Delay in Payment: A Favorite Tactic Insurance Companies Use to Avoid Paying Claims
If you’ve submitted a valid insurance claim, you have every right to expect a reasonably prompt payment of your claim. The insurance company, which invests funds collected as premiums, has every incentive to hold on to as much money as they can for as long as they can. Promptly paying claims is simply not in their best interest. The longer they can hold out, the longer they are able to use that money to generate more money.
Of course this is improper, and a company that writes an insurance policy has a contractual obligation to pay any valid claim. But insurers have plenty of ways to drag out the process. These are just a few:
- Ignoring claims for a substantial period of time after being notified of the loss
- Asking for unnecessary documentation or making redundant requests for paperwork you’ve already submitted
- Routinely denying valid claims as a delaying tactic
Excessive delays can cause no end of harm to those who are severely injured, ill, disabled, in need of medical treatment and often unable to work as a result of the injury. As time goes on and financial stress increases, a claimant is often more likely to accept a smaller payout than the case is worth, out of desperation. Homeowners left without a place to live because of a delay in payment for storm damage may likewise become desperate to receive any payment, even an insufficient one, to be able to repair their home.
While not every insurance company evades its legal responsibility to pay out valid claims every time, excessive delays are all too common. This is a typical example of an insurer acting in bad faith.
Surrano Law Offices: Put Our Experience to Work for You
The lawyers at Surrano Law Offices are very familiar with the tactics insurance companies use to delay and minimize the payment of legitimate claims. We handle first-party claims against the insured’s own insurance company, as well as third-party claims against the company covering the individual or entity that caused the injury.
Principal attorney, Charles Surrano, knows how insurance companies operate, because he has worked for them, as a defense lawyer for insurance companies facing policyholder and accident victim claims. By working for “the other side,” he has gained the knowledge and experience to better assist you and people like you who have fallen victim to insurance company delays and other types of bad faith handling of claims. Our firm has a long history of forcing insurance companies to pay, and in some cases, punishing them by getting additional funds in the form of punitive for our clients.
If you have a legitimate insurance claim, and it has been delayed, denied, ignored, or low-balled by the insurance company, we are here to help. We handle all types of insurance company bad faith claims, including:
- Disability insurance;
- Health insurance;
- Business insurance;
- Property insurance; and
- Life insurance.
Call Today to Learn About Your Legal Options
Whether you live in Arizona or elsewhere in the United States, the insurance bad faith lawyers at Surrano Law Offices in the Phoenix area can investigate your claim and guide you on the best way to move forward with your claim. Take advantage of our nationwide reputation as litigators, negotiators, and educators to level the playing field when dealing with bad faith on the part of large insurance corporations.
If you are a claimant or a lawyer representing a client dealing with insurance company bad faith, contact Surrano Law Offices in the Phoenix area, today for experienced, focused, and results-oriented legal representation.