An insurance company acts in bad faith when it fails to uphold its contractual obligations to policyholders, often by denying claims, delaying payments, or underpaying settlements without a valid reason.
After a hurricane in Florida, examples of bad faith actions by an insurance company might include:
- Unreasonable Claim Denials: Denying legitimate claims without a thorough investigation or a valid reason. For example, rejecting a claim for wind damage by attributing it to flood damage, even if the policy covers wind damage.
- Delayed Payments: Taking an excessive amount of time to process and pay out claims. Florida law requires insurers to acknowledge communications and make decisions on claims within specific timeframes, and delays beyond these limits can constitute bad faith.
- Underpayment of Claims: Offering significantly less than the claim’s worth or what is required to cover the damage. This could involve undervaluing the cost of repairs or replacement of damaged property.
- Failure to Investigate: Not conducting a proper investigation into the claim. This might include ignoring evidence provided by the policyholder or failing to send an adjuster to inspect the damage.
- Misrepresentation of Policy Terms: Misleading policyholders about what is covered under their policy. For instance, telling a policyholder that their policy does not cover certain damages when it does.
- Unjustified Policy Cancellations: Canceling a policy after a claim is filed to avoid paying out. This might involve claiming that the policyholder violated a term of the policy or failing to renew a policy without proper notice.
- Pressure to Settle for Less: Using aggressive tactics to pressure policyholders into accepting a lower settlement than they are entitled to, such as threatening delays or suggesting that the policyholder’s claim is weak.
- Ignoring State Regulations: Failing to adhere to state laws and regulations regarding claims processing and payments. Florida has specific regulations to protect consumers, and violations of these can be considered bad faith.
In such cases, policyholders in Florida may have legal recourse to file a bad faith lawsuit against the insurance company. This can lead to the insurer being required to pay the original claim amount, additional damages, and possibly punitive damages if the bad faith conduct is particularly egregious.
If you’ve been the victim of any of the above actions by an insurance company in Florida, Anthony-Smith Law can HELP. Our competitors charge a retainer and hourly fees for these services, but we do not charge for these cases unless our client wins. The court should make the insurance company pay all legal fees, so our clients don’t pay a penny out of pocket. Contact us today at 321-900-HELP (321-900-4357) to discuss your insurance bad faith case and get the justice you deserve.
