Insurance Bad Faith
The law firm of Magaña, Cathcart & McCarthy has represented injury victims in Los Angeles for more than 60 years, regularly helping our clients deal with insurance companies after an accident. Understanding how insurance companies operate, our attorneys work to ensure our clients are treated fairly by their insurers when making claims for injuries and property damage. If an insurance company does not handle a valid claim properly, we are prepared to hold them responsible for their bad faith.
Understanding Insurance Bad Faith & How It Can Happen to You
Under any insurance policies you have, your insurance carrier is required to act in good faith toward you. This means your insurance company has a duty to treat you fairly when assessing the validity of any claims you file for compensation after an accident or injury. If your insurance company acts unreasonably or unfairly in handling a claim, it may be liable for bad faith. Insurance bad faith claims may involve:
- Failure to pay a valid claim
- Delaying payment on a claim with no legitimate reason
- Unreasonable underpayment on a claim
- Cancelling a policy to avoid paying a claim
- Failure to settle claims against you that are within your coverage limit
- Failure to investigate a claim in a timely manner
- Failure to thoroughly investigate a claim
- Requiring an excessive number of statements or estimates to support a valid claim
- Failure to provide a written explanation of why a claim has been denied
An insurance company may employ many different tactics to deny, delay, or underpay on a claim, such as using unreasonable interpretations of policy language to accomplish a certain result, or purposefully undervaluing property damage or the costs of medical treatment to payout less on a claim. We are fully aware of the means insurance companies use to avoid paying policyholders the maximum value of their claims, and can determine if underhanded methods were used in your case.
If a court finds that an insurance company acted in bad faith, a policyholder may be able to recover not only withheld policy benefits, but also damages arising from the insurance company’s bad faith acts. For example, you may be able to recover for emotional or physical distress if the insurance company’s unreasonable denial or delay of a valid claim led to life-altering misfortunes, such as loss of property or the inability to receive needed medical care.
Contact a Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney with Insurance Bad Faith Experience
If you feel your insurance company has not honored the terms of your insurance policy, or otherwise handled an insurance claim in an unfair or unreasonable manner, please contact the injury attorneys at Magaña, Cathcart & McCarthy in Los Angeles. We have specific experience handling insurance bad faith lawsuits, and have helped many clients receive maximum benefits under their policies, as well as additional compensation for mistreatment.
