HAS YOUR INSURANCE CLAIM BEEN IMPROPERLY DENIED?  CALL AN EXPERIENCED INSURANCE BAD FAITH LAWYER IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA.

Every day, Nevada citizens are forced to deal with potentially devastating injuries after they’ve been involved in motor vehicle and other accidents.  Oftentimes, instead of helping them, their own insurance carrier will add insult to injury by denying their first party claims, offering them a fraction of what their claim is really worth, or refusing to treat them fairly.

If you’re fighting with your own insurance company in Nevada on an injury claim, contact our office right away.  Edward J. Achrem & Associates has been fighting insurance companies for more than 43 years and our firm has the litigation experience, along with the financial and expert resources to battle even the largest insurance carriers.

In an insurance bad faith case Mr. Achrem handled several years ago,  his client had been severely injured during a motor vehicle collision while he was a passenger in his friend’s car.  Even though the client suffered permanent injuries and incurred more than $200,000.00 in medical expenses, the insurance company flatly refused to tender the $25,000 coverage limits that were available.  After filing a first party bad faith action against the insurance company, the carrier ultimately ended up paying Mr. Achrem’s client  hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the original coverage limits because it had violated NRS 686A.310, which governs how insurance companies doing business in Nevada are required to handle first party claims.  

In another insurance bad faith case, Mr. Achrem’s client was seriously injured by another driver, resulting in multiple surgeries.  Because the other driver only had $25,000 in insurance coverage, an underinsured motorist [“UIM”) claim was filed on the client’s behalf  with the insurance carrier for the company she was working for at the time of the crash.  Instead of evaluating her claim in a timely manner, the insurance carrier did nothing for several years.  Ultimately, Mr. Achrem was able to settle her claim for more than $1,000,000.00.

THE FOLLOWING ACTS CONSTITUTE UNFAIR CLAIMS HANDLING PRACTICES IN NEVADA: 

(1) Subsection (a):  

“Misrepresenting to insureds or claimants pertinent facts or insurance policy provisions relating to any coverage at issue.”

(2) Subsection (b):

“Failing to acknowledge and act reasonably promptly upon communications with respect to claims arising under insurance policies.”

(3) Subsection (c):

“Failing to adopt and implement reasonable standards for the prompt investigation and processing of claims arising under insurance policies.”

(4) Subsection (d):

“Failing to affirm or deny coverage of claims within a reasonable time after proof of loss requirements have been completed and submitted by the insured.”

(5) Subsection (e):

“Failing to effectuate prompt, fair and equitable settlements of claims in which liability of the insured has become reasonably clear.”

(6) Subsection (f):

“Compelling insureds to institute litigation to recover amounts due under an insurance policy by offering substantially less than the amounts ultimately recovered in actions brought by such insureds, when the insureds have made claims for amounts reasonably similar to the amounts ultimately recovered.”

(7) Subsection (g):

“Attempting to settle a claim by an insured for less than the amount to which a reasonable person would have believed he was entitled by reference to written or printed advertising material accompanying or made part of an application.”

(8) Subsection (h):

“Attempting to settle claims on the basis of an application which was altered without notice to, or knowledge or consent of, the insured, his representative, agent or broker.”

(9) Subsection (i):

“Failing, upon payment of a claim, to inform insureds or beneficiaries of the coverage under which payment is made.”

(10) Subsection (k):

“Delaying the investigation or payment of claims by requiring an insured or a claimant, or the physician of either, to submit a preliminary claim report, and then requiring the subsequent submission of formal proof of loss forms, both of which submissions contain substantially the same information.”

(11) Subsection (n):

“Failing to provide promptly to an insured a reasonable explanation of the basis in the insurance policy, with respect to the facts of the insured’s claim and the applicable law, for the denial of his claim or for an offer to settle or compromise his claim.”

NRS 686A.310(2) also provides:
“In addition to any rights or remedies available to the commissioner, an insurer is liable to its insured for any damages sustained by the insured as a result of the commission of any act set forth in subsection 1 as an unfair practice.”

Powerful insurance companies already have their own lawyers – and so should you!  Call us for a free consultation.  Edward J. Achrem & Associates has been litigating insurance bad faith cases for more than 43 years.  Our firm has the personnel, skills and financial resources necessary to help our clients in even the most complicated cases.

Call (702) 734-3936 today for a free consultation. We can usually tell you over the phone if you have a good case.  If you’re outside Nevada, call us at (888) 734-6789.