What Happens When Your Insurance Company Refuses to Pay Your Oregon Underinsured Motorist Claim?

When you purchase auto insurance, you expect that your insurance company will act in good faith and pay any valid claim you present. Sadly, that is not always the case. Insurers will often delay or deny claims even when you have followed the claims process to the letter.

Fortunately, there are legal remedies.  The first is you can sue your insurer for breach of contract to enforce the terms of the insurance policy you purchased (you can also institute arbitration, which is the most effective avenue in most cases).  After this step, and if the facts warrant it, you can also pursue a first party bad faith claim against your insurance carrier. Oregon law requires all insurers to act in good faith when dealing with their policyholders. Among other things, this means that an insurance company may promptly respond to your claim–i.e., the insurer cannot “ghost” you–and they must make a good faith attempt to settle any claim once the insurer’s financial risk “has become reasonably clear.”  There are other duties and obligations an insurance company has in handling an underinsured motorist claim, but these are easy examples.

It’s important to understand that insurance companies are not, and never have, in the business of paying out claims.  They make billions of dollars every year denying claims or paying as little as possible to resolve them.  Moody claims are a new tool for Oregonians.  But the strength and sharpness of the tool is still to be determined.  The insurance industry is fighting tooth and nail to limit Moody’s reach and application to most insurance claims processed in Oregon.  The need for and viability of a bad faith claim is going to depend on the facts of the specific case.

Contact a Portland First Party Bad Faith Claims Lawyer Today

If you need legal advice regarding your underinsured motorist claim, our Portland first party bad faith claims lawyer can help. Contact Rosenbaum Law Group, PC, today at 503-288-8000 to schedule a free consultation.

Source:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.187583/gov.uscourts.ord.187583.1.2.pdf