Insurance bad faith is more than a disrespectful tone or words used by an insurance company towards a policyholder. It is the unfair treatment of a policyholder who files an insurance claim for their insurance carrier.

Acts of bad faith include, but are not limited to:

• Failing to disclose or knowingly misrepresenting benefits, coverage, or other provisions of an insurance policy that are relevant to a claim
• Failing to promptly and properly investigate a claim
• Not working in good faith to promptly and fairly settle a claim in which liability is reasonably clear
• Denying a valid claim because the policyholder has not taken steps that the insurer has not requested or that the policyholder has not refused
• Imposing time limits or deadlines unspecified in the insurance policy
• Asking the insured policyholder to sign a release that extends beyond the subject of the claim at hand
• Issuing partial settlement payments that include language releasing the insurer from further payments
• Calling medical services, supplies, or procedures unnecessary and denying payment for them without substantiated evidence that is made available to the policyholder
• Paying kickbacks to doctors reviewing claims for rendering opinions that result in reduced settlements
• Making unreasonably low settlement offers that force policyholders to sue to obtain full payment