Insurance lawyers are required to advise insurance companies in relation to the validity of their transactions, to protect the company against potential and actual legal actions, to advise on the validity of claims against the company, and to represent the company in any court proceedings that may be necessary.
WHAT IS AN INSURANCE Attorney?
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An insurance lawyer is a kind of lawyer that handles all of the legalities of insuring an individual or business. Insurance attorneys should have a vast understanding of state insurance statutes. An insurance attorney can be called upon if you need legal advice in regards to your situation.https://bestlawyer.guide/insurance-attorneys/
FACTS ABOUT INSURANCE LAW
An insurance lawyer handles the legal bureaucracy involved in insurance law. If you are involved in a legal dispute involving insurance, contact an insurance attorney for formal legal advice. Insurance law can be difficult to understand, therefore an insurance lawyer should probably be consulted on any legal matters. Cost may drive an individual from hiring an insurance lawyer, but for professional legal advice, an insurance attorney should probably be contacted.
The law require insurance companies to pay legitimate claims in good faith. This means handling claims within a reasonable amount of time, providing prompt payment for damages and ensuring that the amount tendered is fair compensation. Of course, insurers don’t always treat their policyholders as they should. Some choose to delay payments, discount the value of injuries, and even outright deny rightful claims. These companies do so because it allows them to keep a higher percentage of premiums, and grow profits. The more money they retain, the higher these profits rise. Who suffers? Consumers like you who have to battle with an insurer just to recover what you’re owed.
Why do I Need an Insurance Lawyer?
When an insurer acts in bad faith, asking them nicely to treat your claim fairly isn’t going to work. They’re keep the money that’s owed to you, and daring you to stop them. How can you fight that on your own? You can’t. Hiring a New Jersey (NJ) & Pennsylvania (PA) law firm with experience in handling disputes with insurers is one of the only ways to make the company denying your claim listen.
- Breach of Fiduciary Duty – rejecting your legitimate claim is a violation of the agreement the insurance company entered into with they wrote the policy. It’s the equivalent of a restaurant taking your money, and not serving your food or drink. You paid your premium, and demand the coverage that money affords you.
- Calling the Cops Won’t Help – feeling like you’ve been robbed is a normal reaction, but bad faith insurance isn’t illegal in the criminal sense. Pursuing the company that’s wronged you will require the use of the civil justice system. You’ll need an attorney – a good one.
An attorney assists you with your claim by lending their legal knowledge and negotiating skills to help achieve positive results. The over threat of a lawsuit as a mechanism to settle your claim may cause the insurer to wake up and treat you fairly as state regulations require. If they don’t your legal team can always take them to court. Your opponent can’t run from a judge in the same way they’ve ignored their responsibilities to you as a policyholder.
How Insurance Companies Deny Claims
Insurers use a number of so-called policy exemptions and other tactics to reject claims filed by policyholders and those attempting to access the policies for legitimate reasons. Some companies attempt to wear down claimants with pages and pages of unnecessary paperwork and “processing times,” which drag out the claims process over many months. It’s just as illegal to delay payment of a claim as it is to deny one for an illegitimate reason. Here are some other tricks insurers pull to convince policyholders and claimants that they’re not owed damages:
- Retroactive Policy Cancellation – and insurer claims they cancelled your policy, and back-dated that cancellation to include the day your accident occurred. That’s a neat trick, but it’s also illegal. If you paid your premium for the time your accident happened, then you have valid coverage.
- Medical Examiner Rules You Uninjured – a popular tactic is for the insurance company to use an independent medical examiner to determine your injuries are unrelated to the accident in question.
- Illness and not Injury – that’s not a broken leg from a car accident, it’s the flu. Adjuster actually try to convince claimants that their injuries stem from some illness not covered by policy to avoid paying on the claim.
Types of Bad Faith Insurance
While the essential elements of insurance fraud and bad faith dealing are relatively the same, they can have different aspects depending on the circumstances of given claims.
- Car Accident Claims – an auto insurer may be quick to pay out damages on property damage, but stonewall the process when it comes to injuries. Alleging that the injuries don’t stem from the crash is a well-used strategy of bad faith companies.
- Homeowner’s Insurance – refusing to pay for property damage on homes after a storm, especially when wind and rain are present, happens all too often.
- Disability Insurance Issues – denying payment for a covered employee who medical doctors have ruled unable to return to work is a clear breach of good faith. Adjusters may also misuse medical records and place illegal limits on payouts to retain more money from premiums at the expense of disabled claimants.
Fighting back against these strategies can seem impossible given the massive size of insurance companies and their legal departments. How can you hope to obtain what you’re owed when they won’t even pick up the phone to return your calls? Once you hire a law firm to represent your claim, the insurer usually changes their stance on communication. Refusing to cooperate with your lawyers during the claims process only leads to additional financial penalties down the road.
From the moment you have counsel, all communication goes through them. No more dialing the adjuster’s number only to hear the same voicemail message. No more piles of paperwork from the insurance company without a visible end in sight. If you’re going through medical treatment for injuries, you can focus on your recovery. If your home has damage after a weather-related event, make repairs your priority. Either way, the stress of pursuing your claim is off your shoulders and in the hands of licensed professionals who can achieve more positive results than you may have been able to attain on your own.
Get the Help you Need NOW
If you need an insurance attorney to review your denied claim, fill out the form below for immediate assistance. Our FREE, confidential consultation can provide you with all the information you need to make the best decision possible about recovering the money damages you’re owed.