You’ve paid the insurance premiums for years and years and you’ve never had a claim.  You are secure in your peace of mind that your insurance is there for a rainy day when you need it.  Suddenly, there’s an accident or an incident.  You call your insurance company thinking that, of course, they have your back ― and guess what?  They basically tell you to hit the road and deny your claim.

All insurance policies have a duty of good faith and fair dealing implied in the contract, but unfortunately some insurance companies fail to live up to that standard.  However, the law has your back even when the insurance company doesn’t.  Arizona law provides that whenever an insurer unreasonably or willfully denies benefits on a valid claim under the policy, the insurer is guilty of insurance bad faith.

Some of the more common instances of insurer bad faith (among many others) are:

• Failure to properly investigate a claim
• Undue delay in processing a claim
• Failure to disclose policy limits
• Cancellation of a policy to avoid paying a claim
• Wrongful coercion of an insured to contribute to a settlement
• Deliberate misinterpretation of policy language

If your insurer commits any of these acts or any other acts that you find questionable, your insurer may be liable to you for damages. In fact, a recent case out of the Arizona Court of Appeals held that the duty of good faith encompasses some obligation to inform the insured about the extent of coverage and their rights under the policy.

Your Arizona bad faith insurance attorney will be able to sue your insurance company either for a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing or for breach of contract.  Under the former theory, you can recover actual damages as well as mental anguish, emotional distress and sometimes punitive damages.

If your insurance company hasn’t treated you properly at the time you need them the most, please contact our offices today to get what you deserve.