When you pay your insurance premiums faithfully, you naturally expect to have the coverage you paid for when you need it. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. If you have been a victim of insurance bad faith, contact The Janda Law Firm to speak with our Las Vegas bad faith insurance lawyer today. Our Las Vegas injury attorney can assist you in pursuing the payments you deserve along with compensation for additional damages.
As insurance policies are a form of legal contract, insurance companies have an obligation of good faith and fair dealing with their policyholders. They are required to uphold certain duties, including paying your claims promptly. When an insurance company fails in these duties or acts in a dishonest or deceptive manner, its actions may be considered bad faith.
Insurers may act in bad faith in a variety of ways. Bad faith claims can be divided into two separate categories: first-party claims and third-party claims.
This type of claim involves the failure of the insurance company to fulfill its duties to the policyholder or refusing to pay a legitimate claim. Insurers have a duty to:
If you are sued by another party in a matter covered by your policy, the insurance company has certain duties to you, and failure to uphold them may constitute bad faith. These include the duty to:
If your insurer is guilty of bad faith, you likely have damages as a result. In that case, you have recourse under the law to file an insurance bad faith claim in civil court. Damages you may be entitled to claim for actual losses include:
Nevada also allows punitive damages for insurance bad faith. These damages are designed to punish the insurance company for acting in bad faith and to deter similar actions in the future. Punitive damages are often greater in amount than actual damages. Insurance bad faith claims are specifically excluded from the cap on punitive damages, which in other cases would be three times the amount of actual damages.
If your insurer has acted in bad faith, contact The Janda Law Firm to schedule a free case consultation with our Las Vegas injury attorney. We can help you determine if you have a case of insurance bad faith, and if so, what damages you may be able to pursue in a claim against your insurance provider.