Would I have a successful bad faith insurance lawsuit?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Would I have a successful bad faith insurance lawsuit?
On February 5, 2016 I got into a wreck which I was deemed not at fault. The night of the accident I went to the hospital and had treatments for a shattered nose, cracked eye socket, cracked cheek bone and 2 buldging vertebrae in my lower back. The next day I contacted my health insurance company and explained to them what happened and they agreed to cover all claims according to injuries from wreck. Well they covered everything except the ER visit which totaled approximately $18,000 with no insurance coverage. After calling my insurance company multiple times and explaining that the at- fault driver had low policy limits they requested a declaration sheet of both me and the at-fault driver. The at-fault driver had policy limits of only $15,000 and we aggreed upon a settlement offer to pay subrogation in an amount close to $7,500. The insurance lady stated that once they get payment that it would settle everything. Well now I found out that not only did my insurance never pay the ER claim, now it’s in collections and on my credit report and all.
Asked on July 18, 2017 under Insurance Law, Louisiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Since your complaint is based partially on them violating an agreement to accept $7.500 as payment in full of the claim or costs, you need some written documentation or proof of that agreement (even if only in the form of an email) to establish it; you would also need evidence they received the $7,500. To the extent your claim instead or in addition is based on an allegation that they generally did not pay what they should have under the policy, you should have the policy itself and all correspondence with them about it, as well as evidence relating to the injuries you suffered and how, to show they were covered under the policy.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.