When you pay insurance premiums, you expect your insurer will pay out benefits to protect you from economic loss due to fires, accidents, illness, and natural disasters. Unfortunately, insurance carriers do not always make the right decisions. Some go so far as to act in bad faith, engaging in questionable or even illegal business practices.
Your insurance carrier is not required to approve your claim and might have a good reason for denying it. But insurance carriers are required to review your claim fairly and make decisions promptly.
If your insurance provider has denied your claim without a valid reason, processed your claim too slowly, defrauded you, or refuses to communicate with you, a Marlton bad faith insurance attorney can help you with your claim.
Contact Console & Associates, P.C. online or call us at (856) 778-5500 to discuss the details of your insurance claim and the best course of action for your specific situation.
The skilled legal team at Console & Associates, P.C. has extensive experience representing clients in a wide range of personal injury cases, which means they deal with insurance companies all the time. The firm’s commitment to justice and advocacy has allowed them to recover more than $100 million in settlements and court-awarded damages for their clients.
The compassionate bad faith insurance attorneys at Console & Associates, P.C. can investigate the circumstances of your case and gather information to support your claim, giving you the best chances of recovering damages from the insurance company acting in bad faith. We want to help you hold insurance companies accountable for their bad faith actions.
Insurance companies are focused on their bottom line and often have little regard for their policyholders. Many people carry several forms of insurance coverage, including auto insurance, life insurance, property insurance, and disability insurance.
Insurers may:
Although some personal injury attorneys handle bad faith insurance claims, these cases differ from most other personal injury cases. Contract law typically governs the amount of time you have to bring a bad faith lawsuit, referred to as a statute of limitations.
Under New Jersey law, most policyholders have six years from when the insurance carrier acted in bad faith to bring a lawsuit. However, your policy agreement might include different requirements that supersede the normal time limit. For example, your insurance provider might have included a clause about bad faith lawsuits that further limits the time you have to take legal action.
Ultimately, you need to contact a Marlton insurance bad faith attorney as soon as possible. Your personal injury lawyer will review the facts of your case and your policy to find the best way to hold the insurance company accountable for its actions and seek compensation for damages.
If you had to file a claim with an insurance carrier, you probably suffered some serious loss, which likely came with a substantial financial burden. If an insurance company has denied your claim or is not processing your claim the way it should, the added stress just compounds an already difficult situation.
If you think your insurance provider has acted in bad faith but aren’t sure where to begin, these steps can help:
Simply involving an attorney with your insurance claim is sometimes enough to get your carrier to process your claim quickly and take your situation more seriously. One of our skilled bad faith lawyers can review your case, inform you of your rights, and advise you on the best course of action for your circumstances.
Contact your insurance carrier with a professional and firm email or letter that describes the problems you are experiencing with your claim. Remind your provider of their legal duty to process your claim in a timely fashion. Make sure to keep a copy of all correspondence you have had with your provider for your records. You might need them to prove that the insurance company acted in bad faith.
Your insurance carrier must provide you with the reason for their decision regarding your claim. If your insurance provider denied your claim, request that they give you a written explanation of their decision. Not every denial is grounds for an insurance bad faith claim. However, if you need to bring a lawsuit, you need documentation. Also, New Jersey law requires that your provider honor your request for a written explanation of its denial.
Contact the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance to file a complaint against your insurance provider. This will initiate an investigation into your allegations. You can contact NJDOBI online to get the proper forms you need to file your complaint.
Your insurance agent might not know about your problems with your insurance provider. If you contact the insurance agent who handles your policy to share your troubles, they may help sort out the issue. Sometimes you might learn of acceptable reasons for delays related to processing your claim or sending you your payment. Additionally, your agent may know key people at the company who can speed up your claim.
If you choose to bring a bad faith claim against an insurance carrier, you could receive compensation for the following damages in a settlement or as a jury verdict in your favor.
It’s no secret that insurance companies do not like to pay claims. This is especially true when a policyholder accuses them of bad faith actions. If you bring a bad faith lawsuit against an insurance carrier, you can expect their legal defense team to fight against you aggressively.
Insurance company defense legal teams employ a wide range of strategies to avoid being held liable for their bad faith actions. Examples include:
Fortunately, New Jersey has a comparatively long statute of limitations for bad faith claims, making it difficult for insurance carriers to argue the validity of a claim based on the fact that time has run out to take action. However, you must take legal action as soon as possible so the defense cannot use this argument against you.
The insurance company’s legal team might argue that you did not comply with the policy, putting you in breach of contract. The carrier could try to use this tactic to avoid liability.
This defense tactic usually comes into play when a third party tries to make an insurance claim but can also occur when a policyholder files a claim against their own insurer.
For example, say you were involved in a car accident in Marlton, and the other driver caused the accident. You exhausted your personal injury protection insurance and filed a claim against the at-fault driver’s bodily injury liability policy to cover your remaining accident-related costs.
The other driver’s insurance provider may attempt to deny your claim because their policyholder did not pay his premiums, and his coverage had lapsed. Here, you should seek out a bad faith insurance lawyer’s assistance.
In some bad faith insurance cases, the policyholder has signed a waiver of release that assigns the bad faith action to a third party. This commonly occurs when an insurance company denies a claim and their policyholder wants to protect their assets from seizure to satisfy a judgment. In this type of situation, the defense might argue the policyholder removed the cause of action against the carrier.
The above are only a few examples of tactics insurance carriers sometimes use to fight bad faith claims. You should seek the advice of an experienced insurance bad faith attorney who understands how the law applies to your particular case. Bad faith insurance attorneys have extensive knowledge of defense strategies and typically anticipate what the defense might try in a particular situation. It’s in your best interests to have legal counsel in your corner to make your voice heard.
Marlton Bad Faith Insurance Attorney, Richard P. Console Jr.
Insurance policies are complex contracts with an abundance of fine print to provide loopholes for the benefit of the carrier. Additionally, large insurance providers have in-house legal counsel prepared to aggressively fight any bad faith claim that comes their way. Policyholders and third parties alike deserve fair and timely treatment when they file an insurance claim.
If an insurance company treats you unfairly and acts in bad faith, do not take them on alone. Instead, enlist the help of an experienced insurance bad faith lawyer who can aggressively negotiate a settlement for you or take your case to court when settlement negotiations fail.
The experienced legal team at Console & Associates, P.C. has dealt with hundreds of insurance companies, so they understand the questionable tactics and strategies some insurance carriers use to try to avoid liability. Contact us today online or call (856) 778-5500 for a free case evaluation. One of our team members can review your insurance policy and the insurance company’s actions. After that, we can determine the viability of your claim and advise you on the best course of action to recover losses related to the carrier’s bad faith actions.
If you have a viable claim and choose Console & Associates, P.C. to represent you in your insurance bad faith action, you do not have to pay an upfront retainer. We accept new clients on a contingent fee basis. Instead of paying for attorney’s fees and other costs of representation out-of-pocket, we deduct these expenses from any settlement or jury award we secure from the other party to compensate you for your bad faith claim.
Console and Associates, P.C.
1 Holtec Drive, #100
Marlton, NJ 08053
