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Insurance Bad Faith

Last Updated: Wednesday, January 14, 2015

It's important to understand what exactly an insurance policy is. For starters, an insurance policies is a legally binding contract.

As a policyholder, your responsibilities and obligations include paying, in a timely manner, the required premiums as set forth in the agreement. The insuring company agrees to indemnify and defend you in the event a covered accident, act of god, or catastrophe occurs.

When an insuring company fails, for whatever reason, to honor the stated terms of your policy (the signed contract), you as the policyholder may pursue a claim for insurance bad faith.

Insurance bad faith is a serious matter and requires the dedicated and experienced counsel of a veteran attorney or law firm. For the last five decades, Simon Bennett Robbins Oppenheim & Taft has been successfully representing consumers who have been wronged by their insurers.

If you been involved in a car accident, suffered destruction of property because of a flood or fire, sustained bodily injuries during a slip-and-fall, and were not properly compensated by your insurance company, we encourage you to call our law office for an initial consultation, at which time we can apprise you of the full extend of your rights and options.

Plainly put, the definition of bad faith is any intentionally dishonest act on the part of an insurance company, whereby it fails to fulfill either its legal or contractual obligations to a policyholder, misleading a policyholder or another, knowingly and/or purposely entering into a legal agreement without the means or intention to fulfill it, or violating basic standards of honesty in its interactions and business activities.

What Actions Should I Take?

It is not uncommon to feel helpless when an insurance company has committed an act of bad faith. While it is not typical for insurance companies to betray their customers, these bad acts occur with some degree of frequency.

When you are not paid the benefits for which you are entitled, it is imperative to retain an experienced attorney. It would be foolhardy to sue a deep-pocketed insurance company on your own.

Most critical is the lawyer's ability to demonstrate to a court (either a judge or a jury) that the insurance company has acted in bad faith. Every instance of bad faith is considered a torts, which means the plaintiff is permitted to seek monetary damages to cover the costs of expenses arising from the claim, such as lost wages and other income as well as medical bills.

The lawyers at our firm will stop at nothing to ensure you are made whole if you are the victim of insurance bad faith. That means will seek to recover a significant monetary award for you by trial, arbitration, through a mutually agreed upon settlement, or by any other method that results in the insurance company finally paying you for your claim and other appropriate costs over and above that amount.

What is Insurance Recission?

When an insurance company cancels a customer's policy retroactively after a legitimate claim has been filed, they are not only acting in bad faith by violating the terms of the policy, but they are breaking the law. Unfortunately for the public at large, this practice still happens quite often.

Simon Bennett Robbins Oppenheim & Taft possesses the experienced necessary to reach settlements for its clients that are both fair and generous in instances of insurance bad faith.

Our firm takes on insurance bad faith cases on a contingency basis. That means you are not required to pay any upfront costs or retainers. We will zealously represent your cause, devoting the time, money, personnel, and other resources at no upfront cost to you. Simon Bennett Robbins Oppenheim & Taft will only receive compensation once a settlement or verdict has been reached and you are paid.

We encourage you to call us today to explore all of your legal options if you believe an insurance company has failed to pay you a benefit to which you were legally entitled.

Simon Bennett Robbins Oppenheim & Taft looks forward to speaking with you soon.