The idea of suing your insurance provider can seem downright crazy. After all, isn't the point of paying for insurance to avoid or at least mitigate bad situations? Yes, there are times when insurance litigation may be your only option for trying to get the compensation you believe you deserve. It is a good idea to be prepared for the possibility, and here's what an insurance litigation attorney will have to say about the chances you might need to sue.
Outright Rejection
Suppose your insurance policy's provider has decided to reject your claim outright. At that point, there are only two options. First, you can accept the rejection and figure out whether and how you're going to pay for things yourself. Second, you can sue and ask a court to force the insurance company to honor the terms of your policy.
An insurance litigation attorney will want to see the formal rejection letter from the policy provider. The company is supposed to state clearly why it rejected the claim. An attorney can then develop a possible theory for pursuing a lawsuit to compel payment of part or all of the owed compensation.
For example, an insurer might indicate that flood damage isn't covered by a storm damage policy. Your insurance litigation attorney might center a lawsuit on the available evidence that a building was damaged by winds and hail rather than subsequent rising waters.
Slow Review
One of the more aggravating insurance scenarios involves the company not reviewing the claim quickly enough. While this is understandable following widespread disasters, there still comes a point where action is necessary. You may hire an insurance litigation attorney to pursue a suit to compel the insurer to complete the review and pay.
Ideally, the threat of a potentially more financially damaging lawsuit will encourage the insurer to pay attention and reach a settlement with you. However, you may need to get a judge to issue a court order to compel the insurer to show what it has done to review the claim. At a minimum, this should give you an idea of where things stand and whether you might need to seek further legal remedies.
Settlement Disagreement
Just because an insurance carrier offers a settlement doesn't mean the compensation will be fair. While you might bounce the claim back and forth a few times to negotiate a better settlement, there does come a point where the insurer needs to pay up or face a lawsuit. You can present evidence of similar cases where claimants received more, allowing the court to see why you are upset and want action.
For more information, contact an insurance litigation attorney near you.
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