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Orlando Insurance Dispute Lawyer

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Insurance is a necessity of life for most people and business owners in Orlando. Whether you own a home, drive a car or motorcycle, have collectibles, or own a small business, you will likely have to file an insurance claim.

When you pay premiums as agreed, you expect your insurance company to pay benefits when needed. Unfortunately, insurance companies rarely cooperate and do anything possible to avoid paying claims.

When you suffer injuries in an accident, you need your PIP coverage or the at-fault driver’s insurance to provide payment for your medical bills, lost income, and more. A severe injury can ruin you financially, and insurance benefits should help preserve your financial future. When insurance companies refuse to pay what you deserve, it can be stressful and have lasting effects.

While you should have an injury lawyer handling your claim from the start, you might not have hired one, and your claim might result in unnecessary delays or denials. When this happens, immediately call a trusted Orlando insurance disputes lawyer from the law firm of Michael T. Gibson, P.A., Auto Justice Attorney.

We handle all stages of injury claims, and some results we’ve obtained for injuries or deaths in auto accidents include:

  • $3.2 million for wrongful death in a crash
  • $1.97 million for auto accident injuries
  • $750,000 for injuries from a car-truck accident

Your claim’s value depends on your injuries and losses, and we can evaluate your situation for free and advise how we might help you. Contact our firm today.

My name is Michael T. Gibson.

Orlando Insurance Dispute Lawyer, Michael T. Gibson

I’m here to ensure that Orlando residents have the opportunity to work with insurance dispute attorneys who truly care about their situation. Insurance companies rarely play fair when resolving insurance claims for Orlando catastrophic injury accidents or Orlando wrongful deaths. It’s important to remember that these companies are in the business of making money off of client premiums.

Each month, you pay your insurance premiums as part of an agreement with your insurance company. This agreement outlines that should you have an auto accident, medical emergency, or catastrophic damage to your home, the insurance company will cover your losses according to the terms of your mutual contract.

While some people are fortunate to never need to call upon some of their insurance policies, the peace of mind that you will be protected when you need to be is often worth the price you pay. Unfortunately, however, the insurance company does not always come through with its promise to protect you.

Has an insurance company denied your claim?

The average person has several types of insurance, including health, automobile, and homeowners. They present enormous challenges when you try to obtain compensation from them. When you’ve been in an accident and need help, the last thing you need is for the insurance company to serve as an obstacle.

Insurance disputes litigation can be necessary when your claim ends in denial, the payment offer you receive is too low, or the insurance company drags the process out. You may now find yourself with a significant battle ahead of you to set things right.

As an Orlando lawyer handling denied insurance claims, I want to caution you—the people who try to “go it alone” rarely succeed. Insurance companies have teams of lawyers that are ready to defend the company’s bottom line. As a consumer, you have the right to your own Orlando insurance disputes attorney, and my law firm is here to provide those services.

Insurance companies take advantage of unrepresented claimants.

Insurance companies know whether a claimant has legal assistance. Without a lawyer, the insurer knows it can use tactics to minimize payment or deny your claim altogether. A lawyer signals that you will not back down. The insurance company knows it cannot use the same tricks with an experienced legal professional.

Imagine you suffered a severe back injury in a car crash and file a claim without an attorney. The initial insurance offer is $20,000, which covers your medical bills, but nothing else.

You hire a lawyer who calculates your future estimated losses, lost income, out-of-pocket costs, and pain and suffering. The insurance company provides another offer of $130,000 due to the supporting evidence your lawyer provides.

Even after legal fees, you still take home much more than if you didn’t hire an attorney.

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What is “bad faith” in insurance disputes litigation?

Understanding bad faith insurance

Preeminent 2021 - Martindale-HubbellYour insurance policy is a contract between the insurance company and you, the policyholder, that will determine the claims the insurer will have a legal obligation to pay. The general idea is that you will pay monthly or annual premiums for the policy, and the insurer, in return, will cover you under the terms of the policy.

The doctrine of utmost good faith, which goes by the Latin name of uberrimae fidei, is the minimum standard that legally obligates all parties in a contract to act honestly and not mislead or withhold critical information from one another. Good faith applies to both parties in an insurance agreement because you, as an applicant, must disclose all relevant factors in deciding to issue an insurance policy.

When the policy goes into effect, the insurer must honor every facet of its contract. An insurance agent must reveal all important details about the contract to you and essentially obligates an insurance company to act ethically and honestly.

If an insurer refuses to honor the terms of its policy or unreasonably denies an otherwise valid claim, this can become the practice of acting in bad faith. Bad faith insurance includes the refusal to pay legitimate claims and failure to adequately investigate claims within reasonable periods.

Other examples of bad faith insurance practices can include:

  • Unnecessary and unreasonable delays in investigations into claims
  • Refusal to honor requests for documentation
  • Disputes about coverage or failure to pay valid claims
  • Failure to communicate
  • Refusal to pay valid claims or denial of claims without valid reasons
  • Unreasonable demands for irrelevant documents
  • Failure to provide reasonably requested documents promptly
  • Alterations or cancellations of policies after someone files claims
  • Misrepresentation of policies, coverage, provisions, the law, or other pertinent facts
  • Failure to notify policyholders of deadlines or provide necessary paperwork in time
  • Offering settlements or payouts for claims that are less than what the claim is worth
  • Refusal to provide an attorney if you or your business are facing a lawsuit
  • Failure to communicate promptly with claimants
  • Implementing standards that deviate from the insurance industry
  • Delays in approval or denial of requests for medical treatment and care
  • Denial of a claim without cause
  • Threatening statements to policyholders
  • Pressuring policyholders to accept unfair offers
  • Unreasonable and/or wrongful increases in premiums after someone files a claim
  • Delays in payments of valid and accepted claims

Suppose you need to file a bad faith insurance claim. In that case, an Orlando insurance dispute attorney can help you by reviewing your insurance policy to better understand your insurance company’s actions that violate the terms of your contract. A lawyer can review every contract provision, including coverage, limits, and exemptions, to determine the most appropriate action.

You will want to keep a diligent record of your initial claim, including all documents or evidence you provide to your insurance company. An attorney can assist you in gathering the most important evidence supporting your initial claim and the evidence of an insurance company’s bad faith practices.

In some instances, insurance disputes may find resolutions through requests for internal reviews of initial claims and their denials by the insurance company itself. A lawyer can work with the insurance provider to request a review by a supervisor or other internal authorities at an insurance company.

Sometimes, you may have to appeal a claim denial to an appropriate state insurance regulatory agency. Such an agency will be responsible for reviewing insurance disputes and contested claims, and an official appeal may prompt the insurance company to reconsider or reverse its initial denial.

Before you file an insurance bad faith lawsuit, an attorney can help provide you with a final written demand letter to the insurance company regarding your claim. This important step begins a hard deadline for the insurance company to pay a claim, and continuing refusal to pay your claim can prompt litigation.

When a claim involves mishandling, delays, or wrongful denials, a lawyer can also assist in filing an official complaint with the state’s insurance department. You can sometimes resolve a dispute through mediation after filing a complaint.

After taking all other steps, you may have to file a lawsuit against the insurance company. The litigation process will involve multiple steps, including investigations and a discovery period, so you will want to be sure you have an experienced attorney on your side for assistance navigating the process and its requirements.

Bad faith insurance can apply to many different kinds of insurance claims, including but not limited to:

  • Home Insurance Claims
  • Storm Damage Claims
  • Hail & Wind Damage Claims
  • Roof Insurance Claims
  • Flood Claims
  • Sinkhole Claims
  • Lightning Damage Claims
  • Fire Damage Claims
  • Tornado Insurance Claims
  • Auto Insurance Claims
  • Uninsured Motorists Claims
  • Cargo Loss Claims
  • Personal Injury Claims
  • Theft Claims
  • Burglary Claims
  • Water Damage Claims
  • Business Property Losses
  • Property Insurance Claims
  • Business Interruption Claims
  • Insurance Broker Liability Claims
  • Diminished Value Claims
  • Disability Claims
  • Life, Disability & Commercial Claims

Retaining the services of our Orlando insurance dispute lawyer may be much less expensive than you are thinking. We can advance the costs of an insurance dispute case, so you will not have to pay our firm anything unless we recover money on your behalf. You should also know that some courts may award money specifically for attorney fees in their settlements.

Remember that Florida Statutes allow insurance companies to investigate whether to deny a claim or if insured parties violated policy terms. Such cases can involve examinations under oath, which are tools an insurance company will use to investigate the nature of a claim and may involve suspicion of fraud on the part of the insured party.

You must attend an examination under oath as soon as you receive notice of such proceedings. Failure to attend can lead to a cancellation of your policy and denial of your claim, so you will want to be confident that you have an Orlando insurance dispute lawyer on your side for this critical appearance.

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The Basics of Florida Insurance Disputes

Florida Statute §624.155 outlines the civil remedy laws for when an insurance company is found to be damaging a client during a settlement negotiation. According to the statutes, the following acts are considered to be in bad faith of the insurance contract:

  • Failing to attempt to settle a claim in good faith when the circumstances should have allowed for it.
  • Failing to make a claims payment that is accompanied by a statement that describes the coverage under which the payment is made.
  • Failing to settle a claim when it is it is clear that it should be settled.

Many other actions or failures to act may constitute bad faith as well, such as denying a claim without performing an investigation, misrepresentation of facts, not responding promptly to communications, and more.

Orlando insurance disputes attorneys must act quickly when they have a client whose right to a fair settlement has been violated. The insurance company must be notified of its misconduct and be given a chance to remedy the situation. You have 60 days to file your notice against the insurer before bringing a lawsuit against the insurance company.

When I represent clients in Orlando after denied insurance claims, as their lawyer I typically have the benefit of already knowing the details of their case after having served as their personal injury attorney. Even if your insurance claim was handled by another law firm, my office can be your advocate for bad faith insurance litigation when negotiations or settlements break down.

Are you a victim of insurance company bad faith?

Insurance companies must, as businesses, operate in good faith. This means honoring the agreements that they hold with you, the insured. The agreement works both ways, however, so they will often try to prove that your claim is fraudulent in order to avoid paying you. Fighting these accusations without an Orlando insurance disputes attorney can prove almost impossible, leaving you with significant expenses to cover yourself.

What are some tactics insurance companies try to reduce or deny a settlement?

Here’s a few ways that insurance companies may try to reduce or deny insurance settlements:

  • spying on victims’ social media accounts for information that could be misconstrued as evidence of their injuries;
  • conducting abrupt, rushed recorded statements where the questions are misleading or pressuring;
  • helping trucking companies destroy driver logs and black box evidence before it can be used as evidence in a truck accident claim;
  • forcing claimants to see their approved doctors who may under-diagnose or fail to confirm their injuries;
  • hire their own expert witnesses to disprove or discount the evidence a victim provides to support their claim; and
  • pressure claimants into accepting a low initial settlement by preying on their need for compensation to pay current damages.

Perhaps the most common tactic the insurance companies use to damage victims’ claims is pressuring them to settle for a low amount. After a serious accident where you face large medical expenses and lost wages as you recover, most victims are desperate for financial relief.

The insurance companies know this, and they’ll use that fact to their advantage. The adjuster will happily inform you that their company is willing to pay you a minimal amount – usually to cover your current medical bills. While you may see this as a great relief and a way to get the bill collectors off your back, you may not realize that you’re entitled to much more.

Contact an Orlando Insurance Dispute Attorney

If you have difficulty with an insurance claim, you should never try to address the issue yourself. Doing so can put your entire case at risk. Instead, seek help from an experienced Orlando insurance dispute lawyer from Michael T. Gibson, P.A., Auto Justice Attorney. Our team is ready to assist with a denied claim or pending insurance matter. Contact us at (407) 340-3739 for your free case evaluation today.

Michael T. Gibson, P.A., Auto Justice Attorney

2420 S. Lakemont Avenue
Suite 150
Orlando, FL 32814
Phone: 407-422-4529