Insurance & Bad Faith Litigation

An insurance company has a duty to defend a claim or lawsuit even if some or most of the lawsuit is not covered by the insurance policy. It also has a duty of indemnification, which is the duty to pay a judgment against the policyholder, up to the limit of coverage, but only if the judgment is for a covered act or omission.

Unfortunately, there are cases in which an insurer fails to uphold its express or implied duties to the insured.

Examples of bad faith include undue delay in handling claims, inadequate investigation, refusal to defend a lawsuit, threats against an insured, refusing to make a reasonable settlement offer, or making unreasonable interpretations of an insurance policy.

If your insurance carrier mishandles, wrongfully underpays or wrongfully denies your claim, you may be able to file a bad faith insurance claim to seek compensation for the damages you were initially entitled to, as well as additional damages.

There are a number of factors that determine how much compensation is granted in bad faith litigation cases. In many cases, the plaintiff’s compensation may be limited to an amount that equals the benefits that were denied by the defendant.