Lawyers for Insurance Broker/Agent Negligence in Insurance Claims
Insurance finds its way into every area of our lives. It can be related to our homes, where we rent, our motor vehicles, our vacations, our health and dental care, our personal property, our mortgages, our ability to work, even our very lives. An unfortunate reality is that there are often denials of legitimate insurance claims, regardless of the type of insurance. Often the denial is based on an insurance company taking an interpretation of the policy language or the facts that is unfavourable to the insured, or the denial can be based on alleged misrepresentations or fraud on behalf of the insured. Other times an insurance denial is based on an insured failing to pay the insurance premiums as required.
There are instances, however, where it is neither the fault of the insured nor the insurer that leads to a denial of insurance coverage. Sometimes it is the fault of the insurance broker, or insurance agent, who helped facilitate the coverage in the first place. In these instances, you can sue the insurance broker or agent so long as it was their negligence that led to the denial of your insurance coverage.
The lawyers at Taylor & Blair LLP are experienced in dealing with insurance broker or insurance agent negligence.
Insurance Broker vs. Insurance Agent
While the terms insurance broker and insurance agent are often used interchangeably, they are two separate positions, and it can help you to understand the differences between the two.
An Insurance Agent is an agent of a specific insurance company and is paid by that insurance company to push their specific insurance products.
An Insurance Broker is independent of any specific insurance company and, while still paid by the insurance companies for each deal they facilitate on an insurance company’s behalf, an insurance broker can offer you the insurance products from a variety of different insurers.
Generally speaking, this usually means that an insurance agent usually has a deeper understanding of the insurance product offered while an insurance broker has more flexibility which can often assist in finding the most cost-effective insurance product for your need.
At the end of the day both insurance brokers and insurance agents make their money by selling insurance products to customers and this is their underlying motivation.
Common Types of Insurance Broker/Agent Negligence
The most common types of insurance broker or insurance agent negligence is a failure to ensure the insurance application is completed properly, with accurate answers, or with a insurance broker or insurance agent failing to ensure that the insurance applicant has sufficient coverage in the circumstances.
Examples of a failure to have an insurance application completed properly include when an insurance agent or insurance broker do not go through the application in detail with the applicant, fail to ensure the applicant understands the nuances of the questions being asked, makes representations the applicant relies upon which are later found not to be true (for example, that the insurance company will review your medical records before approving insurance coverage under a policy) or fails to deliver the required documents to the insurance company.
Failure to ensure sufficient coverage in the circumstances is also an area where insurance brokers or insurance agent assists you in obtaining insurance coverage that they knew or ought to have known was not sufficient in the circumstances. The most obvious example of this is an insurance broker or insurance agent helping an applicant obtain homeowners insurance of $500,000.00 on a home with a replacement cost of $1,000,000.00. If disaster strikes and the homeowner is required to utilize the policy, they will still be unable to be made whole.
Making Sure You Get A Fair Deal
Taylor & Blair LLP has been fighting insurance companies for over 30 years to ensure our clients get the insurance benefits they are entitled to. If your insurance claim has been denied due to the negligence of an insurance broker or insurance agent our experienced insurance denial lawyers will make sure that the insurance company pays you what you’re owed.
If you have a claim against an insurance broker or insurance agent in negligence, contact us today as there are strict timelines in which you have to act.