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When you leave the house in the mornings, you never know if it may end up in you being involved in an accident.
People work very hard to keep car insurance on their vehicles so they can legally drive and sometimes, it can be very expensive however, when you need it, you expect it to be ready for you and working with you, not against you.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. Some insurance companies will act in bad faith, which is why there are laws out there to protect drivers from this.
For example, insurance companies now have deadlines for responding to letters and phone calls as well as having deadlines for issuing any type of payments on a claim. If they deny or want to investigate an accident further, they also have deadlines on how long they have in order to do this.
Injury Lawyer in Hamilton knows that after an accident occurs, an insurance company will investigate the scene, look over the reports, and investigate the vehicle to ensure that everything lines up with what really happened. If the insurance neglects to conduct a full investigation or delays payment over and over again, the insurance may be acting in bad faith.
Here are three examples of insurance companies acting in bad faith:
#1: Denying a claim without any legitimate reason. Insurance carriers may try to delay specific actions or fail to take certain steps after an accident occurs. This is an example of acting in bad faith. The insurance company should be quick to respond, return calls and respond as quickly as they can in order to stay on top of your case. If they deny a claim without giving you a legitimate reason after you have asked for one, then they are acting in bad faith.
#2: Not Performing an Investigation. Once a report has been filed, the insurance company has the responsibility to start an investigation to ensure that the accident happened the way they were told that it did and that everyone who is involved is entitled to a certain response, whatever it may be determined. If they don’t perform their own investigation, it is basically your word against the other individual involved and there are a lot of reasons why this is not good faith.
#3: The insurance company makes an offer that is less than what your claim is worth. There are some insurance companies that will try to settle with a minimal amount in order to get rid of the case and not have the hassle and the publicity associated with a lengthy and drawn out case that could ultimately end up in court. They will make a settlement according to what they feel like should be spent out and not what you feel like you deserve. They may not even consider the fact that you have medical expenses pending either.
Unfortunately, some insurance companies will prey on the fact that individuals are not aware of how much an injury really could cost you in the long run and are just focused on getting their hands on some fast cash now.