Gainesville Bad Faith Insurance Lawyer

Gainesville Bad Faith Insurance Lawyer

You expect your insurance company to come through if you’ve experienced a loss. If your insurance company refused to act fairly and pay your claim, you may have the right to hold them liable for bad faith insurance practices. 

A Gainesville bad faith insurance lawyer at Allen Law Firm, P.A. can help you get the full compensation you deserve. We offer a free consultation–so all you have to do is contact our law firm today or call (877) 255-3652 to learn more about your legal rights.

How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help if I Suspect Bad Faith Insurance Practices?

How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help if I Suspect Bad Faith Insurance Practices?

People rely on insurance every day. Car insurance policies protect you when you’re in a car accident–and health insurance is vital to cover the high cost of medical care when you’re sick. When you buy insurance, you should be able to use it if you suffer damages or get hurt or sick. 

Unfortunately, insurance companies don’t always hold up their end of the bargain. Bad faith insurance practices can be devastating. Damage to your home can worsen if the insurance company fails to pay out under your homeowner’s policy. You might have to raid your savings to pay medical bills if the insurance company refuses your claim.

Fighting back can seem like an uphill battle. Insurance companies have virtually unlimited resources. They might even convince you that you’re in the wrong. Fortunately, you don’t have to handle the situation alone. 

An experienced Gainesville personal injury lawyer can fight to get what you deserve.

When you choose Allen Law Firm, P.A. to protect your interests, our attorneys will:

  • Contact the insurance company and find out their reasons for denying or delaying your claim
  • Help you understand your legal rights and what to expect from the legal process
  • Gather evidence that proves your insurance claim was made in good faith
  • Find evidence to shows the insurance company’s actions were unreasonable
  • Negotiate with the insurance company to try and fairly settle your claim
  • Advocate for your rights in court if the insurance company refuses to play fair

Bad faith insurance claims can be complex. At Allen Law Firm, P.A., our team is up for the challenge. We keep seven former insurance adjusters on our staff. That gives us inside information into how the insurance company works.

Has your insurance claim been denied? Do you think the insurance company is giving you the runaround? Call our Gainesville offices to arrange a free consultation today. We’d be happy to sit down and discuss your case at your convenience.

What is Bad Faith Insurance?

Insurance is a contract. As long as you pay your required premiums on time, you should be entitled to file a valid claim if you sustain a covered loss. While insurance companies rely on the fact that some people never need insurance, they can’t just deny your claim if they don’t want to pay.

On the other hand, insurance companies don’t have to blindly pay out every claim that comes their way. They do have to act in good faith to settle valid insurance claims. In a car accident case, we always expect the car insurance company to fight back and conduct its own investigation. But they have to play fair.

The insurance company acts in bad faith when they breach their contract by refusing to act in good faith to settle your claim. 

When Can I File a Lawsuit Based on Bad Faith Insurance Practices in Florida?

Like most other states, Florida regulates insurance companies heavily. The Florida insurance code imposes certain obligations on these important entities.

Under Florida insurance laws, you can sue an insurance company for damages if the company:

  • Failed to act in good faith to settle a claim when, if acting honestly and fairly toward the insured, it could and should have done so 
  • Failed to settle a claim when the obligation to pay had become reasonably clear under one portion of the insurance policy because the insurance company was trying to influence a settlement under another portion
  • Paid claims to the insured or policy beneficiary without providing information about the coverage the payments were made under

Any insurance company can be held liable for bad faith practices. That includes the insurance company that provides your:

Unlike other law firms, our lawyers aren’t afraid to go up against big insurance companies and their defense attorneys. In fact, we have a proven track record of succeeding against powerful companies in the past. We’ll do everything we can to get to the bottom of what happened and help you resolve your claim as quickly as possible.

Examples of Bad Faith Insurance Practices in Gainesville, FL

The insurance industry is complex, to say the least. Many people simply don’t know whether their insurance company is in the wrong. That’s understandable. Our personal injury lawyers are always here to help.

Some common examples of bad faith insurance practices in Gainesville include:

  • Unreasonably delaying your settlement payment
  • Failure to conduct a proper investigation
  • Asking for unnecessary and unreasonable proof
  • Denying a claim that the insurance company knows is legitimate
  • Failing to protect an insured against lawsuits 
  • Ignoring evidence during the investigation
  • Terminating coverage for no valid reason or without notice
  • Retroactively canceling your coverage after you file a claim

Our attorneys at Allen Law Firm, P.A. have been helping the people of North Florida resolve bad faith insurance claims for decades. If you’re interested in learning more about hiring us to represent you, give us a call to schedule a free case review.

Signs That Your Insurance Company is Acting in Bad Faith

If you’re like most of us, you rarely communicate with your insurance company. You might try to renegotiate premium rates or shop around, but that’s about it. It can be hard to know whether your insurance company is acting fairly when you eventually have to make a claim.

Some signs that your insurance company is acting in bad faith include:

  • The insurance company is trying to pressure you to accept a settlement that doesn’t seem to cover your losses
  • The insurance company tries to settle quickly, without time to conduct a full investigation
  • Your claim is refused without any explanation
  • Your insurance adjuster won’t return your calls or emails
  • Your policy is cancelled soon after you file an insurance claim without any resolution

Your insurance company’s actions might just not make any sense. Most people don’t know whether those actions are normal or unjustified. That’s why it’s always a good idea to speak with a personal injury attorney in Gainesville if you think the insurance company is trying to wrongfully deny your claim.

Our lawyers at Allen Law Firm, P.A. will sit down and listen to your side of the story. Then we can help you understand your options.

What Time Limits Apply to Bad Faith Insurance Actions?

Bad faith insurance violations are treated as breach of contract claims. The Florida statute of limitations gives you five years to file a civil lawsuit based on contractual violations. 

You also have to give the insurance company 60 days’ notice of the violation under Florida Insurance Code Section 624.155.

Damages Available to Victims of Bad Faith Insurance Practices

Bad faith insurance practice can destroy your financial security–even when you’ve done everything right. Victims of bad faith insurance are entitled to compensation for their losses. 

The insurance company is on the hook for any damages that were reasonably foreseeable and caused by the violation. Under Florida law, that can include compensation that exceeds your original policy limits. The types of damages available will vary depending upon the type of insurance and incident involved–as long as the damages were reasonably foreseeable.

Victims of bad faith insurance are also entitled to compensation for reasonable court costs and attorneys’ fees. Our insurance claim attorneys will also fight to recover punitive damages if the insurance company’s actions were willful or especially shocking.

Are There Situations Where the Insurance Company Can Deny My Claim? 

Insurance companies do sometimes have legal reasons for denying your insurance claim. That’s true even if your loss is the type your insurance is supposed to cover. Some examples when the insurance company might be justified in denying your claim include:

  • Your policy doesn’t cover the type of loss or damage involved
  • You missed some type of filing deadline
  • You failed to pay your insurance premiums on time
  • There was an error in your insurance paperwork
  • Your claim involved some type of experimental procedure or treatment
  • You violated a law 

Your claim could also be denied if you lied on your insurance application or failed to provide reasonable and necessary information about your claim.

Contact a Gainesville Bad Faith Insurance Lawyer for Help Today

The insurance industry is intimidating. Going up against a big insurance company can easily seem impossible if you don’t have extensive legal experience handling bad faith insurance cases. You need a Gainesville bad faith insurance lawyer with resources and dedication to protect your interests.

Clients across Gainesville have trusted Allen Law Firm, P.A. for decades. Insurance companies recognize our name when we launch our investigation. If you’d like to learn more about what we can do to help, give us a call to arrange a free initial consultation today.

Our personal injury law firm in Gainesville, FL also provides: