Do insurance companies try to get out of paying legitimate claims? You bet they do. Never forget–as a claimant, your interests and the insurance company’s interests are directly adverse to each other. After all, every dollar of personal injury compensation that goes into your pocket is one less dollar the insurance company gets to keep as profit. A Minneapolis personal injury attorney can protect your interests and ensure that your insurance company does not take advantage of you.
Insurance Company Tricks: A Sampler
If you’re going to negotiate an acceptable personal injury settlement, you’re going to need to anticipate the tricks that insurance companies might use during the insurance claims process.
Here is a list of them.
- Unreasonable denial of your claim: denying your claim without a valid or clear reason
- Unreasonable delay of payment: taking excessive time to investigate or process the claim, for example
- Lowball settlement offers: offering a settlement amount that is drastically lower than the actual value of the claim
- Failure to conduct a thorough investigation: ignoring key evidence for your claim
- Misrepresenting policy terms: i.e., coverage limits or exclusions
- Poor communication: failure to communicate with you concerning the status of your claim or failing to promptly respond to your inquiries
- Refusing to settle when liability is obvious: Your insurance company may try to drag out your case to wear you down.
- Withholding policy information: i.e., refusing to provide you with a copy of the relevant policy or withholding critical information
- Excessive requests for documentation
- Using threats and intimidation tactics
- Inappropriately invoking policy exclusions to deny a claim
- Misleading you about your rights or discouraging you from seeking legal advice
- Refusing to pay for covered medical treatments
- Refusing to settle a valid claim that is within policy limits
- Unjustifiably blaming you for your own injuries
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg of the myriad ways an insurance adjuster might try to deny or minimize the value of your claim.
Insurance Bad Faith Lawsuits
Is there anything you can do about an insurance company not paying? Perhaps. Insurance companies not paying claims is a problem everywhere in the United States, which of course includes Minnesota. In Minnesota, an insurance bad faith claim arises when an insurance company fails to deal fairly with you.
Although Minnesota does not have a specific ‘insurance bad faith’ statute, state courts do recognize common law claims based on the insurance contract. Below is an overview of the elements and potential damages.
The Elements of a Bad Faith Insurance Claim
To win a bad faith claim against a Minnesota insurance company, you must prove the following facts (‘elements’): the insured typically must demonstrate the following elements:
- The existence of a contractual obligation between the insurance company and the insured: You don’t have to be the insured. You can be the beneficiary, for example, of a liability insurance policy between an at-fault driver and their insurance company.
- Breach of the insurance company’s duty to act in good faith: The duty to act in good faith is implied, even without any contractual clause that explicitly spells it out. ‘Good faith’ simply means honesty and fairness. Any of the tricks listed above could constitute a breach of the duty to act in good faith.
- Lack of a reasonable basis for denial of your claim: The insurer lacked a reasonable basis if they acted recklessly or with a knowing disregard for your rights.
- Harm: You must have suffered harm as a result of the insurer’s bad-faith behavior. This harm can be financial, emotional, or legal.
Remember that an insurance bad faith claim is separate and distinct from the underlying personal injury claim. That means you can win two claims at once.
Hire a Lawyer to Stand by Your Side
If you’ve got a problem with an insurance company not paying a claim, you might need to hire a Minneapolis personal injury lawyer to lace up their gloves and help you fight back. Since personal injury lawyers almost always use the contingency fee system, at least for personal injury claims, you pay no legal fees unless you win.
Contact the Minneapolis Personal Injury Law Firm of Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys For Help Today
For more information, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer at Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys to schedule a free initial consultation today. We have three convenient locations in Minnesota, including Minneapolis, St. Cloud, and Edina.
We proudly serve Hennepin County, Stearns County, and its surrounding areas:
Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys – Minneapolis
825 Nicollet Mall, Suite 615
Minneapolis, MN 55402
(800) 292-1979
Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys – St. Cloud
1010 W St Germain St # 320
St Cloud, MN 56301
(320) 255-1000
Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys – Edina
5200 Willson Rd #203
Edina, MN 55424
(952) 697-5560
