The reality of bad faith is that you may not even know that you are being treated unfairly by a car insurance company after a motor vehicle accident. After all, with backlogs, supply chain issues and worker shortages, how long is too long?
Why?
Keep in mind that every insurance company has a financial incentive to never pay, delay payments and pay as little as possible. This is because each dollar that goes out today is one that is not on their books anymore. And, if they can push that dollar off until next quarter, it will make this quarter look better. This mentality is ingrained into many companies, especially, those that are publicly traded as they have a duty of profitability to their stockholders over any duty to their customers and noncustomers.
How can I tell?
Frankly, sometimes, you cannot tell, which is why getting a Santa Ana, California, attorney immediately after a car accident is usually the best option. However, there are some signs that you may be dealing with an unfair claims process or bad faith insurance practices.
First, any offer from the insurance company or adjuster estimation must include how that offer or estimation was made and upon what they are based. If either the insurance company or adjuster will not explain themselves, bad faith is likely occurring.
Second, you should be in a rental car immediately. If they are stalling you on even this basic service, bad faith is likely occurring.
Third, if it is your insurance company, and suddenly, they are saying your policy limits are different from what you were sold. Or, they are now saying your policy has limitations that were never explained before, then bad faith is likely occurring.
Fourth, if the adjuster is taking weeks to get you an estimation, bad faith has also likely occurred. Some insurance companies are doing an initial assessment based on pictures the same day, so if the insurance company you are dealing with has dragged their feet, they are not acting reasonably.
What to do?
Of course, those are not the only signs of bad faith, but they are the ones that are common. And, the next question is always, what do I do now? Hopefully, once you begin to see the signs of bad faith, you contacted an attorney to fight for you. If not though, sometimes, the Santa Ana, California, insurance company will begin to act reasonably if you call them out.
Another way to hold them accountable is to report them to your state’s insurance regulatory body. However, even that process may require an attorney. Unfortunately, car accidents are headaches that last much longer than the day they ruined.