What Happened to the Promise to Defend?
When selling an insurance policy, the agent and the ads tell you that the insurance company will be there to defend you if someone else sues you. But in reality, the insurance company is looking after its own best interests, not the policyholder's best interests. That's insurance bad faith.
Contact Stephen C. Ryan, Insurance Bad Faith Lawyer · 623-551-3813
When the insurance company fails to defend a policyholder, they are gambling with the policyholder's life and pocketbook. The Stephen C. Ryan law firm in Phoenix, Arizona, has successfully represented clients harmed by an insurance company's failure to defend.
Attorney Stephen Ryan has more than 30 years of experience as a lawyer. For 15 years, he worked within the insurance industry and knows how they think and act. That experience had made him an exceptionally knowledgeable attorney in insurance bad faith cases such as failure to defend.
What is a failure to defend?
Suppose you were in a car accident or someone was injured in an accident in your home. The injured person decides to sue you and the claim is for a large enough amount of money such that you may not have enough insurance coverage to protect you. If the eventual result should end up exceeding your liability coverage limits, you would find yourself personally responsible to pay the injured party the amount of any verdict or award that exceeds your policy limits. When the potential for such a disastrous result exists, your insurance company has an obligation to try to settle the claim against you for an amount equal to, or less than, your coverage limits, thereby making sure you won't ever be financially responsible for the injured party's claim. If the insurance company ignores, or rejects, a reasonable offer to settle within the limits of your coverage, and the eventual verdict exceeds your coverage limits such that you are required to personally bear any financial loss, your insurance company has breached its duty to defend you and you may have a claim for bad faith.
The insurance company agreed in your policy to defend you. If you feel your insurance company failed to defend you, contact an experienced attorney for a free consultation.
