When you pay insurance premiums month after month, you expect your insurer to honor your policy when disaster strikes. Unfortunately, insurance companies are profit-driven corporations, and some routinely use deceptive tactics to delay, underpay, or flat-out deny legitimate claims.
Under Texas law, insurers owe policyholders a duty of good faith and fair dealing. When they break this duty, they may be guilty of insurance bad faith.
Common Signs of Insurance Bad Faith
- Unreasonable Delays: Failing to acknowledge, investigate, or process your claim within statutory Texas deadlines.
- Inadequate Investigation: Denying a claim based on a hasty or biased investigation without gathering all relevant evidence.
- Lowball Settlement Offers: Offering an payout significantly below the clear value of documented losses.
- Misrepresenting Policy Terms: Distorting policy language or misinforming you about coverage limits to justify a denial.
- Refusing to Provide Explanation: Failing to give a clear, written legal explanation for why a claim was denied or underpaid.
Your Protections Under Texas Insurance Law
The Texas Insurance Code establishes strict guidelines for how insurers must handle policyholder claims. If an insurance company is found to have acted in bad faith, you may be entitled to recover damages beyond your initial claim amount, including:
- The full value of your original claim.
- Statutory penalty interest for unreasonable delays.
- Reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.
- Triple damages (treble damages) in cases of intentional or egregious misconduct.
Hold Your Insurance Carrier Accountable
If your insurer has unfairly denied, delayed, or underpaid your valid claim, PM Law Firm is ready to enforce your coverage rights. We offer bilingual legal assistance and fight aggressively to hold insurance companies to their legal obligations.
Contact us today at (281) 968-9529 for a free, confidential review of your insurance dispute.