Bad Faith Insurance Claims and Interest Payments

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Insurance companies are paid to cover the damages incurred by their claimants. For example, if another motorist’s negligence leaves you injured in a car accident, that driver’s car insurance carrier is responsible for covering the injuries you sustain. Further, the insurance company is responsible for doing so in good faith, which amounts to engaging in fair dealings. When insurance companies fail to do so, they can face bad faith claims against them. In Texas, insurance companies that have come up short in these bad faith cases have even been required by the court to make interest payments to affected claimants.

Interest Payments outside of Bad Faith Practices

Texas courts have even granted interest payments to claimants whose insurance settlements were merely late. In other words, the claimants were not required to prove that the involved insurance companies were acting in bad faith, which is good news for claimants.

Is the Insurance Company Acting in Bad Faith?

When you deal with an insurance company, it is easy to assume that it has all the power and that you pretty much have to take what you can manage to get out of it. After being injured by someone else’s negligence, you may be verging on desperate to obtain compensation. After all, even woefully inadequate compensation is better than no compensation at all, and the insurance company is well aware of this fact. As such, the more you know about bad faith insurance practices, the better.

Insurance Companies Are Held to High Standards

Insurance companies are held to extremely high standards for very important reasons that include:

  • Without the compensation to which they are entitled, claimants can face financial ruin.

  • Insurance companies have considerable negotiating expertise, serious financial resources, and cadres of lawyers on their side, which amounts to an imbalance of power that leaves claimants at a serious disadvantage.

Common Examples of Bad Faith Practices

When insurance companies fail to uphold their financial responsibilities to claimants, they act in bad faith. It is important to note, however, that insurance companies can be very skilled in the art of bad faith practices. Some of the most common among these practices fall into the following categories:

  • Requiring claimants to comply with arbitrary and arduous demands for proof of loss

  • Delaying the claims process unreasonably

  • Deliberately misinterpreting their own policies in an effort to avoid paying claims

  • Engaging in practices that are considered abusive

  • Failing to properly conduct claim investigations

Given their considerable resources, insurance companies rarely give up without putting up a good fight. If you suspect that the insurance company covering your claim is acting in bad faith, it is time to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney.

An Experienced Killeen Personal Injury Attorney Can Help

If you have been injured by someone else’s negligence, Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard – proudly serving Killeen, Texas – is a personal injury attorney who is well prepared and well-positioned to take on the less-than-forthright insurance company on your behalf. To learn more, please do not wait to contact us online or call us at 254-501-4040 today.

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