Insurance Disputes Lawyer

Consumer Insurance Disputes

Homeowners

Most consumers consider their home to be their most valuable asset. Our homes are vulnerable to an array of perils, including disasters like hurricanes and wildfires, as well as wind, hailstorm, water, fire, and smoke. Many insurance companies market their products under the promise to help their insureds when their home is damaged or destroyed. 

However, some insurance companies look for ways to minimize claim payments and shortchange their insureds, even in their most desperate hour. In our experience, catastrophes like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and wildfires present the ripest opportunities for insurers to minimize their losses at the expense of their insureds. 

Nix Patterson represents insureds from across the country who have been harmed by bad faith insurance practices. These practices include:

• Denying coverage for a loss covered under the policy
• Blaming a covered loss on pre-existing damage, settlement, wear and tear, or other non-covered occurrences
• Manipulating the scope of loss so it falls below the policy deductible
• Manipulating the scope of loss to minimize claim payments
• Treating a single loss as multiple occurrences to trigger multiple deductible payments
• Using software to underprice and underpay repairs or rebuilds
• Withholding benefits owed under the policy, including additional benefits like general contractors overhead and profit, additional living expenses, and others
• Refusing to replace clothes and other home contents and instead resorting to chemical cleaning processes, which often do more harm
• Forcing insureds to produce unreasonable estimates, documentation, or proof of loss
• Holding insureds to unreasonable rebuild and repair timelines
• Misrepresenting policy provisions, facts, or law
• Failing to make a prompt, fair, and equitable settlement of claims
• Failing to communicate clearly, explain and disclose befit owed, itemize payments, etc. 

Some insurers have even used “independent” engineers and contractors to rubber-stamp their denial or underpayment of covered losses. Nix Patterson knows how to fight these “experts” and hold the insurer accountable. 

Underinsurance

All too often, insureds find themselves substantially underinsured following a devastating loss. In many cases, the fact that their insurance coverage fails to pay for the loss is attributable to the insurer. 

While “bad faith” is usually limited to the claims handling process, insurers may also violate duties or the law when they sell or issue insurance to their insureds. Acts for which insureds may recover may include 

• Recommending an inadequate amount of insurance
• Failing to perform a thorough inspection of the home before issuing coverage 
• Using software to calculate replacement cost
• Recommending illusory (i.e., hollow or false) coverage 

Auto

Similarly, drivers purchase insurance to protect their vehicle and themselves while driving. Insurers look for ways to minimize claim payments to insureds after loss of or damage to an insured vehicle. 

Nix Patterson represents drivers across the country who are harmed by insurers’ bad faith when handling auto insurance claims. These bad acts include the many bad faith practices listed above, as well as the following:

• Using software (e.g., CCC 1 or Mitchell) to understate the actual cash value of a totaled vehicle;
• Manipulating “comparable” vehicles to understate the actual cash value of a covered vehicle;
• Using software to understate the cost of repairs;
• Taking title to a totaled vehicle prior to settlement;
• Failing to pay sales tax when sales tax is owed as a policy benefit; and
• Failing to pay statutory interest on claim amounts paid late.