If you’ve been the victim of bad faith insurance practices, you may have the right to take legal action and demand compensation for your losses. Call (619) 777-5555 and our San Diego bad faith insurance lawyer at Mission Personal Injury Lawyers will help you work toward a meaningful financial recovery.
Since 2010, we’ve dedicated our legal careers to helping injury victims and families throughout Southern California. We’re respected litigators with a demonstrated ability to win – and win big – for our clients. Our results speak for themselves: we’ve gotten successful results in 99% of the cases we’ve handled and won tens of millions in compensation.
Put our 43+ years of experience in your corner. Contact our law office in San Diego, California to arrange a time for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.
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How Mission Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You Deal With Bad Faith Insurance Practices
If there’s a valid insurance policy and you have a legitimate claim for damages, the insurance company has to take that seriously. Ignoring your claim, denying it without reason, or offering less money than your case is worth are all examples of bad faith conduct that violate the terms of the contractual agreement.
Getting a California insurance company to admit bad faith practices and compensate you for the distress it’s caused can be a challenge. That’s where our personal injury attorneys in San Diego, CA can help.
When you hire our law firm, we won’t let the insurance company push you around.
While you focus on recovering from your accident and injuries, our bad faith attorneys will:
- Review your insurance claim and the relevant insurance policy
- Determine the maximum amount of compensation you’re entitled to under the policy limits
- Identify all of the bad faith practices that were employed in the handling of your claim for benefits
- Demand that the insurance company immediately fulfill its obligations under the terms of the contract
- File a bad faith insurance lawsuit for the provider’s breach of contract
- Seek benefits sought under your initial claim, attorneys’ fees, and damages available under California state law
We work on a contingency fee basis, which means there’s no cost to hire our San Diego personal injury law firm to represent you in your bad faith claim. You only pay if we win. End of story. Get in touch to arrange a time for your free consultation today in San Diego, CA.
What Are Bad Faith Insurance Practices?
Before we can discuss bad faith, it’s important to talk about what insurance companies are legally obligated to do when dealing with a claim for damages.
Under California law, there’s something called an “implied obligation of good faith and fair dealing” that applies to all insurance policies. This means that both the insurance company and the policyholder (or third-party claimant) won’t do anything to “injure the right of the other party to receive the benefits of the agreement.”
In other words, as long as there’s a legally-binding insurance policy, insurance companies have a legal obligation to act in good faith and take all reasonable steps to review a claim fairly.
Bad faith insurance practices are those that breach this responsibility. They’re actions (or the failure to act) that hurt a claimant’s ability to recover the compensation they may rightfully deserve under the terms of the insurance policy.
Examples of bad faith insurance can include:
- Failure to investigate a claim
- Changing the terms of an insurance policy after getting notice of an accident or receiving a claim for benefits
- Denying an insurance claim without a legitimate reason or justification
- Influencing a claimant to avoid seeking legal counsel for help with their claim or negotiations
- Failing to inform a claimant about their rights under the terms of the contract
- Failure to pay a claim in a reasonable time
- Intentionally delaying the claims process
- Refusing to communicate with a claimant
- Failure to defend a claimant in a third-party action
- Refusing to accept a reasonable settlement demand that’s within policy limits
- Misrepresenting the terms of the insurance policy
- Failure to provide documents or information when requested
These are just a few examples. If the insurer acts without proper cause and it hurt your ability to exercise your rights under the policy, then it could be considered bad faith.
Bad faith practices don’t have to be intentional. They can be the result of negligence or carelessness.
We Handle All Bad Faith Insurance Claims in San Diego, CA
You may have a legitimate bad faith insurance case if:
- There’s a valid insurance policy
- You have sustained injuries that are covered under the terms of that policy, and
- The insurance company has engaged in conduct that has hurt your ability to recover the compensation you deserve.
At Mission Personal Injury Lawyers, our San Diego personal injury lawyers are ready to help you bring a bad faith action involving:
- Car insurance
- Homeowners insurance
- Commercial insurance
- Malpractice insurance
- Life insurance
- Health insurance
- Workers’ compensation insurance
- Disability insurance, and more
Don’t hesitate to contact us for help if your claim has been denied or if you suspect an insurance carrier hasn’t handled your claim fairly. Our legal team will listen to your side of the story, review the available evidence, and offer some guidance about your legal rights and options.
What Damages Can I Get If I File a Bad Faith Insurance Claim?
Bad faith practices are different from other types of personal injury lawsuits. One difference involves the types of damages that are available to you if you win.
When you file a lawsuit for bad faith practices, you can seek:
- Payment of the benefits sought in your initial insurance claim for benefits;
- Non-economic damages for mental suffering, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress; and
- The cost of hiring an attorney to recover your benefits.
In order to recover damages for attorney fees, you’ll have to prove that it was necessary to hire a bad faith insurance attorney to secure the benefits you sought under your initial claim. In other words, you’ll need proof that you only got benefits because you got an attorney involved – not because the insurance company did the right thing.
Can an Insurance Company Ever Deny an Insurance Claim in Good Faith?
Yes. Just because the insurance company denied your claim or the process took longer than you expected, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the insurer has acted in bad faith.
There are legitimate reasons an insurance company might delay or deny your claim:
- The insurance policy has lapsed because the premiums haven’t been paid
- The injury sought is excluded from policy coverage
- The claimant did not provide timely notice of the injury and intent to file a claim
- There’s a legitimate dispute as to fault and/or liability
The best way to protect yourself from bad faith practices is by hiring an experienced personal injury attorney in San Diego to represent you. Call Mission Personal Injury Lawyers to discover why you’ll want our award-winning litigators in your corner today.
How Long Do I Have to Bring a Bad Faith Action in San Diego, California?
It depends on how you bring the claim. If you pursue the matter as a breach of contract, you’ll have four years to file a bad faith lawsuit. If you bring it as a tort in a personal injury claim, you’ll have two years to take legal action.
Don’t let the deadline go by without filing your claim. If you do, you’ll give up the right to hold the insurance company accountable for their bad faith practices. Contact our personal injury lawyers in San Diego as soon as you can after you suspect bad faith dealings in your insurance claim. We can get to work right away and fight to ensure that you’re able to recover all of the money you deserve.
Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced San Diego Bad Faith Insurance Lawyer
Insurance companies already have an advantage when it comes to the insurance claims process after a car accident in San Diego. They handle claims every day. This might be the first insurance claim you’ve ever submitted. Don’t let them take advantage of you or walk away without paying all of the money to which you’re entitled under the terms of the policy.
Contact Mission Personal Injury Lawyers, level the playing field, and put over 43 years of experience in your corner. Our San Diego bad faith insurance lawyers are ready to make sure that your claim is handled properly, you’re awarded the money you deserve, and that damages are paid.
We offer a free case evaluation, so don’t hesitate to give us a call or reach out to us online to schedule yours today.
