Even though the insurance laws of the state of Florida prohibit the willing delay or denial of legitimate claims, many insurance companies rely on bad faith insurance practices to pad their bottom line. Even policy holders who faithfully pay the required premiums may be surprised to learn that they have been denied coverage. It is often necessary to retain the services of a bad faith insurance attorney to force an insurance company to honor the stated terms and conditions of a policy. An insurance company that breaches the legal parameters of an active policy may also be found guilty of violating deceptive trade statutes.
Bad Faith Insurance Practices
Any insurance company that wrongfully denies or delays a valid insurance claim may be found guilty of committing insurance fraud. Insurance claims are often denied for a variety of illegitimate reasons, including retroactive cancellation of a policy, overruling the diagnosis of a personal physician or reclassifying an injury as an illness. When a disability claim is denied in violation of an active policy, an insurance lawyer can pursue litigation under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act. ERISA judges tend to rule in favor of policy holders.
Insurance policy holders rightly assume that their insurance company will honor the terms specified in the policy. An insurance policy is a contract that provides coverage in the event of loss or injury. Nevertheless, an insurance company may employ tactics designed to wear down a policy holder, such as claiming the existence of a pre-existing condition or revoking coverage for an entire family due to a discrepancy with one family member.
When catastrophic injury or illness makes it necessary to submit an insurance claim, it is expected that the insurance company will meet the financial obligations specified by the policy. It is not uncommon for insurers to limit the duration of coverage, delay claim investigations or pay only a portion of legitimate medical bills. An experienced insurance attorney can fight the bad faith practices of any insurance company that violates the insurance laws. Unfortunately, it may be necessary to file a lawsuit to obtain the coverage clearly defined by an insurance policy.