If you have suffered an injury and your insurance company is not responding to your claim, the best way to get your insurance company to pay attention is to hire a lawyer.
Your insurance company is supposed to be there when you need it. But in times of crisis, you may find your insurance company is not responding to your claim. You may get frustrated waiting for your insurance company to call you back, leaving you alone to deal with the hardships of trying to recover from injury or loss. Unfortunately, it may take the intervention of an attorney who understands insurance bad faith to get a response.
What Is Insurance Bad Faith?
Your insurance policy is a contract. In exchange for premiums, your insurer owes a duty of good faith and fair dealing to you, the insured policyholder. It should respond promptly, investigate fully, and treat you with respect throughout the process. If it fails to do so, it may be in breach of its legal duty toward you.
As a policyholder, your immediate concern about the insurance company not responding is the out-of-pocket expenses you have to pay to get by. Whether you have suffered property damage, personal injury or another loss, it may take the help of a lawyer to make sure you receive fair and proper treatment.
Even if the company’s actions do not rise to the level of bad faith, your insurance bad faith attorney can put additional pressure on the company to respond. It is unfortunate, but true, that the insurance company may simply believe that a distressed policyholder will not press the issue if the policyholder does not not have a lawyer.
How Can You Protect Yourself?
Preserve evidence of the incident that led to your insurance claim. Take photos of the accident scene, if you can without endangering yourself or others. Take photos of all visible evidence of property damage. If you have cuts, bruises, or other evidence of bodily injury, have someone take photos of you. Digital photography makes it easy to take plenty of pictures at low cost, so be sure your photos are adequately lit, well focused, and thorough enough to document any visible damage. Once you have the photos, copy them to at least one other storage device besides your cell phone, in case your phone is lost or damaged.
There are a few benefits to asking a lawyer to help with your insurance claim. With legal assistance, you can produce a demand letter that the insurance company will not ignore, unless it is prepared to face the legal consequences. In the event the company does not act, your attorney can advocate on your behalf to get your claim resolved.
Once your claim is in process, you will not have to hand over more information to the insurer than is appropriate. You also will not have to handle invasive conversations on your own. In South Dakota, consumers are protected by law from the unfair actions of insurance companies, and your attorney will insist the insurer uphold its obligations.
Contact Your Legal Advocate
When your insurance company is ignoring you, you do not have to enforce your legal rights under the insurance contract on your own. The insurance bad faith attorneys at Turbak Law in South Dakota can help. Contact the firm online or call (866) 231-0914.
