When a fire impacts your business, you need to turn to your insurance company to avoid total loss. But what happens when you find out that your policy doesn't cover fire and that this information was not shared with you? Then you have commercial litigation on your hands, because your insurance company likely committed a bad faith act against you.
Bad Faith Does Include Failure To Disclose Policy Limits
Commercial insurance laws can be very difficult for many people to understand. They are even complex for people who have been involved in the business world and who have experience with these kinds of lawsuits. However, it is important to remember that a failure to disclose policy limits (such as your policy not covering a business fire) is a bad faith act by your insurance company. Bad faith acts are steps taken by your insurer that are not done to protect you. A failure to disclose policy limits falls under bad faith because you were kept ignorant of an important aspect of your policy and you are left with a hefty repair bill that will cost you a lot to manage. It can also be a major problem.
Why Insurance Companies Commit Bad Faith Acts
Most insurance companies don't commit bad faith acts on purpose. In fact, there's a good chance that your insurance company didn't mean you any harm when they failed to disclose your policy limits. However, that failure is still a bad faith act, even if it wasn't done intentionally.
And unfortunately, some companies simply perform these acts to get extra money from their insured clients. As a result, it is critical to know your rights and to pursue these cases, while preparing careful for the kinds of defenses your insurer is likely to use.
Defenses That May Be Used Against You
When you take your commercial insurance company to court for a bad faith insurance claim, expect some complications. They are likely to come at you with a variety of defenses, claiming that your statute of limitations passed, that you tried to breach your contract, or that you actually performed an action that was also in bad faith.
For example, the company may state that you tried to file an inaccurate claim or one that wasn't worth what you claimed. The idea here is to showcase bad behavior by you in order to either defend their own or show that their actions were in reaction to your bad faith.
The complications of this kind of case make a commercial litigation attorney vitally important for your business. These specialists will take the time to fully understand your case, assess whether you are right or wrong, and find a way for you to win.
