to say no, especially to a farmer or small businessman who does not know the law. Every time a policyholder accepts the refusal, these insurance companies win. That’s why it’s important for unfairly treated policyholders to challenge unfair denials.

Insurance bad faith happens in every kind of insurance: homeowners, fire, auto/motor vehicle, life and property/casualty. And it covers more than just denied claims; it extends to cases where the insurer “low-balls” a claim, offering less than the claim’s proper value.