Bad Faith: Insurer’s Duties
Most people buy insurance against health problems, disability, fire, flood, accidents, etc., hoping they never have to make a claim. They pay the premium for the peace of mind that, if anything does go wrong, the insurance company will step up and take care of them.
Insurance contracts require the insurance company to treat its client with “utmost good faith”. That’s a long and complex legal term, but basically it means that any doubt must be resolved for the benefit of the customer. Insurers must be fair; they must be prompt; they must help their customers make a claim (not be adversarial); they must pay in full, quickly; they must not add extra conditions after the customer makes the claim. They must not use incompetent, dishonest, or biased experts.
Simple stuff: be honest. And no: It’s not good enough to be “kinda good faith” or “good enough faith”. It’s utmost good faith.
Most insurance companies fail to live up to their most basic duty to the customer. Most are in the business of collecting premiums and denying claims.
We’ve talked many times here about ICBC hiring incompetent, dishonest, or biased experts — as judges have repeatedly determined.
Other insurers are just as bad.
In future blogs we will cover some common insurer abuses in detail. For now, here is a list of the most common.
· The never-ending investigation. They never deny, they just never pay.
· Changing adjusters again and again – each then starts from square one.
· Endless long, complicated forms to fill out. They refuse to help and refuse to pay until ever last one is filled out. Then they send another form…
· Lying about coverage: claiming your loss is somehow not covered (though it is).
· Saying their “medical adviser” disagrees with your treating doctor. Often the “adviser” is the adjustor (whose medical training is from watching General Hospital).
· Spinning out the “investigation” past your deadline to sue (a year from the first denial, or last payment). Now you can’t get your benefits, and can’t sue.
If your insurance company has mistreated you, contact us at Clear Legal. We have been holding insurers accountable since 1990.
