Virtually all adults in America rely on automobile and other types of various insurance policies to protect themselves from catastrophic expenses when faced with unexpected harm. However, until you have been through the process of settling a claim with an insurance company, you may not understand that during the claim even your own insurer can become an adversary, nor, how important it is for an insurer to act ethically during claims handling, and in a timely manner.
The expectation is that since it’s your insurance carrier, it will act in good faith to provide a fair and reasonable settlement, if necessary. Fortunately, when that is not the case, and if you believe your carrier has acted in bad faith, you have the right to challenge them. And based on a recent Louisiana Supreme Court’s ruling, you may have up to ten years to hold your insurance company accountable for improperly or intentionally mishandling your claim.
Recent Louisiana Supreme Court ruling in favor of Simien & Simien’s client
There was a previous split between the different Louisiana appellant circuit courts over whether a person had only one year or up to ten years to make the claim that their own insurer had violated its legal duty of good faith and fair dealings. In a case that was brought to the Louisiana Supreme Court on behalf of one of our clients, the Court unanimously rule in favor of Simien & Simien and its clients, finding that the time limit for bringing a bad faith claim is ten years. This important ruling allows our client to be protected under the issued policy and paves the way for similar claims by others.
In exchange for paying your monthly premiums, you should expect your insurance company to pay those things that it is obligated to pay and treat you fairly. If you feel that your insurance company or another insurance company against whom you have a claim has acted in bad faith or has not properly treated you during claims handling, you can explore your options for obtaining maximum compensation.
