San Diego Insurance Dispute Attorney

   As consumers, we hire insurance companies to be accountable, trustworthy, and honor our claims. Unfortunately, they do not always follow-through on their end of the agreement. Time and time again, insurance companies look for ways minimize your claim in an effort to reduce liability and their accountability to paying you. The winners are the insurance providers—not the hard-working consumers who keep them in business.

   “Bad faith” is established when an insurance company refuses to fulfill its responsibilities to its clients—you. Large insurance companies appear untouchable, backed by large sums of money, power, and a host of professionals. We feel helpless against them. We become victims twice—once for the accident that made us contact our insurance, and now but the company that was supposed to support us.

   The State of California observes an implied covenant of good faith. In this pledge, insurance providers are expected to use fair dealing when evaluating a client’s claim. If this does not happen, a client may sue the insurance company for breach of contract and bad faith.

   Examples of bad faith include:

• Refusing to reasonably explain their refusal in supporting a claim
• Misrepresenting facts related to a client’s coverage
• The insurance company attempting to undervalue a claim
• Completing the claim without reasonable promptness—potentially ignoring the statute of limitations
• Setting the claim for a smaller amount than what the insured is entitled to
• Failure to perform a thorough investigation of the claim
• Putting the insurance company’s financial interests above those of the policyholder
• The insurance provider fails to complete the claim in a reasonable amount of time, even after proof of loss statements are completed
• Failure to protect the interests and assets of the policyholder.