Articles Posted in Bad Faith Insurance

Folks in Weatherford, Parker County, Aledo, Azle, Springtown, Poolville, Whitt, Peaster, Hudson Oaks, Brock, Willow Park, Cool, Millsap, and other places in Texas will at one time or another have a claim against their own insurance company. When making this claim against their own insurance company, otherwise known as a first party claim, and the insurance company does not treat you properly in the handling of the claim it is likely that there have been violations of provisions of the Texas Insurance Code. When this happens it is advisable to seek the assistance of an experienced Insurance Law Attorney. Here is what he should tell you.

1) gather all the documents you have related to the claim, such as the policy itself, letters and e-mails and faxes to and from the insurance company, and any documents verifying the value of the loss such as repair bills or estimates;

2) write out what has happened – this should be your version of the sequence of events with all the relevant information to help the attorney understand the case – the writing should start out: My name is …, I have a policy of insurance with …, On such and such date … happened, I then made a claim to my insurance company for benefits. Then write down a sequencial listing of what happened in the claims process.

People in Grand Prairie, Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, Garland, Mesquite, Rowlette, De Soto, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, and other places in Texas would like to think that people are honest with them in their business dealings. The majority of the time, this is true. Rarely does someone intentionally lie about a subject, but occassionly a misrepresentation is made, not on purpose, but accidently. When this is done it is called negligent misrepresentation.

Here is an example of negligent misrepresentation. This is from a 2003 case styled, New York Life Insurance Company, et al v. Phillip M. Miller. This case was decided by the Texas Court of Appeals, Austin.

Here is some background:

Insureds in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Cedar Hill, De Soto, Duncanville, Red Oak, Lancaster, Arlington, Forest Hills, and other places in Texas do not really understand the different parts of insurance transactions. Let’s try to get an understanding and be more educated about insurance transactions.

To understand the different ways disputes can arise, it is helpful to consider the sequence of events that is likely to occur. At its very simplest, the insurance transaction can be divided into the initial sale of the policy, and subsequent handling of claims. These can be broken down further to include:

(1) The sale of the policy: Initially, the consumer and insurer or insurer’s agent must communicate to establish a contractual relationship. Disputes may arise over what was asked for by the applicant, what was represented by the insurer or agent, or the timeliness of the insurer or agent in providing coverage. Issues may also arise about the truthfulness of the applicant or agent in disclosing information requested by the insurer;