If you have been a victim of a personal injury such as a vehicle accident, there may be a few options for you get the compensation you deserve. You can file a claim against the other driver who is responsible for the accident depending on a few factors. In some cases, you can file a claim against your own insurance company. An attorney in Chatham can do a lot to help you get through the legal walls in order to get the compensation you need and deserve. If you have been injured, your attorney will go to work for you and make sure that everything goes the way that it should for you.
In most states in the past, insurance companies are expected and obligated to act in good faith when it comes to dealing with claims that are brought on by persons that they are covering through an active policy. In recent years, many of the states have worked to expand their duty to their policy holders and in addition, create new duties on the companies Involved. The end result is that now insurance companies act in good faith and can deal in a fair way with the person that is making a claim.
What is Bad Faith?
It’s important to understand the term bad faith when dealing with the insurance company in a personal injury lawsuit. In general, bad faith means that the insurance company fails to fulfill the obligations that Is stated in the policy. Or it may also mean that the insurance company failed to abide by the laws of the state where the claim was made. Some bad faith examples by insurance companies includes:
* Failing to pay a claim owed to a client in a timely manner
* Refusing to pay a claim
* Failing to deny a claim within a reasonable timeframe
* Requiring unnecessary or unreasonable paperwork to process a claim
* If a claim was denied, they fail to explain the reason why
* Failing to defend you, their policy holder, against a claim
If the insurance company acts in bad faith, then you can most likely bring on a new legal claim agains the company for the actions they took or neglected to take. This is also in addition to the claim you already have out for the property damage and bodily injury suffered in the accident.
That is one reason to hire a personal injury lawyer to represent your case. They will ensure that even if the claim has been denied, an appeal is filed. Most of the injury lawyers have years of experience in handling all sorts of claims and can help you what is due to you.