Fighting Insurance Bad Faith For Indiana Auto Insurance Policyholders

Last updated on May 28, 2024

When you purchase auto insurance for you, your family, or your business, you are entitled to financial and legal protection from your insurance company.

These basic protections are included in the bargain with your auto insurance company. While your insurer is legally contracted to prioritize your interests, the pressure of increasing corporate profits through cost-cutting on claims or lack of resources may constitute “bad faith” and unfair dealing by your auto insurance company.

If your auto insurance company is not acting in good faith and is elevating its own interests over yours, you have the right to file a bad faith insurance claim against them.

The attorneys at Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler have helped others in similar situations as you. Confronting your own auto insurance company for mistreatment may seem difficult — and it often is.

Car insurance companies use many different tactics to confuse, and sometimes outright mislead, policyholders. Do not let your car insurance company take advantage of you by offering you a settlement that is a mere fraction of the compensation you deserve or by withholding your policy limits when the value of your car accident case clearly exceeds those limits of coverage. Contact Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler to speak with a skilled insurance bad faith attorney.

Who We Represent

We add bad faith claims in auto accident injury cases where our client’s own insurance company is not making a good faith effort to resolve their claim.

The Types Of Insurance Claims We Deal With

We deal with car insurance companies all the time. Bad faith claims come up most often in cases of uninsured or underinsured motorist claims.

In these cases, the claim is actually made against our client’s own insurance company. Sometimes, the facts support a claim of the auto insurance company breaching its duty of good faith and fair dealing with its insured. In those cases, if the facts allow, we add a claim for bad faith.

What Is A ‘Bad Faith’ Insurance Claim?

When a consumer of auto insurance protection purchases a policy from an insurance company, a contract is formed that governs the relationship between the insurance company and the policyholder.

Among the many responsibilities required of the insurer is a duty to act in good faith. This means that both the car insurance company and the policyholder must uphold the written obligations required in the insurance policy. When an insurance company does not conform to the dictates of its policy, the insurance company may be liable for acting in “bad faith” and/or committing an unfair claims practice under state law.

Bad faith insurance claims can occur when an insurer withholds benefits without justification. If your auto insurance company is not handling your claim (either paying it or denying it) within a reasonable period of time, that would be an example of the insurance company acting in bad faith.

Do I Have A Bad Faith Insurance Claim?

Under the bad faith law of Indiana, there are numerous responsibilities an insurance company is required to fulfill toward its insured. Below is a list of unfair claims and settlement practices that your insurance company may be engaging in. You may have a bad faith insurance claim against your auto insurance carrier if they have done one or more of the following:

• Failed to disclose policy limits and/or applicable exclusions
• Failed to complete a thorough investigation of your claim
• Failed to pay the claim without a thorough investigation
• Failed to deny or pay claim within a reasonable time period
• Failed to deny or confirm coverage within a reasonable period of time
• Have unreasonably or unjustifiably denied you coverage
• Failed to communicate important information to you
• Failed to offer you a substantial, fair settlement — true to the value of the claim
• Failed to communicate a reasonable explanation for claim denials
• Failed to respond in a timely fashion in regards to urgent, time-sensitive demands
• Made an unfounded refusal to pay policy proceeds
• Deceived the insured
• Exercised an unfair advantage to pressure an insured into settlement of a claim

If your car insurance company has failed you in any of the ways listed above, it would be in your best interest to contact an attorney experienced in prosecuting bad faith claims against car insurance companies.

Insurance bad faith claims involve difficult issues of proof and documentation, even in the seemingly obvious cases. Therefore, it is critical that you act on a suspicion of unfair dealing by contacting an attorney for a consultation.

Schedule A Free Consultation With Our Team

If you have suffered damages or hardships on account of the actions of your insurance company, you may have a claim for insurance bad faith. Call us today for a free, confidential consultation: 317-842-5800.