Bad faith claims result from handling insurance policies and is usually issued by the insurer. Typically, the insurer claims that you intended to deceive to get money following an accident or an event that necessitates insurance money. In most cases, the dispute can escalate and cause you to lose money that you otherwise should get.
When you get a bad faith insurance lawyer in Los Angeles or any city you live in, they will apply some possible defenses. Take note that some states offer arguments for specific situations, but your attorney may use the following perspectives to defend you:
Contract breach and statute of limitations
When the defense is the statute of limitations, it is about a deadline for a claim. After that time passes, the request is no longer valid. The length will depend on how the state defines the claim based on the contract in question. In addition, if a policy has a time limitation, some states will hold it to that time. In such a case, it will not matter even if the period is less than that of the statute.
A contract breach, on the other hand, is used when the plaintiff needs to prove that they met their contract obligations. Generally, if — as an insured person — you did not comply with the agreement, the defense will not hold.
The bad faith of the insured and the policy defense
If bad faith is by the person who was protected, it forms an argument on the affirmative. Here, the defense relies on faulty principles that draw from cases of negligence. The idea is for the attorney to rest fault on the insurer’s bad faith and expect damages from them. The argument is that the insured acted as they did because of the insurer. This defense only works in some jurisdictions. When a third party makes the suit, the lawyer could argue a policy defense. If there was no coverage, how could there be bad faith?
Counsel advice and failure to appease
In some courts, it is a permissible defense that the recommendation of the insurer’s counsel resulted in the case. In other states, this defense is incomplete. They require that the only important factor in a breach is the duty of the insurer to the person they insured.
If this defense comes from the insurer, they lose attorney-client privileges with the lawyer who advised them. In a normal situation, the insured should try to minimize any damage to their property. However, if they do not do this, failure to appease can be a defense. Note that it is not reliable in a third party claim since the insurer will have to prove that the accused could have avoided harm.
There are other defenses that an attorney could use, such as a release from the policy. That is, if a company rejects an offer, their claim could go to a third party. An attorney can also claim conformity to guidelines set by the industry or a failure to explore other remedies.
