Finding yourself involved in an accident can be an extremely traumatic and stressful experience. One of the supposed benefits of having an insurance company is being able to trust them to handle all the details, so you can focus on recovering. For example, after a car accident, the expectation is that insurance companies will make sure that medical bills and car repairs will be the least of your concerns. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
Insurance companies in Denver, Colorado, may sometimes attempt to put their own interests before yours, mishandling your claim in the process. As a result, you might not be fairly compensated for damages sustained and could end up having to pay a substantial amount out of pocket. If your claim was wrongly rejected or deliberately undermined, you might have legal recourse. Legally speaking, insurance companies are obligated to act in good faith, meaning that they must provide their clients with fair, impartial service. Scenarios such as the ones described would be considered an act of bad faith. As such, they could be contested in bad faith insurance claims with the assistance of a dedicated, experienced car accident lawyer.
What Does Bad Faith From Insurance Companies Look Like?
The first step in proceeding with a bad faith insurance case is ensuring that your insurance claim is valid but was denied for illegitimate reasons. The coverage of insurance policies must adhere to the contract language, which is why it’s very important to familiarize yourself with the details within. Often insurance policy contracts are lengthy and filled with complicated legal jargon. If you find yourself unsure whether you have legal grounds to file a claim against your insurance company based on the complicated wording of your contract, working with an expert attorney can help. The legal team from the Law Firm of Jeremy Rosenthal can dissect your contract’s details and determine if you have a case.
Generally speaking, two main scenarios could be considered bad faith regarding insurance companies. One of these is designated the first-party bad faith scenario. It refers to the most straightforward type of case. The insurance company refuses the claim on unlawful grounds or does not perform the appropriate due diligence when investigating the situation. The contestation in such circumstances usually revolves around the insurance company’s failure to properly pay the claim.
The second scenario is a little more complex. Designated the third-party bad faith scenario, it refers to situations where the insurance company behaved improperly during the original case involving a third party. In other words, instances where the insurance company fails to act in accordance with the client’s best interests, including a failure to provide the appropriate defense or settle the case within the policy limits.
What Kind of Damages Can You Expect in a Bad Faith Insurance Claim?
The specifics will vary from one situation to another; however, it should be known that in bad faith insurance cases, the damages can be far more than your original claim. The reason for this is that there is far more at stake than any mental or physical pain and expenses incurred by the policyholder. Millions of people trust insurance companies to defend them in their time of need, and a breach of that trust is deserving of severe repercussions. The purpose of bringing forth such a claim is to ensure that you are adequately compensated and see that your insurance company never acts in bad faith again. These types of damages are referred to as punitive damages.
In general, punitive damages are those with the intent to punish. For punitive damages to have the intended effect, they must have a negative impact, ensuring that the behavior is sufficiently discouraged in the future. After all, requiring a company worth millions of dollars to cover a few thousand in punitive damages is unlikely to affect it whatsoever. Given that insurance companies tend to be fairly large and often have access to ample assets, the necessary punitive damages are often substantial.
The Advantage of Working With a Denver, Colorado Insurance Attorney
Going up against an insurance company in court can be an intimidating process. Insurance companies generally have access to a large pool of resources they can apply toward their legal defense. This can create a very hostile and challenging environment. That’s why it’s critical to work with a lawyer who has extensive experience handling bad faith insurance claims and is familiar with the process. Denver injury attorney Jeremy Rosenthal is committed to ensuring that you are treated fairly and that your rights are upheld in a court of law. Over the years, he has repeatedly fought against large insurance companies to ensure that his clients receive what they are due. The Law Firm of Jeremy Rosenthal is also extremely affordable. It offers free case evaluations to help you determine whether you have sufficient grounds to pursue a bad faith insurance claim in the first place. Call today for your free consultation at (303) 536-8911.
