Time and again homeowners, renters, vehicle owners and businesses submit claims to their insurance company for payment of their losses, and seek defense and indemnity for claims made against them.

Many times the insurance company handles these claims fairly, promptly and in good faith as the law requires them to do. Sometimes, you the policy holder will get a claim denial letter from your own insurance company. Maybe the insurance company has a right to deny your claim because the loss is something that the policy does not provide coverage for. In other words, the policy excludes your loss. That may or may not be true. One has to carefully study the policy language to find out. If the claim is excluded, the question arises as to whether the policy provides an exception to the excluded loss. As you can see, there are many areas to look at to see if the insurance company improperly denied your claim.

We have been reading and examining insurance policies and denial letters for over 30 years. We know insurance law. We know the games some claims handling agents play.

When an insurance company denies a valid claim it is a breach of the insurance contract and any economic damages caused by the breach can be recovered. Of course, it is important for you the insured to fulfil your obligations under the policy such as timely paying premiums and giving the insurance company prompt notice of your claim.

When an insurance company denies a valid claim, AND does so in “bad faith,” the insurer can also be liable for attorney fees, emotional distress damages and, in some circumstances, even punitive damages. The Insurance Code lists many examples of forbidden claims handling practices which, if proven, can show bad faith breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Please see subsection (h) at the following link for examples of improper conduct by the insurance company.

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=790.03.&lawCode=INS

We also have considerable experience in dealing with insurance companies unlawfully cancelling policies without providing the required notice to the policy holder, and then denying otherwise valid claims.

We have access to the best insurance coverage and bad faith experts in America.

We will be happy to speak with you about your individual claims.

As always, no recovery, no fee.