If your insurance company denied your claim, contact a Waco insurance denial attorney to discuss your matter. Policyholders pay for insurance so that insurance pays when they need it most. But insurance companies make money by selling policies, and they lose money when they pay claims. After a tragedy damages your property or business, you expect the insurance company to do the job you hired it to do. Insurance companies are notorious for using excuses to avoid paying claims by delaying payments, deny claims, and act in bad faith. Our clients often feel hopeless after the insurance company does not pay. The insurance company’s bad faith creates a significant financial burden for the person who paid for insurance. Insurance law is complicated, and the amount of information and documentation required to prove a claim has been unfairly denied is often overwhelming. Our insurance coverage advocates fight for those who have been wrongfully denied insurance claims in Waco.
The Waco denied insurance claim attorneys at Dunnam & Dunnam are not intimidated by insurers. We wrestle with them all the time. Our Waco attorneys have the legal knowledge, litigation experience, and courtroom reputation for getting results for our insurance claim denial clients.
Companies and individuals who have a dispute with their insurance carriers should quickly obtain representation with an insurance claim denial attorney because of the deadlines associated with these claims. Our insurance coverage lawyers carefully document insurance company bad faith so we can hold those companies accountable for their refusal to pay or diligently investigate and process claims.
It is essential to document damages and not sign any documents from your insurance company. If you feel like your claim was wrongfully denied or delayed, contact our insurance claim denial attorneys. A Waco insurance claim attorney will fight for you to get the compensation that you deserve.
Because insurance companies need to receive more money than they payout, they have pressure between paying policies and company profits. Because of this pressure, the law requires that insurance companies act in good faith. This means that the insurance company must acknowledge and investigate your claim within 15 days. The law obligates the insurance company to send you a notice of rejection or acceptance within those 15 days. If your request was rejected, the insurance company must explain why in writing. The most common reasons for denying a claim include a late filing, an invalid claim, or unpaid premiums.
Our attorneys leave no stone unturned while we analyze your policy and the facts surrounding the denial. When people have been wrongfully denied coverage from their insurance companies, it motivates us to make things right. Our attorneys have successfully handled hundreds of insurance claims for policyholders. These have ranged from fire damage, sexual assault, hurricanes, business interruption, officer and director liability, and theft. Disputes that arise between a policyholder and an insurer often concern matters that relate to the accurate documentation of the accident and injury. You do not want to lose your ability to recover money because an adjustor failed to document your losses and the details of your case correctly. Get a knowledgeable insurance claim denial attorney on your side to prevent it from happening.
If you have a dispute with your insurance company, the most common form of legal relief is a declaratory judgment action. A declaratory judgment asks the court to interpret the policy and decide whether there is coverage or not. This requires the court to do a careful analysis of the text of the insurance policy and any exclusions. Also, an insurance claim denial attorney may bring a “bad faith” insurance claim against your insurance company. The law allows for you to bring a “bad faith” claim against your insurer when your insurance company: (1) wrongfully denying a claim; (2) delaying or failing to investigate a claim; (3) failing to defend or settle a lawsuit; (4) failing to process or settle a claim in a timely fashion.
We understand that the financial impact of a wrongfully denied claim is a burden. We work on contingency in these matters so that you don’t pay anything unless we recover money for you.
Because your policy is a paid-for promise by your insurance company to provide you with insurance protection, the company must ensure that protection and to negotiate and settle claims in good faith. Insurance bad faith is when an insurance company tries to renege on its obligations to its client. These often include:
To prove bad faith, you must show that the insurance policy was valid and paid in full at the time of the loss, the insured policy complied with the terms of the policy, and the insurance company breached the terms of the contract by delaying or failing to make payment.
There are three main categories of damages for insurance bad faith litigation. These damages often include the contract damages that you are owed under the policy, the extra-contractual damages that involve the emotional distress and economic losses incurred by the insured while waiting for the claim to be paid, and occasionally punitive damages.
The first party is also called the insured. This is the person who is the car owner, homeowner, business owner, who wants to make sure that they have enough money to pay for damages to someone. A claim against your own insurance company is called a “first-party claim.” When you pay for an insurance policy, you expect that a valid claim will be paid. But when that is not the case, you should consult with an insurance claim denial attorney first. Many of the first party claims that our Waco attorneys often see involve:
A life insurance policy may be legitimately denied if there is a need to determine the proper person to pay or if more than one beneficiary makes a claim. But the wrongful denial of benefits is an act of bad faith. Our insurance attorneys can fight in court to collect the full amount of your life insurance policy.
Your business has many types of insurance. This includes losses involving flood, fire, theft, or business disruption. An improper denial can permanently shutter your business, leaving you holding the bag. We can help you get the coverage that you paid for in your business insurance policy.
Your general ledger often reveals the impact on your business, accounts for extra costs, and inefficiencies of operation and payroll for those not working. Our business insurance claim denial attorneys analyze the time and causes of business interruption. We can advise you on how to mitigate further business losses. We will then partner with experts to prepare financial projections to show a jury what money you are owed under your business interruption policy.
Homeowners insurance covers a variety of matters that occur on your property, including damage to your home, theft, and even personal injuries that occur on your property.
If you purchased disability insurance, you expected to be covered in the event of a significant illness or injury. However, disability claims are commonly challenged by insurance companies and the doctors who work for them.
Medical insurers may deny payment for a medical test or treatment because they believe a less expensive alternative exists. When that happens, an attorney can help collect the records and evidence needed to prove the necessity of a test or treatment. Proving a case of bad faith can be difficult, because there are many variables at play, such as the benefit limits established via an insurance policy. With health insurance claims, in particular, the insured may have to present a good deal of evidence to indicate that a specific treatment was medically necessary.
Storm losses are devastating. You can lose everything. To make matters worse, it is difficult to show everything you lost. Following damage from a hurricane, tornado, or hailstorm, you should make sure everyone is safe. Then immediately report the event to your carrier. Do not clean up the affected area quickly. You should document as much as you possibly can with photographs and videos. Use your camera to record the exterior of your structure, foundation, windows, walls, siding, roofs including vents, skylights, solar equipment, concrete, paint, trim, fascia, gutters, exterior lights, air conditioning units, planters, patio furniture, decks, grills, play equipment, sheds, pools, and anything else that is outside of your property. Photograph every room, the front, sides, and back of your structure, and try to get different photographs from differing elevations.
Dunnam & Dunnam has represented thousands of homeowners and business owners across Texas for insurance claims. The Waco insurance claim attorneys at Dunnam & Dunnam are experienced and respected for their work. The claims included property damage and commercial losses as a result of winds, fires, hail, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, water damage or drought.
You get sued. And you send the lawsuit to your insurance company, only to find that they have failed to defend you in the lawsuit. This is one of the most critical provisions in an insurance policy, and it causes a lot of litigation. If your insurance company responds that “we have no duty to defend you against this lawsuit,” then your next remedy is to hire a lawyer to determine if there is a basis for litigation.
You are required to give prompt notice of any potential loss to the insurance company. If you do not, they have the right to decline to cover you. This requirement protects the insurance company and allows it to have a say in how the claim will be resolved.
The third party is the person who is hurt, or in death cases, it is the family or beneficiaries of the person who is killed. You may have a significant claim against the insurance policy of an individual or company that caused your loss. This is known as a third-party claim. Situations that require the filing of a third-party insurance claim include:
Third-party insurance claims are routinely contested in court. If you have a valid claim, our firm aggressively pursues the compensation you deserve.
When you file a significant insurance claim, you are going up against a sizeable experienced corporation. You can quickly be taken advantage of without an experienced insurance coverage attorney on your side. Our attorneys overcome the obstacles the insurance company places. You can depend on us to work tirelessly in your case to give you the best chance of achieving results. When an insurance company has unfairly denied or improperly handled your insurance claim, Dunnam & Dunnam lawyers can help with a 100% free consultation. Contact our Central Texas insurance claim attorneys at 254-753-6437.
Hunter Slocum is an associate attorney at Dunnam & Dunnam, L.L.P.
Carolina G. Truesdale graduated from Texas Tech University School of Law, Cum Laude, where she discovered her passion for serving families during difficult times.
Mason Dunnam won his first jury trial the day after becoming licensed to practice law. He became a lawyer to fight for the little guy.
Eleeza Johnson has been a member of Dunnam & Dunnam since 2015 and is currently designated as Of Counsel.
Andrea Michelle Mehta became a lawyer to help people navigate the legal world. She loves her work and the people.
Gerald Ray Villarrial has an important goal – to be remembered as someone who cared about people and changed lives through his skill as an attorney.
Jim Dunnam is a Board Certified Specialist in both Civil Trial Law and Family Law. Jim was born and has spent his entire life in Waco.
Merrilee Harmon is a Family Law specialist, Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1985.
Vance Dunnam has 60 years of experience as a lawyer in Waco, Texas, handling all types of cases in both the office and the courtroom.
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