Maximizing the client’s recovery
Insurance carriers have a duty to investigate all claims. This duty is the same regardless of the kind of insurance at issue. This duty applies to first-party claims “your own insurance” — that is when a policy-holder has submitted a claim to her own insurance carrier, such as a claim under a homeowner’s policy, automobile policy or a disability policy. This duty also applies to third-party claims — that is, when a policy-holder asks her liability carrier to provide her with a defense when she has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit.
The duty to investigate is an affirmative duty.
An insurance carrier cannot simply sit back and wait for the insured to provide the information necessary to establish coverage.
For example, an insurance carrier cannot request an insured “person who has insurance coverage with a specific insurance company” to submit an estimate for a property claim. The insurance carrier has the obligation to get its own as part of its on-going duty to investigate.
However, it is very important that an attorney reviews and makes sure that the estimate and investigation is done accurately and in good faith.
The same is true for insurance carriers investigating whether they are obligated to provide a defense to a lawsuit.
An insurance carrier’s failure to fully and completely investigate a claim at its submission can result in the imposition of bad-faith damages in a subsequent lawsuit. This is true even if coverage is eventually afforded, if the delay in payment can be linked to a carrier’s failure to immediately and fully investigate the claim.
Accordingly, an insured should always focus on proving that a carrier did not fully investigate a claim in all insurance bad-faith lawsuits. Failure to investigate by the insurance carrier defeats “genuine dispute” defense that the insurance company can use in a bad-faith lawsuit.
At the Law Offices of Tavakoli & Associates, we take every step to investigate your claim and make sure we MAXIMIZE your recovery.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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If you have further questions, an experienced Injury Lawyer at the Law Offices of Tavakoli & Associates will be able to help you navigate the issues and provide you with the aggressive representation you need and deserve.
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