How to sue an insurance company?

by ty_ger88 » Fri Sep 14, 2007 02:20 pm

Many a times you may be unhappy with your insurance company for not paying you your dues or for delaying your payments or for any other reason. Your insurance company does not always have the upper hand. There are laws to protect you if you have a dishonest insurer.

When can you sue your insurance company?

You can sue your insurance company on grounds of:
  • Bad faith and
  • Breach of contract

If your insurer tries to trick you by not paying up a legitimate claim you can put up a civil suit against the company for having acted in bad faith. A company shows bad faith when it unreasonably denies a legitimate claim. This may mean that:
  • The company has failed to carry out proper investigations
  • Undue delay in processing a claim
  • Disregarding the rights of the policyholder
  • Inadequate compensation provided against claim filed

You can sue your insurance company for the full amount of benefits that has been denied to you as well as for any economic loss or emotional distress that you may have had to suffer as a result of the refusal. If your insurance company has been dishonest you may also get punitive damages. This is a means to make the insurance company behave more responsibly in future correspondences.

It is good to keep all paper works organized so that you can find them as soon as you need them. You may think of an old receipt as unimportant but it might hold great importance when you have a case standing against your insurer for bad faith or breach of contract.

Related Readings

I'm confused, please help. Here's my story and question. I'll try to make it short. My car was hit about a month ago. I was not in the car. It was parked on the side street. The driver of the truck that hit me left a note with all of his information. Now, it has been almost a month, and his insurance is not doing much. At first, they promised to have the damage estimated, but then nothing was sent to the car shop where my car located. I ended up going through my own insurance company. The problem is before I went with my insurance company, I had rented a car and had discussed this with the other insurance company. They said they would reimburse me all the fees. Now, they're not answering my calls. They keep on telling me that the agent is busy and will get back to me. It has been 4 days since I faxed in my car rental bill. What can I do? Can I sue them? Would you tell me how to sue an insurance company? The bill was paid for by my credit card, and I don't want to owe interests on it. Please help. Thanks.

Total Comments: 380

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 03:12 am Post Subject: suing a big company like state Farm in small claims court

do you sue your local agent & State Farm..or just state farm??

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 07:02 pm Post Subject: INSURANCE

If my mother put house in my name and the i pay insurance yet thweyd o not put in my name then cancel my insurance because lies I get pictures there not trash on the property and i did cut the grass before the day the said it only fire and lightning insurance how can i sue them for slander telling bank that trash on property when they not.Plus the roof does not need replace contractor look at it said it easy fix did not need replaced

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 11:17 pm Post Subject:

[quote] HOW CAN I SUE THEM FOR SLANDER[quote]

First, STOP YELLING!!!!!!!!!

Second, see my sig.

Third, based on your grammar, inability to spell correctly and form complete sentences... I'll just say, you hire an attorney.

Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 01:36 am Post Subject: state farm suit

i want to sue state farm for damages in small claims court- how do you serve a big corporation?? I cannot sue the agent who sold me the policy...

Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 02:35 am Post Subject:

how do you serve a big corporation?



First, see my sig!!!

You look up their agent of record (online or call) and send them the paperwork certified mail.

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 02:21 pm Post Subject:

A person may sue his existing insurance if he feels like being cheated gradually by the company, or if the company constantly starts refusing for the payment of the recovery regarding the vehicle or any of the other insured object. A person has the right to end all the terms and conditions from the company, if it is not proving out to be useful for the person.

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 02:22 pm Post Subject: How Modern Operating Shoes Increase Danger To get a Sprained

composed by hsm 2012-05-31

Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 09:45 pm Post Subject: Medical claim

Hi,
I had a heart attack in Nov 2012 after being insured for two months. Our ins company is trying to not pay this saying it is pre-existing which it is not. We were unempoyed for nearly three yrs without insurance and had no doctor visits within that time. Every time I call them they say the need more letters from doctors that treated me in the hospital. I think they are just delaying me. Now I am being served by a law firm for payment on this hospital bill. What can I do?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 05:15 pm Post Subject: car accident

I was invovled in a automobile accident. It is my mothers insurance policy she is the insured. I have my automobile insured through her policy. I was the passenger of my vehicle my sister was driving and swerved from hitting a deer and hit another car. My brother and his friend was in the back of the car also. She hit two guys from the back and she was at fault. The insurance company which is my mothers say the policy is exceeded the amount and will only pay a portion of my medical bills. No bodily injury is being payed. Can I sue the insurance company?

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 11:11 pm Post Subject: Nationwide

Recently my vehicle was insured with Nationwide. They sent us temporary proof of insurance and even faxed an experience letter to the DMV of my county to have the title transferred over to my name. The vehicle was added to my fiance's policy which apparently they are not allowed to do yet did it anyway. Somewhere along the line someone within nationwide reviewed the policy and red flagged it because the title was not in my fiance's name and they cancelled the insurance on it. We recieved no communication regarding the cancellation and the vehicle was involved in an accident. Nationwide is trying to say that the vehicle was never insured through them yet we have the paperwork including temporary insurance cards stating that the vehicle is indeed insured. They are denying the claim but I have been told by multiple individuals to take them to court. I am unsure of how to go about doing that or what grounds I have, monetary value to sue for and such. Some insight would be so helpful right now.

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