Did you watch the network news show last week concerning what appears to be numerous unfair insurance claim decisions made by a famous insurance company?

The allegation that is being made is that flood victims are having their claims denied based seemingly on insurance company decisions motivated by bad faith. In other words –they simply don’t want to pay on all of the claims.

Insurance companies, even real famous ones, all have one thing in common: they are profit making businesses. And if a real bad storm might force them to pay a lot of costly claims, that can affect their bottom line.

What is a poor insurance company to do? They can avoid paying some claims by instructing their claims department to unfairly deny claims.

If a claim is improperly denied, some people will hire a lawyer and fight the insurance company. But others don’t know that option exists. And sometimes it costs more for the lawyer than the value of the claim.

Insurance companies recognize all of these things when they make their claims decisions. If they unfair deny claims to a lot of people, some will hire lawyers and eventually they will have to pay those claims. But some will drop the claims. Which means that insurance companies may increase their profits by acting unfairly.

I am not saying all companies do this. But I believe (as did the network TV program) that some carriers may do this.

Some insurance companies are actually very honest and ethical. I am talking about the other ones.

If you are unfairly denied a claim, see a lawyer that has experience in fighting with insurance companies. These insurance companies hire bright, experienced lawyers. You need to do the same thing.

Ask your lawyer whether the denial was made in bad faith. If so, be sure to ask whether punitive damages might be available to you.

Punitive damages are available in certain states and are assessed to punish wrongdoers so they don’t continue to engage in the same poor conduct. Insurance companies don’t like the threat of punitive damages.

Also, if other people with similar claims were unfairly denied, you might be better off hiring one lawyer to represent all of you. This can save a lot of money on attorneys fees. Insurance companies don’t like it when policyholders do that either.

In short, if your insurance company has betrayed you and is treating you like dirt, get a good lawyer and fight back. You really can beat them - but you need to be persistent.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.