Ohio Insurance Litigation Attorneys
INSURANCE BAD FAITH
Ohio law requires insurance companies to treat their customers fairly in handling claims. If your insurance company denies your claim without "reasonable justification," you may have a claim for insurance bad faith.
Questions You Should Ask an Attorney
What To Do Following Insurance Bad Faith
Consumers buy insurance to protect themselves and their families from natural disaster, fire, injury, sickness, disability, accident, or death. When tragedy strikes, the last thing a policyholder deserves is to have their own insurance company deny a claim for no good reason. Under Ohio law, insurance companies cannot refuse to pay a customer's claim without "reasonable justification." This means that an insurance company must engage in a reasonable investigation and pay legitimate claims in a timely manner. If an insurance company fails to handle its customer's claim properly, it may be liable to pay additional damages, over and above the amount of the original claim. Insurance bad faith can arise from the mishandling of claims under many different types of insurance policies, including:
- Health Insurance
- Automobile Insurance
- Disability Insurance
- Homeowner's Insurance
- Life Insurance
Case Examples
We have handled a wide variety of insurance bad faith cases, including:
- Our client was seriously injured by an uninsured motorist. Our client purchased automobile insurance with uninsured motorists coverage. Even though the insurance company knew that our client was entitled to more than the maximum amount of the policy, the insurance company still refused to pay, claiming that our client should first make a claim under another insurance policy. The insurance company still refused to pay even after the court determined that no other policy applied. We argued that the insurance company was engaging in legal "bad faith" for failing to pay our client in a timely manner. As a result of the bad faith claim, the insurance company ultimately agreed to pay double the maximum amount of the policy.
- Our client suffered from a severe and permanent bone disease that required expensive medical treatment. Her HMO wrongfully refused to pay for her medical bills. The burden of the unpaid bills eventually forced her into bankruptcy. We brought a lawsuit against the HMO for insurance bad faith and secured a settlement to ensure that she would receive appropriate medial care and to help reestablish her financial security.
Damages
If an insurance company is found liable for bad faith, it may be held accountable for resulting economic losses, including lost wages, interest on money the insured borrowed to cover expenses while insurance benefits were wrongfully withheld, and loss due to damaged credit. The customer is also entitled to recover for emotional distress caused by the bad faith failure to pay a claim. If an insurance company's mishandling of a claim shows a "conscious disregard" for the rights of its insured, the company may even be required to pay punitive damages as punishment for the misconduct.
