Insurance Coverage Disputes Attorney

Skilled Insurance Coverage Dispute and Bad Faith Attorneys in Missouri and Kansas

People and businesses pay a lot of money to insurance companies for protection. Protection of our assets when something goes wrong and, equally important, protection of our peace of mind. We put our trust in insurance companies to step up to the plate when something goes wrong. They are supposed to be our guardians, our allies. Sadly, insurance companies sometimes let us down. It feels like betrayal and abandonment. The company that was supposed to be there as your protector becomes your adversary. What’s worse, the insurance company’s betrayal can often cause you more harm than the loss you had insurance for.

If your insurance company has let you down in your time of need, you need an experienced and accomplished attorney on your side. The attorneys at Taylor Siemens Elliott Creedy & Lyle P.C. have years of experience and an outstanding track record of success in helping people and businesses hold their insurance companies accountable. We don’t represent insurance companies. We only represent policyholders.

About Insurance Coverage Disputes

In simple terms, when insurance companies sell an insurance policy, they are making a bet. In exchange for the premium you pay, they are betting you won’t have a loss and they won’t have to pay anything. If they are right about that bet, the insurance company gets to keep the premium you paid and doesn’t have to pay anything. If they’re wrong about the bet, the temptation that insurance companies face is to avoid paying for a loss, so they can keep all of their money. That results in more profit for the insurance companies.

First-Party Insurance Coverage Disputes. One kind of insurance coverage dispute is what is called a “first-party” dispute. That is where the insurance company issued a policy to cover the policyholder for a loss they personally experience. Examples include a homeowners policy under which an insurance company would pay the homeowner if their home burned down, or a business owner’s policy that would pay a business if its property damage and lost income from not being able to use the property to conduct its business. The attorneys at Taylor Siemens Elliott Creedy & Lyle can help prove that the policy provides coverage and the insurance company’s denial was wrongful. In addition, under some circumstances, we can help policyholders recover attorney fees and penalties against the insurance company.

Third-Party Insurance Coverage Disputes and Bad Faith. Another kind of insurance coverage dispute involves liability insurance coverage. That coverage comes into play when an injured party claims that the policyholders is liable to the injured party for damages. Liability insurance coverage is supposed to step in and protect the policyholder by hiring and paying attorneys to defend the policyholder in any lawsuit, and by paying the injured party to settle their claim or case against the policyholder.

If an insurance company refuses to protect its policyholder by either refusing to defend or refusing to settle with the injured party, the consequences can be devastating to the policyholder. The policyholder could be personally liable for all the injured party’s damages and the amount of that liability could far exceed the amount of coverage under the insurance policy. In that situation, the policyholder faces foreclosure of their home, garnishment of their wages, and potentially bankruptcy. The attorneys at Taylor Siemens Elliott Creedy & Lyle can help policyholders in that situation by proving that the insurance company is responsible to defend them and to settle with the injured party.

They can also help if a judgment has been entered against the policyholder which exposes the policyholder to personal liability. The law provides a remedy for that. The insurance company can be liable for bad faith if it fails to settle with an injured party and the policyholder is made personally liable for a judgment which exceeds the policy limits. If an insurance company refuses to settle in bad faith, the insurance company is liable for the entire amount of the judgment, even if the judgment is more than the limit of coverage under the policy. For example, if a policyholder has $100,000 in liability limits in their policy and a judgment is entered against the policyholder for $1,000,000 after the insurance company has refused to settle with the injured party in bad faith, the insurance company is liable for the entire amount of the judgment—the $1,000,000. The insurance company can also be liable for emotional distress, mental anguish, and a number of other damages flowing from its betrayal and abandonment.

Why Choose Taylor Siemens Elliott Creedy & Lyle P.C.?

Choosing Taylor Siemens Elliott Creedy & Lyle P.C. is a smart choice for many reasons. For one, we are founded on the core beliefs of personal attention, preparation, dedication, and getting results. We have years of experience and a track record of success in insurance coverage disputes. We have helped people and businesses recover over $25 million in insurance coverage proceeds. We have done so not only in Missouri and Kansas, but also in other states, where our attorneys associate with local counsel.

If you are an individual or business that has a dispute over insurance coverage with your insurance company, contact our attorneys at Taylor Siemens Elliott Creedy & Lyle P.C. today at (816) 364-6677. We provide a free, no obligation, consultation. In many situations, our fees are based on contingency fee agreements, where we do not recover a fee unless we win for our client.