Ensuring Your Professional Malpractice Insurance Does Its Job
Even the most highly trained and experienced professionals can still make mistakes. That’s why professional liability and malpractice insurance exist.
If you’re facing legal action because of an error, omission, or breach of contract, your professional liability insurance policy is supposed to protect you from the financial consequences. However, insurers often try to protect themselves over their clients and may try to avoid fulfilling their contractual duties for your claim.
Oksenendler Law, P.C. stands ready to assist you when that happens. We are dedicated to holding insurers accountable for their actions and ensuring they fulfill the terms of your policy. If your professional liability insurance company has refused to defend you, settle a claim against you, or pay a covered claim, we can help. To learn how our attorneys can help you resolve any insurance dispute, we invite you to contact us today.
How Professional Liability Insurance Works
Accountants, doctors, and other licensed professionals are held to understandably high standards, but they are human, too. It’s simply not possible for every professional to be perfect all the time. When someone is harmed by a professional’s mistake, they have the right to compensation. However, paying the damages common in professional malpractice claims would be financially disastrous for most businesses.
That’s why professional liability insurance exists. This coverage is intended to protect licensed professionals from the costs of lawsuits. Most policies cover claims related to errors, omissions, and breaches of contract. Once you purchase a policy, the insurer is obligated to:
- Fairly investigate claims to determine if the policy covers them
- Defend you against claims that may be covered
- Settle claims within the coverage limit if it looks like litigating the matter would exceed your policy limit
- Pay settlements and judgments against you for covered claims
If you have full insurance coverage, you should be able to trust that your insurer will act with your best interests in mind.
Can Insurers Refuse to Pay Covered Professional Liability Claims?
Professional malpractice cases are often expensive and time-consuming. That’s why you purchased a policy and pay your premiums in the first place – you want to defray the costs of these claims. However, unscrupulous insurers may attempt to save money themselves by refusing to fulfill their duties when you make a claim.
If an insurer intentionally attempts to avoid paying covered claims or otherwise carry out its duties, it acts in bad faith. Examples of bad faith in professional liability insurance include:
- Refusing to settle claims against you
- Denying covered claims
- Failing to defend you against claims
- Offering unreasonably low settlements
- Refusing to pay the full benefits amount
- Unreasonably delaying payments
- Cancelling your coverage to avoid making payments
When this occurs, you can take legal action against them to seek a court order enforcing full payment of covered claims, among other damages.
Talk to the Experts in Professional Liability Insurance Disputes
The last thing you need when facing a professional malpractice claim is an insurance dispute. If your insurer is acting in bad faith, denying covered claims, or otherwise acting in breach of contract, contact Oksenendler Law, P.C. for sound advice and professional representation from a team of experienced insurance law attorneys. Please send us an email or call (415) 733-1050 today.
