When you purchase insurance coverage, you expect that the insurance company will help you if you suffer losses due to an injury or an accident. Unfortunately, your insurance provider does not always act in your best interests. Instead of paying the full amount of coverage you need as soon as you need it, many insurance companies try to delay your claim for as long as they can.
The most common types of delays
Insurance companies use a variety of underhanded tactics to avoid paying their policyholders. One of the most common is delaying a claim unreasonably or indefinitely. This is a form of insurance bad faith that is against the law.
Some of the most common forms of bad faith delays include:
- Claiming that they do not have the correct paperwork
- Making you gather unnecessary documentation
- Conducting a lazy investigation, then claiming they do not have enough information
- Failing to respond to your calls or emails promptly
- Deceiving you about the terms of your policy
The length of a delay depends entirely on your claim. Straightforward, fairly simple claims can take as little as a week or two to settle. If your claim is taking months or longer to resolve because your insurer consistently drags it out, you should be suspicious of its actions.
Why do insurance companies use delays?
Insurance companies are for-profit corporations that have one primary goal: make money. Even if your policy states that your provider owes you adequate coverage for your damages, the company may very well resort to acting in bad faith to prioritize their profits over your well-being.
Delays are meant to wear you down. The period after an injury is immensely stressful, often filled with intense physical pain. By dragging out your claim, the insurance company intends to exhaust you to the point that you no longer with to pursue your case. Every bad faith delay has one purpose: to avoid paying the full value of your claim.
