Kentucky Insurance Bad Faith Laws
Kentucky provides for insurance bad faith claims under the common law and the statutes. It is one of the few states that allow first and third-party bad faith claims. Simply put, this means that you can bring a bad faith claim against your insurance company as well as against the insurance company of a defendant who may be responsible for your losses/injury.
- The Common Law of the State holds the insurer liable for any claim that may arise against the insured because the insurance company failed to settle a claim within policy limits, which resulted in a third party case against the insured and a verdict in excess of policy limits.
- All insurance services are also covered by the Consumer Protection Act and the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act of Kentucky.
What qualifies as insurance bad faith and mistreatment?
The laws of Kentucky dictate that insurance companies have a responsibility to act in good faith towards their clients. If this responsibility is violated, the insurance company can be held liable not only for the losses of the policyholder, but also for their own misconduct in the matter. Common examples of such reprehensible conduct include:
- Delaying claims without a reasonable cause for such delays.
- Denying claims even though the insured is entitled to it under the terms of his/her policy.
- Reducing claims unfairly.
- Insurance fraud.
- Delaying or denying claims to third parties, which results in legal action against the insured.
- Deliberately ignoring or concealing facts about the policy and its terms.
- Delaying or failing to acknowledge communication that pertains to claims arising under insurance coverage.
- Refusing to provide compensation without reasonable investigation of the merits of the claim.
- Refusing or delaying the payment of settlement after liability has been established.
In a nutshell, the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky protect you, the insured, for any legal actions that may be brought against you because your insurance company failed to act in good faith as they are expected and required to.
If an insurance company is denying or delaying your valid insurance claim against their insured or if you are being treated unfairly by your insurer, you may need to file a bad faith claim against such an insurance provider.
Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers has years of experience handling insurance bad faith and mistreatment cases in Kentucky. We have in-depth knowledge of KY insurance laws, which allow us to quickly identify the relevant coverage issues in your policy and to determine the fair value of a claim.
Our staff works to ensure that the insurance company does not disregard your rights and that you receive the compensation you are entitled to. Although not all insurance bad faith cases end up in court, our seasoned attorneys stand ready to defend the rights and the claims of our clients in court should it come to that.