Insurance companies work on the principle of prepaid payments that one deposits so that they can utilize claims in the future. The claims are written when one needs to get their capital back from the insurance company due to various reasons. These can be approached in two ways, “in good faith” and “bad faith”. As per the contract, every company is supposed to approach claims in good faith, and declining or settling for a low rate is when the practice is going by the bad faith principle.
In Houston, once an individual has been exposed to this treatment, the best solution might be to take advantage of a lawyer. More specifically, a personal injury attorney. If one’s claim has been handled with bad faith, the lawyer can sue the company for additional damages. Although this is not easy to prove, it can be done. Additionally, by proving that there was some type of bad faith, the plaintiff could recover more than the initial claim costs as all the expenses associated with the bad faith lawsuit will be added.
Since a lawsuit is a final leverage every customer possesses, insurance companies may try to undermine the process. This is most often done by implying how the customer was lying in their original claim, thus the company did not act in bad faith. Sometimes, if the evidence is condemning and the verdict will be in favor of the plaintiff, the company might even admit to nothing but an innocent error.
If Houston residents undergo this situation, one has to communicate with their insurance provider to acknowledge the bad faith that is taking place. If a direct approach based on communication does not solve anything, one should reach out to an attorney who can represent them. Then, a lawsuit can be filled to collect what is owed.
